looks like sample variation is still an issue with sigma, and phillip has a rather nice sample that he sure knows how to get the best from... i thought of the 85 1.4D too, must use mine more.
The Sigma is a very good lens but I wonder; is there anything wrong with the 50mm f1.4 Nikkor?
It's not a matter of wrong with anything else. There is nothing wrong with the Nikon f/1.4 AF version, f/1.8 AF version, f/2 AI version, f/1.8 AIS, Zeiss 50mm f/2 ZF version, etc. The Sigma is just a cut above (and below) many normal lenses depending on one's preference.
camerapapi wrote:
The Sigma is a very good lens but I wonder; is there anything wrong with the 50mm f1.4 Nikkor?
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.
Well, for one, it suffers really badly from CA. And FOR ME, it is too small of a lens. I prefer something with a bit more size and weight to it....to balance things out. My purchase of a Sigma does not equate to the Nikkor being a bad lens. Hopefully people can continue to have different options to choose from.
I am excited about the new Nikon AFS 50 1.4 lens and I hope it sets a new benchmark. If it doesn't, I will consider teh Sigma as an option. I really want one of these bad boys.
camerapapi wrote:
The Sigma is a very good lens but I wonder; is there anything wrong with the 50mm f1.4 Nikkor?
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.
The Nikkor 50/1.4 isn't bad, but it's not all that much of a performer as 50's go, with frankly poor performance at wide apertures. The Sigma's an extremely exotic design (Aspherical elements in a 50 are unusual. Of the current crop of 50-58mm's only the Leica Summilux-R and the Canon 50/1.2L use aspherical elements) and performs incredibly well wide-open, better than pretty much any fast 50 other than the other aspherical designs or the Zeiss ZF 50/2 Makro-Planar.
The Nikkor 50/1.4 however is outperformed at wide apertures by most current 50/1.4's. It gets quite good at f4 and higher though. Not bad for the price if you need AF and f1.4, but if you don't mind spending more or giving up AF there are better performing options at a reasonable cost like the CV Nokton 58/1.4, the Zeiss ZF 50/1.4 Planar, the Sigma, and the Nikkor 50/1.2 AI-S.
