Review: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens

[mackguyver]

i'm waiting for someone to complain about the bokeh....

The bokeh is crap and my Canon 50L clearly kicks your Sigma 50A's butt I'm just kidding!!! Those are great shots and the sharpness, color, and contrast are all excellent. Since you mentioned bokeh, here is my subjective opinion on the subject.

Overall, the bokeh is very pleasing and soft, and in 20140429-13.jpg, the bokeh is especially impressive on the Buddha head in background on the left. Point light sources look to be handled very well (good flare resistance, too).

In the negative column (and this is being picky), the rear bokeh of the defocused necklaces in 20140429-29.jpg and abacus beads in 20140429-47.jpg has a bit too much contrast in the "transition zone" and comes out a little harsh IMHO. The front bokeh transition zone in 20140429-32.jpg is handled better and is a bit softer.

Compared to the 50L, I would say that the bokeh is a bit smaller in diameter, has more contrast and is just a tad less smooth in the transition zone. I think the sharpness and price more than make up for what appear to be very minor differences.

Based on these images, I would say that (possible AF issues aside), Sigma has a winner on their hands. Thanks for posting the photos and congrats on the new lens!

 

[candyman]

just got mine!

First one in Shanghai and probably china

awesome and evening is approaching!

Great!
And, what is your opinion about weight, size and handling of the lens?

Fire up a sample thread, I'll join in tomorrow. Congrats on your new lens!

CONGRATS,
It looks like x-mas came early for you guys

Couple things when you guys test this ARTY: AF consistency, focus shift, sharpness, bokeh, color, contrast.... ;D ;D ;D Ok...I'm asking too much :-X

Can't wait to see more photos

trying to upload photos now but its taking forever!
AF consistancy so far looks ho hum to me I've only had it a few hours but feel its front focusing a bit I also bought the dock and obviously can AFMA it with focal when i have time. Its not so far out that its ruining shots though
consistancy is hard as i've only been shooting in low light so its a bit hit and miss anyway

no focus shift i can see but it breathes a fair bit if that matters to you

sharpness = OMG its insane

bokeh = as above plus even more insane you will see in the pics i post

colour = awesome

contrast = a little less contrasty than the 35 but still nice and a tweek in LR away so no issue really.

so watch the lens gallary thread i made as my images go up. I'm uploading now

So, what is your opinion about the weight, size and handling of the lens?

 

[Salimou]

just got mine!

First one in Shanghai and probably china

awesome and evening is approaching!

Fire up a sample thread, I'll join in tomorrow. Congrats on your new lens!

CONGRATS,
It looks like x-mas came early for you guys

Couple things when you guys test this ARTY: AF consistency, focus shift, sharpness, bokeh, color, contrast.... ;D ;D ;D Ok...I'm asking too much :-X

Can't wait to see more photos

trying to upload photos now but its taking forever!
AF consistancy so far looks ho hum to me I've only had it a few hours but feel its front focusing a bit I also bought the dock and obviously can AFMA it with focal when i have time. Its not so far out that its ruining shots though
consistancy is hard as i've only been shooting in low light so its a bit hit and miss anyway

no focus shift i can see but it breathes a fair bit if that matters to you

sharpness = OMG its insane

bokeh = as above plus even more insane you will see in the pics i post

colour = awesome

contrast = a little less contrasty than the 35 but still nice and a tweek in LR away so no issue really.

so watch the lens gallary thread i made as my images go up. I'm uploading now

Oh my God, you make me crazy!
Please post some portraits!!! PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE!!!

 

[razeac]

Guys, its very late now around 1am here in Norway and I still have to sleep for tomorrow's work @ 7am. lol

There are a lot of you here asking for some portraits. I can't find a decent model, so I just took the courage to volunteer. Please bear with the very bad looking model here. Just see the general picture and how the lens performs. I lit some candles for some bokeh too..

It's indoors, setup is a flash right side of the subject, shoot thru umbrella. Triggered by phottix - TTL (I'm getting too lazy to manual adjust the flash)

Camera setting: ev1/25 aperture 1.4, iso 1600, cto 1/2 gel 430ex triggered by phottix ttL thru umbrella

I asked my wife to take the shot, live view manual focused on my eyewear. you can see her at the reflection I hope you guys enjoy the samples. This lens is so SHARP!! dammit... ;D



Camera Setting: ev 1/40, aperture f2.0, iso 1600, same flash settings as above

enjoy everyone.. and good night! hahaha

 

[wickidwombat]

just got mine!

First one in Shanghai and probably china

awesome and evening is approaching!

Great!
And, what is your opinion about weight, size and handling of the lens?

Fire up a sample thread, I'll join in tomorrow. Congrats on your new lens!

CONGRATS,
It looks like x-mas came early for you guys

Couple things when you guys test this ARTY: AF consistency, focus shift, sharpness, bokeh, color, contrast.... ;D ;D ;D Ok...I'm asking too much :-X

Can't wait to see more photos

trying to upload photos now but its taking forever!
AF consistancy so far looks ho hum to me I've only had it a few hours but feel its front focusing a bit I also bought the dock and obviously can AFMA it with focal when i have time. Its not so far out that its ruining shots though
consistancy is hard as i've only been shooting in low light so its a bit hit and miss anyway

no focus shift i can see but it breathes a fair bit if that matters to you

sharpness = OMG its insane

bokeh = as above plus even more insane you will see in the pics i post

colour = awesome

contrast = a little less contrasty than the 35 but still nice and a tweek in LR away so no issue really.

so watch the lens gallary thread i made as my images go up. I'm uploading now

So, what is your opinion about the weight, size and handling of the lens?

It's almost identical to the sigma 85 in size and weight
Af is reasonably slow in very low light I have not tested in good light yet

 

[wickidwombat]

Here is an example of the AF inconsistency
both shots spot focus point set on the M
these are 100% crops no editing

 

[JustMeOregon]

PLEASE! More feedback on AF-consistency!

Everyone knows that the 50A is devastatingly sharp. And the comparative quality of the bokeh will be argued longer than "MaryAnn or Ginger"... But it's the AF accuracy & consistency that I'm most concerned about. I really need TDP's 40% miss-rate to be put into some kind of sensible perspective for me to feel good about my B&H pre-order...

 

[wickidwombat]

PLEASE! More feedback on AF-consistency!

Everyone knows that the 50A is devastatingly sharp. And the comparative quality of the bokeh will be argued longer than "MaryAnn or Ginger"... But it's the AF accuracy & consistency that I'm most concerned about. I really need TDP's 40% miss-rate to be put into some kind of sensible perspective for me to feel good about my B&H pre-order...

look its still better than the old sigma 50, the canon 50 1.4 and the 50 1.8
i havent done any calibration with the dock or afma yet as i'm travelling

 

[razeac]

Typo at first image. It's not 1.8 aperture. It's 1.4!

 

[Viggo]

Got mine today, just ran it through FoCal with my normal setup. It said +19 at 50x the focal length, and it said +3 at 25x focal length. Ran it through the AF (in)consitency test and it shoots three or so shots then the forth shot it drops completely oof. Ending up with a consistency of 92,6%.

I will do the whole test again now, need a coffe first. And I'll posting my findings.

Does anyone know if the "different distance afma" works for me? I mean, +3 at 1,25m and +19 at 5 meters, can that be plotted in to the lens via docking so it changes the afma automatically after the distance I focus on?

Dissapointment so far, but still early.

 

[Eldar]

Got mine today, just ran it through FoCal with my normal setup. It said +19 at 50x the focal length, and it said +3 at 25x focal length. Ran it through the AF (in)consitency test and it shoots three or so shots then the forth shot it drops completely oof. Ending up with a consistency of 92,6%.

I will do the whole test again now, need a coffe first. And I'll posting my findings.

Does anyone know if the "different distance afma" works for me? I mean, +3 at 1,25m and +19 at 5 meters, can that be plotted in to the lens via docking so it changes the afma automatically after the distance I focus on?

Dissapointment so far, but still early.

Does not sound promising. I will be testing mine during the weekend. I have just made some random shots so far, so I am not in a position to say anything. Will run it through FoCal tonight.

It would be interesting to know how the AF works in various light situations. So far I have not seen if/how that impacts the results.

The only reason for having this lens is to have AF on 50mm from f1.4-2.8, often in dimly lit circumstances. If I can't trust it, I may as well stay with the Otus. But I'm still hoping and crossing my fingers. There are lots of opportunities where the MF Otus is rather useless (I am using the standard focusing screen though).

 

[Salimou]

Guys, its very late now around 1am here in Norway and I still have to sleep for tomorrow's work @ 7am. lol

There are a lot of you here asking for some portraits. I can't find a decent model, so I just took the courage to volunteer. Please bear with the very bad looking model here. Just see the general picture and how the lens performs. I lit some candles for some bokeh too..

It's indoors, setup is a flash right side of the subject, shoot thru umbrella. Triggered by phottix - TTL (I'm getting too lazy to manual adjust the flash)

Camera setting: ev1/25 aperture 1.4, iso 1600, cto 1/2 gel 430ex triggered by phottix ttL thru umbrella

I asked my wife to take the shot, live view manual focused on my eyewear. you can see her at the reflection I hope you guys enjoy the samples. This lens is so SHARP!! dammit... ;D



Camera Setting: ev 1/40, aperture f2.0, iso 1600, same flash settings as above

enjoy everyone.. and good night! hahaha

Thank you so much mister. That what I was waiting for since yesterday. Finally, portraits samples and damn it, this is so sharp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-*

 

[GMCPhotographics]

I've yet to have a Sigma lens which doesn't have AF issues...sorry but in my experience, it goes with the brand.
70-200 f2.8 EX DG, 100-300 f4 EX DG, 180 EX macro, 12-24 EX DG, 24-70 f2.8 EX macro, 120-300 f2.8 OS
All of them had inconsistent AF compared to Canon L versions, which is why I sold them and bought Canon L.

There's more to a lens than just it's optics.

 

[Viggo]

It seems like in practical use the +19 is better than the +3, even up close, so i don't know what that was. But it kept giving me the same two numbers.

AF is a little inconsistent when it really shouldn't be, I try and try to really be precise, but it sometimes refuses to focus properly, and if those ten in a row is a one chance only, you can't trust it. The difference with the 50 L or 85 L missing focus is that you can just fire off 4-8 shots and absolutely know at least a couple is perfectly sharp, with sigma it's highly possible you don't get single one, even when I pull focus completely off and start the shot again and again...

That being said, the IQ is sublime and I love everything else and it's simply awesome. This is a tough choice in sending it back and leave it, or keep and accept that it can't be trusted in some cases in order to get those really nice ones. Colors and bokeh and the feel is just there.

 

[candc]

i would suggest that anyone who has bought this lens and is happy with the iq but is having some difficulties with the af should get the dock. it seems the new global vision lenses can have af issues that cannot be set correct with in camera afma. the af problems are usually distance dependent which is adjustable with the dock. many of the inconsistencies will be corrected because the lens will not be predisposed to front or back focus at a given distance so slight variations in focusing are more likely to be in the acceptable range. its a bit of a hassle doing the calibration but worth it if you want to keep the lens.

 

[Viggo]

I plan on buying the docking on thursday, I'm willing to try anything to make this lens optimized.

And even a complete AF junkie like myself that have NO patience with wiggly AF is willing to sacrifice that 2470 mk2 accuracy for the fantastic IQ the 50A provides. What a lens.... The kids will be home soon, let's put the AF to a real test ;D

 

[Dylan777]

Got mine today, just ran it through FoCal with my normal setup. It said +19 at 50x the focal length, and it said +3 at 25x focal length. Ran it through the AF (in)consitency test and it shoots three or so shots then the forth shot it drops completely oof. Ending up with a consistency of 92,6%.

I will do the whole test again now, need a coffe first. And I'll posting my findings.

Does anyone know if the "different distance afma" works for me? I mean, +3 at 1,25m and +19 at 5 meters, can that be plotted in to the lens via docking so it changes the afma automatically after the distance I focus on?

Dissapointment so far, but still early.

WOW...

hope things will work out

 

[metacove]

Got mine today, just ran it through FoCal with my normal setup. It said +19 at 50x the focal length, and it said +3 at 25x focal length. Ran it through the AF (in)consitency test and it shoots three or so shots then the forth shot it drops completely oof. Ending up with a consistency of 92,6%.

I will do the whole test again now, need a coffe first. And I'll posting my findings.

Does anyone know if the "different distance afma" works for me? I mean, +3 at 1,25m and +19 at 5 meters, can that be plotted in to the lens via docking so it changes the afma automatically after the distance I focus on?

Dissapointment so far, but still early.

I have the Sigma 35 Art and the dock. They do allow you to program in different AFMA values at 4 different distances. Like 6", 18", 4', Infinity. I was able to really "dial" in my lens using their dock. Plus I get future firmware upgrades.

I suggest getting the dock just for future proofing the product.

 

[Viggo]

Got mine today, just ran it through FoCal with my normal setup. It said +19 at 50x the focal length, and it said +3 at 25x focal length. Ran it through the AF (in)consitency test and it shoots three or so shots then the forth shot it drops completely oof. Ending up with a consistency of 92,6%.

I will do the whole test again now, need a coffe first. And I'll posting my findings.

Does anyone know if the "different distance afma" works for me? I mean, +3 at 1,25m and +19 at 5 meters, can that be plotted in to the lens via docking so it changes the afma automatically after the distance I focus on?

Dissapointment so far, but still early.

I have the Sigma 35 Art and the dock. They do allow you to program in different AFMA values at 4 different distances. Like 6", 18", 4', Infinity. I was able to really "dial" in my lens using their dock. Plus I get future firmware upgrades.

I suggest getting the dock just for future proofing the product.

Thanks, that confirms my hope

Man I love this lens now. FoCal was way off on this one.

 

[sagittariansrock]

I'm afraid I caved in. Sold my Sigma 35 and bought the 35L...
I know I will love the L, but feeling sort of guilty of betraying the Sigma brotherhood...