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

[wickidwombat]

sigma 50mm f1.4 DG

 

[wickidwombat]

canon 50mm f1.4

 

[wickidwombat]

canon 50mm f1.8 mk2

 

[wickidwombat]

this was all shot tethered on a tripod
lit by an LED video light
focused via live view and tweeked on the eyeball of the dragon for peak focus
exposure was set to approximately +1 EV for all shots
Auto White balance

images are JPG straight from the camera

 

[zlatko]

sigma 50mm f1.4 Art

Interesting. The two Sigma lenses seem to offer the most background blur.

 

[Viggo]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

 

[candyman]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

I guess it is like riding a bycicle or car....by practice it is getting better and better. Of course a bycicle or car by itself can always have a problem.
Looking forward to getting my Sigma 50mm today.

 

[wickidwombat]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

Like I said calibrate it manually using the dock and then use focal to check my focal check showed only a +1 change to afma

 

[Viggo]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

Like I said calibrate it manually using the dock and then use focal to check my focal check showed only a +1 change to afma

What's your luck with say, tracking a car driving away or slower moving subjects in bursts?

 

[sgtpepper]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

This sounds more in line with what I am experiencing with my 50 Art. I generally do not like Ai Servo, so I only use it when it is absolutely necessary, which it hasn´t been yet during the first 10 days of using the 50 Art .

I mostly use One Shot AF, with single point spot focus and AF priority (not release priority). With this setting I have consistently good focus behaviour with the Sigma Art 50. I typically shoot portraits, so most of my targets are at 0.5 to 1.5 meters distance, and holding quite still. Also, I typically shoot with sufficient available light to get good exposures at ISO 100 - ISO 400. It is a situation that is not challenging the AF system very much, but at f/1.4 the DoF is very narrow, especially when the subject is close to the camera, so even slight AF inaccuracies will ruin the shot.

Only when subjects are moving too much for me to aim the point of focus in an exact manner I switch to single point focus without "spot", but still i usually prefer to One Shot AF when the movement is slow. I only took a few pictures with that settings so far, and they seem OK, but it is not a good basis for concluding. In any cases, subject motion makes it difficult to objectively blame the lens of any focus misses.

My skill with Ai Servo is too basic to conclude on lens focus performance. It seems to depend solely on my ability hold the camera stable, while pointing at more or less the same location on the moving subject. I would not blame the lens for any focus misses in such situations. I always expect quite a few shots at moving targets to be OoF at f/1.4.

I am very happy with the 50 Art AF performance at the moment, after tuning it in the Sigma USB dock.

 

[wickidwombat]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

Like I said calibrate it manually using the dock and then use focal to check my focal check showed only a +1 change to afma

What's your luck with say, tracking a car driving away or slower moving subjects in bursts?

Did you see the pic of my daughter coming down the slide in servo at 1.4?

 

[Viggo]

viggo how much sharpening are you adding to those images in LR?

As stated I added a bit too much to really emphasize the focal point. Redid everything today and it seems the small "macro target" in FoCal isn't working with the 50 at mfd. and infinity I simply couldn't do in FoCal. But now it looks much better. I'm not 100% ready to say it works, but it's much better. The Sigma doesn't seem to like Ai Servo, so I more often tap the button that switch to One Shot and it does the trick. It's slowly turning into a winner here.

Like I said calibrate it manually using the dock and then use focal to check my focal check showed only a +1 change to afma

What's your luck with say, tracking a car driving away or slower moving subjects in bursts?

Did you see the pic of my daughter coming down the slide in servo at 1.4?

Lol, yeah I did. And I actually tried a bit today myself. Got out my sons RC car and drove with my toe and shot off with Case 2 and 4 point, and it nailed 9 out of 10 shots, even though it was close and goes pretty fast. It's looking up..

 

[razeac]

I thought I posted this pic already, so I scanned the whole thread.. lol

anyway, I was busy with this lens lately. As Viggo said, one shot seems to work a lot with this lens. It's hopeless with ai servo. The way I do it with one shot focus, I spam the af button... i mean literally spam just to hit focus...

its really sharp at 1.4..

 

[Viggo]

Now that's a car! Love the the angle and it works very well with shallow dof.

I'm actually glad to hear that your experience is very similar to mine, because that means it's not copy variation, but just the lens. Somehow that's way better to me.

Mine has grown on me, and I swear a lens and camera needs to be used a bit together before they start to work together, I know it's sounds crazy. I have a bit better luck with servo, but sometimes I too have to spam the AF button to really get a sharp picture.

Have you experienced the bug where AF-ON button won't start focus if the shutter is pressed halfway?

 

[razeac]

Hei Viggo, thanks for your comment. Yes I think it's the communication between the 5d Mark II and the 50 Art. I still don't have the dock yet. But what I am thinking now is to buy a focus screen to assist the autofocus. I mainly do portraits.

With regards with af bug, I am not sure if I am saying this correctly but I have disabled that halfway button function on the camera. So now, if I let someone take a picture of me using my camera, I need to explain the whole process of pressing the Af button or the pic will be just a useless unfocused shot. Lol

 

[Viggo]

Hei Viggo, thanks for your comment. Yes I think it's the communication between the 5d Mark II and the 50 Art. I still don't have the dock yet. But what I am thinking now is to buy a focus screen to assist the autofocus. I mainly do portraits.

With regards with af bug, I am not sure if I am saying this correctly but I have disabled that halfway button function on the camera. So now, if I let someone take a picture of me using my camera, I need to explain the whole process of pressing the Af button or the pic will be just a useless unfocused shot. Lol

Yeah I have the same setup. I also use the AF-ON button for AF and only metering on the shutter. But if I start metering by holding down the shutter button halfway, like you normally would do to start AF, and then push the AF-ON button, it sometimes won't focus at all. So then I have to release the shutter completely and push the AF-ON first and then the shutter. It's very annoying ..

 

[Viggo]

Lol, yeah I did. And I actually tried a bit today myself. Got out my sons RC car and drove with my toe and shot off with Case 2 and 4 point, and it nailed 9 out of 10 shots, even though it was close and goes pretty fast. It's looking up..

No offense, Viggo, but this is starting to sound like lens witchcraft: the Sigma 50mm works right if there is a full moon, you balance on your left leg, and say "boogum" before you turn the camera on. I probably wouldn't tolerate a lens with these autofocus issues--I'd send it back for an exchange or refund. Sigma should offer to "make it right" on every one of these lenses which doesn't perform. Perhaps they'll get the message when they start choking on the returns.

The purchase exception, from my perspective, would be for folks who are willing to accept a manual focus lens but can't afford the Otus 55mm or TS-E 45mm II, or can't wait for the likely fall/winter release of the latter.

I'm happy for folks here who own one that they are finding ways of making the Sigma work for them, and kudos to Viggo and others who are sharing their secrets of getting some autofocus performance. But I'm quite saddened to hear it is such a flaky product out of the box. Very disappointing design and quality control, especially for a leading product that is more than double the cost of the comparable Canon. My recommendation to others will be to wait through 2015 for a possible Canon upgrade if they really want an f/1.4 with autofocus. This result puts a pall over the entire revised Sigma lineup for me.

Non taken

But I respectfully disagree with you, but I felt the same way you do about the 35 Art. But the 50 is an epic lens, it really is. Canon almost have no lens comparable, and no where near the IQ at 1.4. It's close to my 200 f2 in all aspects, distortion, CA control, sharpness etc. I'm not saying it's 100% equal, but it's very close, and that is pretty crazy. It makes me very annoyed with the 85 L and it's ca issues now, again, crazy.

The AF is much better than 35 Art I had and it's veryvery stable, when the contrast is there.

And as for calibration I applaud Sigma for providing the docking, their hands are tied when it comes to AF patents that Canon and Nikon have. And that the provide a solution to overcome that and really have a tool to make it hit perfect is awesome, and it's not very expensive either, even if you have only one Sigma.

Here's a shot at 1.4 in indoor daylight. I can live with annoying AF misses for IQ like this and the good AF performance you get.

 

[Viggo]

Thanks! Yeah, I need a working AF as well, but I don't have the pressure of, say, a wedding photographer. And if I absolutely can't afford to miss, I use the 24-70. Or maybe try the 50 at f2.8, lol.

 

[razeac]

Hei Viggo, thanks for your comment. Yes I think it's the communication between the 5d Mark II and the 50 Art. I still don't have the dock yet. But what I am thinking now is to buy a focus screen to assist the autofocus. I mainly do portraits.

With regards with af bug, I am not sure if I am saying this correctly but I have disabled that halfway button function on the camera. So now, if I let someone take a picture of me using my camera, I need to explain the whole process of pressing the Af button or the pic will be just a useless unfocused shot. Lol

Yeah I have the same setup. I also use the AF-ON button for AF and only metering on the shutter. But if I start metering by holding down the shutter button halfway, like you normally would do to start AF, and then push the AF-ON button, it sometimes won't focus at all. So then I have to release the shutter completely and push the AF-ON first and then the shutter. It's very annoying ..

I hope you find a fix for that soon Viggo. I'll be surely pissed if I have it on my camera.

 

[Viggo]

Hei Viggo, thanks for your comment. Yes I think it's the communication between the 5d Mark II and the 50 Art. I still don't have the dock yet. But what I am thinking now is to buy a focus screen to assist the autofocus. I mainly do portraits.

With regards with af bug, I am not sure if I am saying this correctly but I have disabled that halfway button function on the camera. So now, if I let someone take a picture of me using my camera, I need to explain the whole process of pressing the Af button or the pic will be just a useless unfocused shot. Lol

Yeah I have the same setup. I also use the AF-ON button for AF and only metering on the shutter. But if I start metering by holding down the shutter button halfway, like you normally would do to start AF, and then push the AF-ON button, it sometimes won't focus at all. So then I have to release the shutter completely and push the AF-ON first and then the shutter. It's very annoying ..

I hope you find a fix for that soon Viggo. I'll be surely pissed if I have it on my camera.

Yeah, and I think it possibly can happen between shots in a burst, because sometimes in a burst it tracks VERY poor, and when I check images 2,3,4 the point of focus haven't moved from first shot.

I think it's a firmware issue with lens.