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

[skitron]

wow i cant believe the near hysteria this caused

Yeah, well we're all either fanbois with no objectivity or Canon-bashers with no objectivity, right? :

Two reviews have noted AF issues with the lens, other reviews have not (though many reviews don't actually test AF performance). Maybe Roger Cicala will get a large batch and provide some solid evidence one way or the other.

heres hoping roger can get a batch and test. his batch testing seems to provide the most objective and comprehensive analysis of lenses available. also if there are issues I hope they can be sorted with the sigma dock and the issues aren't random and all over the place like the old 50 was (well for me anyway) its odd that my wifes 5Dmk3 seems to have no problem with this lens and is providing amazing images wide open with remarkable AF consistency where as for me it was all over the place...

That is odd that it would be so different on identical bodies.

My dg did the roulette thing until I sent it to Sigma, has been decent,but not perfect since though. LOL, maybe the art has to be returned to them as well before it works?

 

[Viggo]

I shipped my 50 Art to service this evening. It seems me and Eldar experienced the same exact thing. It looks to be perfect, then a few days later it starts to drift and miss and then become perfect with yet another calibration, few more days same story over.

So if a reviewer only does the number of shots over a short periode it works brilliant. But more thorough and it goes straight down the , ehm, sounds like litter..

Hopefully something can be done. But I will take a stab at it and say this is done by Canon, a small disturbance in the firmware that handles AF communication. Would be VERY interesting to try my lens mount converted to a Sigma camera.

 

[Loswr]

It might be time to give the Sigma bodies a serious look if they work well with their current glass. Anyone know of any credible reviews of their current bodies?

I read a review Michael Reichmann's (Luminous Landscape) review of the DP2M (which uses the Foveon X3 sensor) that raved about it. Was it credible? Well, he listed one of the cons as "poor image quality above ISO 400." I find it hard to rave about a camera with ISO performance similar to some of the earliest CMOS sensors, but if all you do is shoot at ISO 100, maybe you can consider a Sigma body.

 

[skitron]

It might be time to give the Sigma bodies a serious look if they work well with their current glass. Anyone know of any credible reviews of their current bodies?

I read a review Michael Reichmann's (Luminous Landscape) review of the DP2M (which uses the Foveon X3 sensor) that raved about it. Was it credible? Well, he listed one of the cons as "poor image quality above ISO 400." I find it hard to rave about a camera with ISO performance similar to some of the earliest CMOS sensors, but if all you do is shoot at ISO 100, maybe you can consider a Sigma body.

I'm all for just using something that works. That said, I actually deleted my post after reading some reviews on B&H, apparently while you were replying... High ISO is very important to me, so the Sigma body is a non starter. Plus some complained about af...

 

[Eldar]

Has anyone read the comments on some of the Nikon sites? Do they report similar issues?

 

[wickidwombat]

mines been perfect since i calibrated it and posted those reports
I'll keep checking though....

 

[Viggo]

mines been perfect since i calibrated it and posted those reports
I'll keep checking though....

That's great, thanks. I'm glad people have working copies, keep us posted! I must say I'm beginning to really doubt it all. Does it make sense that I buy two sigma lenses and they both do the same while 98% of other people have flawless copies? Sorry, but I don't think so. It's just a little far fetched my luck is that bad, especially since we all got from the first batch. And a fellow Norwegian in Eldar also experience the same issue.

If anybody use it on a different body than the 1dx or even has that and another body, does the focus act up on those bodies as well?

And I was thinking the same thing about Nikon and the Sigma, maybe I'll I sign up there and start a thread about it.

 

[wickidwombat]

mines been perfect since i calibrated it and posted those reports
I'll keep checking though....

That's great, thanks. I'm glad people have working copies, keep us posted! I must say I'm beginning to really doubt it all. Does it make sense that I buy two sigma lenses and they both do the same while 98% of other people have flawless copies? Sorry, but I don't think so. It's just a little far fetched my luck is that bad, especially since we all got from the first batch. And a fellow Norwegian in Eldar also experience the same issue.

If anybody use it on a different body than the 1dx or even has that and another body, does the focus act up on those bodies as well?

And I was thinking the same thing about Nikon and the Sigma, maybe I'll I sign up there and start a thread about it.

I think you have the worst luck of any person on the planet with lenses...

 

[Viggo]

mines been perfect since i calibrated it and posted those reports
I'll keep checking though....

That's great, thanks. I'm glad people have working copies, keep us posted! I must say I'm beginning to really doubt it all. Does it make sense that I buy two sigma lenses and they both do the same while 98% of other people have flawless copies? Sorry, but I don't think so. It's just a little far fetched my luck is that bad, especially since we all got from the first batch. And a fellow Norwegian in Eldar also experience the same issue.

If anybody use it on a different body than the 1dx or even has that and another body, does the focus act up on those bodies as well?

And I was thinking the same thing about Nikon and the Sigma, maybe I'll I sign up there and start a thread about it.

I think you have the worst luck of any person on the planet with lenses...

;D perhaps, perhaps. I thought that when I bought the 35 Art when everybody was loving it and mine didn't work, it took a lot, but I admitted mine was one of a select few that didn't work. That's why I bought the 50 Art brand new and didn't wait, an easy return or repair or exchange compared to buy used, and guess what, glad I did. So my faith in Sigma is extremely limited now, if the 50 Art doesn't turn out right, that's it, I could never recommend buying Sigma to anyone ever again. And the "new" Sigma is still flawed with the same thing they always were. And it's just sad, because they got it 95% perfect.

 

[Sporgon]

Has anyone read the comments on some of the Nikon sites? Do they report similar issues?

I did a google search on AF issues with this lens and it apperas to be throughout Nikon and Sony too. Same thing; AF apperas to drift over time.

 

[Viggo]

Has anyone read the comments on some of the Nikon sites? Do they report similar issues?

I did a google search on AF issues with this lens and it apperas to be throughout Nikon and Sony too. Same thing; AF apperas to drift over time.

I did the same and couldn't find anything, do you have a link?

 

[Sporgon]

@Viggo, I re traced my search links and my apologies: the flicr boards were dealing with the old Sigma 50 1.4, not the new Art. I'm not picking up the CR threads on this either though, so will keep looking.

 

[Viggo]

@Viggo, I re traced my search links and my apologies: the flicr boards were dealing with the old Sigma 50 1.4, not the new Art. I'm not picking up the CR threads on this either though, so will keep looking.

Thanks! Maybe Sigma are working on a firmware and have paid google to remove it. "Eeeeexcelleent" *touching finger tips*

 

[Eldar]

Here is a typical example of the AF issue.

Single AF point on her right eye. Potentially I could have ended up with a slight front focus in this case, since her eyebrow and hair is closer to me. Instead you can see the focus plane on top of her head.

5DIII. 1/50s, f1.4, ISO6400

 

[Eldar]

Here´s another, shot 1 minute earlier. Single AF point on her left eye, spot on.
Same data

 

[Eldar]

Here is another, from the canals of Amsterdam, where it worked. Single AF point on the front white deck of the boat.
5DIII, 1/50s, f1.4, ISO6400

 

[Eldar]

And while we´re at it, here´s one that didn´t work. Single AF point on the right eye of the blonde. As you can see, the focus plane is on the glass.
5DIII, 1/50s, f1.4, ISO12800

 

[DominoDude]

And while we´re at it, here´s one that didn´t work. Single AF point on the right eye of the blonde. As you can see, the focus plane is on the glass.
5DIII, 1/50s, f1.4, ISO12800

The image quality of the Sigma is great, but the reliability of the AF is so so low that I won't ever buy a Sigma again. I have the earlier version of the 50/1.4 DG EX HSM, and it's the most expensive doorstop I've ever bought.
Only being able to tell in post processing if a shot is a keeper, or not, and it is only luck that decides if you get any keepers at all. Micro focus adjusted mine 3 times and every time I get different amounts of compensation. According to Sigma it's a lens that's within spec's when they have tested it for me.

I hope you will get more consistent, and good, results out of your new Art lens.

 

[jacksonz]

hiya, just joined the forums for this thread. Bought my 50 art 2 weeks ago and have been trying it out in and out of studio and on my commercial shoots. First 5 shots I took at 1.4 outside the sigma store in shanghai, 2 were completely out of focus, it wasn't even an issue of focus shift, like NOTHING was in focus. The other 3 were amazing sharp at 1.4. In studio, half body and closeups were amazing at f8. Full body shooting from 4 meters away with a 200w modeling lamp, the lens would focus 1 feet in front of the model 50% of the time... adjusted +6 in a 5dmk2 and single point focus, the shift was much better but still some 'soft' images. Outdoors in bright sunlight almost all images were dead on. I thought I had a bad copy and was going to swap it, but by the looks of it I'm not going to bother.

I still think i'll keep it as when the focus is right, this lens in incredible.. but I won't be using it for my commercial work much as the inconsistency is way too much.

 

[Viggo]

I had only been shooting that lens for nearly two weeks, and started trying and comparing to the 85 L and I couldn't believe the difference, I had almost gotten used to all the oof shots from the Sigma. I just deleted and moved on, but trying the same subject 5-10 times and it's ten meters in front just isn't acceptable. The 85 is like glue!