Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

[Viggo]

Got my new, second copy, 50 Art today. I seemed really great at 0, at least farther away than 3-5 meters. I ran it through FoCal, first once where it said predicted afma +50! I decided to realign my setup as something had to be wrong. Did it again and it switched between +21 and +15. And it kept giving me the old "focal has tried focusing 5 times, but quality of focus varies a lot.. etc" but i continued the test and ended up with +11, I had dialed in +5 in camera. All this done at 50x focal length.

I went outside and +11 at infinity was seriously off, put it back to 0, and it works pretty well. I went through the values for the three other distances between 0 and +11.

I ended up with 0 in camera and the lens via docking set to, +8 at mfd, +6 at 0,7m, +5 at 1,5m and 0 at infinity. For now it seems really nice and consistent and not like the other one I had. BIG pinch of salt if this stays this way, I am not saying it's perfect now, but today it's perfect, we'll see over the next week how it evolves. I hope nothing happens...

 

[R1-7D]

All of this has me quite worried and I am thinking about cancelling my order. I don't mind spending a bit of time with FoCal calibrating a lens, but I don't want to be bothered with having to spend even more money buying Sigma's dock just to calibrate it at every conceivable focal distance. If Sigma can't design a lens that has decent focusing without the ridiculous tinkering they should bloody well just include the dock with their lenses.

I haven't even received my copy yet and I am scared stiff.

Got my new, second copy, 50 Art today. I seemed really great at 0, at least farther away than 3-5 meters. I ran it through FoCal, first once where it said predicted afma +50! I decided to realign my setup as something had to be wrong. Did it again and it switched between +21 and +15. And it kept giving me the old "focal has tried focusing 5 times, but quality of focus varies a lot.. etc" but i continued the test and ended up with +11, I had dialed in +5 in camera. All this done at 50x focal length.

I went outside and +11 at infinity was seriously off, put it back to 0, and it works pretty well. I went through the values for the three other distances between 0 and +11.

I ended up with 0 in camera and the lens via docking set to, +8 at mfd, +6 at 0,7m, +5 at 1,5m and 0 at infinity. For now it seems really nice and consistent and not like the other one I had. BIG pinch of salt if this stays this way, I am not saying it's perfect now, but today it's perfect, we'll see over the next week how it evolves. I hope nothing happens...

 

[jreach11]

Check the other 50 Art threads and you'll see this happens to others as well. You can buy the docking and adjust different afma values for different distances first. But since people say they have copies with zero issues and non of us with faulty ones can get them to work no matter what, send it back while you can.

Thanks Viggo. I read through the other threads and think my issue is a bit different from yours and Eldars (and others). Mine is that the autofocus does not move at all out of infinity after focusing on a far away object then trying to focus on a closer object. The autofocus works great if not focusing to infinity and does not show any front or back focus. But once it hits infinity, it will not move out without a manual nudge on the focus ring. That issue also prevents me from being able to use Focal on it as the software can't focus on the target after defocusing to infinity - I've tried several times and the fully automatic test fails almost immediately. Do you think that's still something that the Sigma dock would be able to assist with? I've contacted both Sigma and the seller (Camera Land) for support, but would obviously much prefer if there's a quick and easy fix!

It sounds mechanical to me, and then repair or exchange is the options I'm afraid.

So called up a local camera store today who suggested I clean the contact points on the lens. Said it's not common, but he has had a few issues with lens before where they picked up some residue post-inspection during packaging. Was skeptical as had never heard that on a new lens and that the fix could be that easy, but it seems to have resolved my issue. Focus from infinity now works as would be expected. Need to use a little more to feel confident about it, but am relieved that I may not need to send in. Just picked up the Sigma USB dock as well, so excited to tune in my 50mm and 35mm. Hope nothing more happens with mine as well.....

 

[Viggo]

Check the other 50 Art threads and you'll see this happens to others as well. You can buy the docking and adjust different afma values for different distances first. But since people say they have copies with zero issues and non of us with faulty ones can get them to work no matter what, send it back while you can.

Thanks Viggo. I read through the other threads and think my issue is a bit different from yours and Eldars (and others). Mine is that the autofocus does not move at all out of infinity after focusing on a far away object then trying to focus on a closer object. The autofocus works great if not focusing to infinity and does not show any front or back focus. But once it hits infinity, it will not move out without a manual nudge on the focus ring. That issue also prevents me from being able to use Focal on it as the software can't focus on the target after defocusing to infinity - I've tried several times and the fully automatic test fails almost immediately. Do you think that's still something that the Sigma dock would be able to assist with? I've contacted both Sigma and the seller (Camera Land) for support, but would obviously much prefer if there's a quick and easy fix!

It sounds mechanical to me, and then repair or exchange is the options I'm afraid.

So called up a local camera store today who suggested I clean the contact points on the lens. Said it's not common, but he has had a few issues with lens before where they picked up some residue post-inspection during packaging. Was skeptical as had never heard that on a new lens and that the fix could be that easy, but it seems to have resolved my issue. Focus from infinity now works as would be expected. Need to use a little more to feel confident about it, but am relieved that I may not need to send in. Just picked up the Sigma USB dock as well, so excited to tune in my 50mm and 35mm. Hope nothing more happens with mine as well.....

That's great stuff! Glad it works for you now. I also thought the cleaning contacts was never an issue with brand new lenses, but when I hear why, it makes sense.

With the new 50 the issue I had with the AF-ON not engaging AF when half pressed shutter is also gone.

 

[R1-7D]

So what is the consensus on this lens: do you all think it's a safe bet, or should I maybe check back later after these initial production runs?

 

[jreach11]

So what is the consensus on this lens: do you all think it's a safe bet, or should I maybe check back later after these initial production runs?

I think any early adopter is taking a bit of a risk on any product, but the trade offs here are incredible IQ, good autofocus, and great build quality. I'm chalking up my personal issue (see prior comments in this thread) to a fluke as I think it should be very rare for the lens contact points to acquire some residue or other byproduct that interferes with the AF system. Lens has been in great working condition since cleaning earlier today and I think I'll be extremely glad that I have this lens from now through the next several months (as compared to if I had waited for next few production batches). I'd say if it's in your budget and you're excited to get in, then go for it!

 

[wickidwombat]

Got my new, second copy, 50 Art today. I seemed really great at 0, at least farther away than 3-5 meters. I ran it through FoCal, first once where it said predicted afma +50! I decided to realign my setup as something had to be wrong. Did it again and it switched between +21 and +15. And it kept giving me the old "focal has tried focusing 5 times, but quality of focus varies a lot.. etc" but i continued the test and ended up with +11, I had dialed in +5 in camera. All this done at 50x focal length.

I went outside and +11 at infinity was seriously off, put it back to 0, and it works pretty well. I went through the values for the three other distances between 0 and +11.

I ended up with 0 in camera and the lens via docking set to, +8 at mfd, +6 at 0,7m, +5 at 1,5m and 0 at infinity. For now it seems really nice and consistent and not like the other one I had. BIG pinch of salt if this stays this way, I am not saying it's perfect now, but today it's perfect, we'll see over the next week how it evolves. I hope nothing happens...

I think its the in body AFMA causing the problems
As i said focal recomended -1 AFMA and i used it for a bit but felt it was slightly off a little from the lens adjust only via the dock and i've set AFMA back to 0 now

seems good, mine still seems pretty consistent I still get misses but I think its me being rushed and sloppy technique moving the camera a bit more so than the lens

 

[Viggo]

A bit of positive news from my side, for once! The replacement 50 Art seems okay. I'm not ready to give it the all clear, but three days and 1500 images and I haven't really had a missed shot that wasn't to be expected or my fault. It tracks nice, no crazy misses and sharpness is there for all the shots.

Can't wait to hear from Eldar and what his 50 Art replacement is like.

 

[candyman]

A bit of positive news from my side, for once! The replacement 50 Art seems okay. I'm not ready to give it the all clear, but three days and 1500 images and I haven't really had a missed shot that wasn't to be expected or my fault. It tracks nice, no crazy misses and sharpness is there for all the shots.

Can't wait to hear from Eldar and what his 50 Art replacement is like.

Good to hear Viggo!
So maybe we soon can close this thread and open the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art (Photos ONLY)

 

[kaihp]

A bit of positive news from my side, for once! The replacement 50 Art seems okay. I'm not ready to give it the all clear, but three days and 1500 images and I haven't really had a missed shot that wasn't to be expected or my fault. It tracks nice, no crazy misses and sharpness is there for all the shots.

Can't wait to hear from Eldar and what his 50 Art replacement is like.

Viggo, I'm stoked to hear this! Hopefully Eldar can also report back good.

 

[pdirestajr]

Wow for 17 pages in am IMAGE GALLERY there are very few images here! What a wasted thread people!
More photos less chatter!!!

 

[Viggo]

Wow for 17 pages in am IMAGE GALLERY there are very few images here! What a wasted thread people!
More photos less chatter!!!

Well, if I and others had gotten a working d@mn lens in the first place I could show some images.

Maybe when people can use AF with their 50 art's we can can get this thread going with pictures. I'll upload a few later in this thread.

 

[lol]

Gave it its first serious use today... and I left myself more confused than when I started. Long story short, initial testing seemed to show focus was good enough, so I just used it. I saw backfocusing in the field but wasn't sure if that just me being too rusty on using the 5D2 or was it due to the lens. Then I noticed the AFMA was set to +17. My guess is this is the value I entered for the Zeiss 50 makro, and as they report themselves as "50mm lens" they ended up sharing the same value. I tried fiddling with it in the field but was getting nowhere.

Now, the above didn't stop me getting shots, although it may be a question of focus reliability. 50mm f/1.4 at close range for wildlife wasn't the best mix, as the DoF was often smaller than the width of the subject's eye...

Swan vs. dog by Crestie Crazy, on Flickr

Canon 5D mk2, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 A, at f/1.4, 1/5000s, ISO100.

A quick sample for now. This was more distant, and the focus was good enough by luck I have to admit. I did crop this image to better frame it, but if you can figure out flickr's current interface it is 100%. I should also add I just did a quick and dirty process on this, and the 100% view wasn't optimised as it was just an intermediate step to a smaller web view I posted elsewhere.

I need to get bigger ND filters as even on this overcast day I was close to overexposure when wide open.

 

[Viggo]

Here's one from yesterday @1.4

 

[wickidwombat]

still loving mine

 

[wickidwombat]

this one was in servo i was in a moving tour bus going pretty quick i was using single point AF with a mid outer point on his face

 

[wickidwombat]

here os one to show how sharp it is accross the frame

 

[giltaminphotography]

Hey all, so I just got the 50 art not long ago. I used it for my recent family shoot and noticed it was hitting about 85% of the time it probably needs a minor adjustment.But when it hits the shot stopped down oh is it ever pretty blows my 50 L in terms of sharpness and in my opinion the bokeh is pretty spectacular. The 85L is still my favourite but this this lens is right there.

 

[Viggo]

Snapshot from when we got home from kindergarten today, @1.4

From this afternoon at the playground, I pushed the swing and quickly pulled up my camera and took one shot before I had to get out of the way, needless to say, the 50 Art focusing issues are very much gone. Shot at 1.4.

 

[kaihp]

From this afternoon at the playground, I pushed the swing and quickly pulled up my camera and took one shot before I had to get out of the way, needless to say, the 50 Art focusing issues are very much gone. Shot at 1.4.

Great to hear that Viggo... oh, and great shots too.