Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG Art Series Lens Samples

[Talley]

I'm going to catch flak for this but my sigma art 50 is pretty much useless at 1.4-2.0 af wise. Inconsistent and inaccurate,on multiple bodies including the 1dx2. This is my 3rd unit. This has left me pretty jaded re sigma brand, will stick with canon, it just works..

The irony is that it's such a sharp lens..

I'll want very solid evidence of AF consistency before going anywhere near another Sigma lens. You're right, you get incredibly sharp results when AF is accurate, but my Sigmas have been so hit & miss I never trusted them enough to use on a commercial project. I'm 100% EF-L now. Like you say, it just works.

-pw

Did you ever calibrate yours with the dock?

 

[Alex_M]

Talley,

AF inconsistency cannot be adjusted by USB dock calibration. I have spent hundreds of hours in attempt to achieve that perfect AF focus performance for my Art lenses. I tried everything possible under all sorts of lighting conditions : natural light, bright light, shade, halogen lighting, led lighting ... Even fluro. It made no difference.
It could be right on the money and next shot front focusing and then back focusing straight after.
The real ARTistic AF if you will. Unpredictable and moody. I ended up selling my Art lens collection as I was not prepared to fight this dreadful AF battle any longer. I am happy to revisit my decision as soon as Sigma worked the issue out. Art glass is fantastic if you are prepared to MF your shots. Otherwise, there's some less exotic but more reliable glass readily available. I hope it helps.

 

[Maiaibing]

WTF?! No one cares that the weight is unknown??

Big & heavy. What more do you need to know? Do you weigh your mounted setup before going out to shoot?

 

[The Flasher]

I'm going to catch flak for this but my sigma art 50 is pretty much useless at 1.4-2.0 af wise. Inconsistent and inaccurate,on multiple bodies including the 1dx2. This is my 3rd unit. This has left me pretty jaded re sigma brand, will stick with canon, it just works..

The irony is that it's such a sharp lens..

I'll want very solid evidence of AF consistency before going anywhere near another Sigma lens. You're right, you get incredibly sharp results when AF is accurate, but my Sigmas have been so hit & miss I never trusted them enough to use on a commercial project. I'm 100% EF-L now. Like you say, it just works.

-pw

It's a total gamble using the Art Sigmas commercially - plus the lack of weather sealing gasket compromises your sealed bodies. Cheers

 

[Jopa]

Jopa, can you tell us what is the low light AF consistency like with the lens? Take some shots in a dimly lit room and see how it goes? ideally, you would set a target and camera on tripod and keep the target dimly lit whilst using your camera centre AF point to focuss on the target... taking 5-10 shots, how many were tack sharp and how many out of focus? I know, this all sounds like a dounting task. See how you go . Thank you!
293.msg635677#msg635677 date=1479180051]

Very consistent, in a pretty bad light - wide open 1/100s @ ISO 6400 - focuses accurately and fast. I'm waiting for the weekend to take pics of my kids outdoors and in the meantime shooting everything I see indoors. No problem getting a clear reflection in my cats eyes so far
On a tripod wide open 5 out of 5 shots are in focus (~2m distance), light 1/100 @ ISO 2000. I ran FoCal (@ ISO 100 with some extra light), it measured ~99% consistency (multiple tests from 1.6 to 7m). So it's pretty reliable. I've heard lots of sad stories about Sigma's accuracy, so the AF was my biggest concern when I got this lens.
Hand held wide open shooting is a different story though... For close subjects f/1.4 is too shallow, and 1mm camera or subject movement makes a huge difference. I just shoot bursts, and out of 5 I'm getting ~2-3 in focus.

 

[pwp]

I'm going to catch flak for this but my sigma art 50 is pretty much useless at 1.4-2.0 af wise. Inconsistent and inaccurate,on multiple bodies including the 1dx2. This is my 3rd unit. This has left me pretty jaded re sigma brand, will stick with canon, it just works..

The irony is that it's such a sharp lens..

I'll want very solid evidence of AF consistency before going anywhere near another Sigma lens. You're right, you get incredibly sharp results when AF is accurate, but my Sigmas have been so hit & miss I never trusted them enough to use on a commercial project. I'm 100% EF-L now. Like you say, it just works.

-pw

Did you ever calibrate yours with the dock?

Like others, tried everything, test, test, test...yawn...
I tried hard to like them and make them work. Hello eBay. No more Sigmas for me.

-pw

 

[Maiaibing]

Waiting for an offer @890$ today. If it happens, I'll probably risk it and get one,

 

[Maiaibing]

Hand held wide open shooting is a different story though... For close subjects f/1.4 is too shallow, and 1mm camera or subject movement makes a huge difference. I just shoot bursts, and out of 5 I'm getting ~2-3 in focus.

Normal for such a FL and wide opening.

 

[suburbia]

Re the focusing issues of previous models, is this where the 5D MkIV dual pixel thing could help?

 

[Alex_M]

Nope, AF issue was related to over viewfinder ( Phase Detecton) AF mode only. in live view Sigma Arts (Contrast Detection) AF engine was always spot on. Manual focusing and Live View focusing were not affected.

Re the focusing issues of previous models, is this where the 5D MkIV dual pixel thing could help?

 

[Jopa]

The CA is quite noticeable. I'll post a sample later today.

 

[Alex_M]

Jopa, Thanks!

Lenstip found the longitudial and spherical chromatic abberations to be not very well controled but moderate.

Lateral cromatic abberation:

"...The results are quite sensational. No matter what detector is used, the (lateral - A.M.) aberration level oscillates near 0.01- 0.02%. It means you’ll have problems with noticing the chromatic aberration in real life photos even if you examine blown-up crops in great detail. Similarly excellent values in this category had both Zeisses, the Otus and the Milvus..."

http://www.lenstip.com/491.5-Lens_review-Sigma_A_85_mm_f_1.4_DG_HSM_Chromatic_and_spherical_aberration.html

The CA is quite noticeable. I'll post a sample later today.

 

[Maiaibing]

Lenstip found the longitudial and spherical chromatic abberations to be not very well controled but moderate.

Wow - Lenstip is not holding back!:

"I imagine Zeiss must gnash their collective teeth quite strongly. They invented the Otus series which was supposed to prove that, for a quite astronomical price, you can produce an optically outstanding lens practically without any flaws. Meanwhile Sigma presented their 85 mm device which is not only able to win a duel with the Otus 1.4/85 in the most important categories but also breaks the resolution record of the Otus 1.4/28 on the sensor of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Mind you it is over three times cheaper. Nothing to add I suppose – a fully deserved the Lenstip Editor’s Choice award."

I of course do mind that its only 1/3 of the price of the Otus - people will think I'm cheap. But hey. For a couple of grand I'll live with that...

 

[Maiaibing]

Wow - Lenstip is not holding back!:
(...)
I of course do mind that its only 1/3 of the price of the Otus - people will think I'm cheap. But hey. For a couple of grand I'll live with that...

Just bagged the special deal and pre-ordered for 987.83 USD. (had to follow up on the Lenstip review after hearing nothing for a couple of days...) ;D

Downside is that I have to wait for some days. And then - due to travel - it will be collecting dust for a while. So in my hands mid DEC at the earliest. :'(

 

[LordofTackle]

Lenstip found the longitudial and spherical chromatic abberations to be not very well controled but moderate.

I of course do mind that its only 1/3 of the price of the Otus - people will think I'm cheap. But hey. For a couple of grand I'll live with that...

And you even get AF with it

Damn, I'm really uncertain now: I was actually ready to pull the trigger on the 85/1.2...but now the Sigma looks really tempting, especially if the AF problems have been addressed (as it seems).

As a side note: from my previous experience with the 85L (rented) it seems that Lenstip has some problem with theirs (maybe no AFMA done?). The 85L is definitively sharper in the center than what they showed, even wide open.

Aaaand: right now I could get the L for roughly the same price as the Sigma, so that's really tempting.

 

[Jopa]

Wow - Lenstip is not holding back!:
(...)
I of course do mind that its only 1/3 of the price of the Otus - people will think I'm cheap. But hey. For a couple of grand I'll live with that...

Just bagged the special deal and pre-ordered for 987.83 USD. (had to follow up on the Lenstip review after hearing nothing for a couple of days...) ;D

Downside is that I have to wait for some days. And then - due to travel - it will be collecting dust for a while. So in my hands mid DEC at the earliest. :'(

Sounds like greentoe.com ?

 

[Jopa]

Jopa, Thanks!

Lenstip found the longitudial and spherical chromatic abberations to be not very well controled but moderate.

Lateral cromatic abberation:

"...The results are quite sensational. No matter what detector is used, the (lateral - A.M.) aberration level oscillates near 0.01- 0.02%. It means you’ll have problems with noticing the chromatic aberration in real life photos even if you examine blown-up crops in great detail. Similarly excellent values in this category had both Zeisses, the Otus and the Milvus..."

http://www.lenstip.com/491.5-Lens_review-Sigma_A_85_mm_f_1.4_DG_HSM_Chromatic_and_spherical_aberration.html

The CA is quite noticeable. I'll post a sample later today.

Yes, I think it's mostly LoCA. Here is a crop:

 

[-1]

Anyone have a comment on the 1.4 and MO issues with the 5D4 and 1DX2?

https://www.sigmaphoto.com/article/dear-canon-eos-5d-mark-iv-users/

 

[Maiaibing]

Jopa, Thanks!

Lenstip found the longitudial and spherical chromatic abberations to be not very well controled but moderate.

Lateral cromatic abberation:

"...The results are quite sensational. No matter what detector is used, the (lateral - A.M.) aberration level oscillates near 0.01- 0.02%. It means you’ll have problems with noticing the chromatic aberration in real life photos even if you examine blown-up crops in great detail. Similarly excellent values in this category had both Zeisses, the Otus and the Milvus..."

http://www.lenstip.com/491.5-Lens_review-Sigma_A_85_mm_f_1.4_DG_HSM_Chromatic_and_spherical_aberration.html

The CA is quite noticeable. I'll post a sample later today.

Yes, I think it's mostly LoCA. Here is a crop:

Does not look that bad to me - but of course YMMV. More importantly because its LoCA it should be very easily fixed in post-processing.

 

[Maiaibing]

Anyone have a comment on the 1.4 and MO issues with the 5D4 and 1DX2?

https://www.sigmaphoto.com/article/dear-canon-eos-5d-mark-iv-users/

I hardly ever use it and I cannot even remember which of my lenses have it (most/all I think?), but its sort of reassuring to have available - like an insurance you hope never to have to use.

Probably comes down to how often you use it yourself.