Sigma 50 mm f/1.4 Art

[Kayaker72]

Looks like Bryan's review of the 50A is up.

Two quotes jumped out at me:

"What I learned from the many hours (actually extended into days) spent shooting and analyzing thousands of images is that the 50 Art lens' AF cannot be completely counted on. Sometimes, most images are properly focused and when my shots counted, this lens delivered. But sometimes, more images are out of focus than I am comfortable with."

I recently bought the 35A. I am still getting to know the lens, but this is almost exactly what I am seeing. I used it at my niece's 1 yr birthday party along with the 70-200 II. When the shots were in focus, they are sharp and really jump out at you. Maybe a bit of a "gold" color too them, but very nice photos. But the AF missed more often than I am used too, especially compared to the 70-200 II.

I set up a test, actually somewhat similar to Bryan's book with a butterfly. But I had a pattern surface beneath a box and the single point AF set up on the box. I took 10 pictures at f/1.4. You could see the focal plane vary just behind to just in front of the plane of the box. All lenses I've done this with do it a little, my 100-400L does it a lot. But the 35A did it more that usual.

Quick other note, but in bright light, the 35A did better, but in lower light (the purpose of the lens for me) the AF accuracy seems to fall off more than other lenses I own. I am still testing that observation.

But then Bryan says this:

"While I will dock a few points from this lens for occasional AF inconsistency, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens is now the overwhelming favorite in the 50mm field. This lens delivers excellent image quality, has a beautiful design and for what you get, a very attractive price. The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens is the easy 50mm choice for those with a moderate budget."

I haven't canceled my preorder, but I am thinking about it. $950 isn't that far away from the 50 L.

[neuroanatomist]

This is a departure from the norm for Bryan's lens tests:

"My evaluation lens was a short term loan from Sigma, as they offered the production-grade lens before it was commercially available."

Any time a manufacturer supplies a product to a well-known reviewer, a big unanswered question is whether the provided copy is truly representative of units purchased retail. Clearly, it would be in Sigma's best interest to pre-test a batch of them and pick the best copy they can find for review (in fact, they are supposed to generate measured MTFs for every lens they produce, so they have the data already).


I've always felt that one of the strengths of Bryan's reviews (in addition to their thoroughness and readability) is that he purchases review copies through standard retail channels (B&H may put him near the top of the preorder queue, but that's fine), and therefore avoids the potential confound of bias introduced by testing a 'hand-picked' lens from the manufacturer. I hope Bryan chooses to test one or more copies of the lens purchased retail to see if the results align with the copy provided by Sigma.

[Kayaker72]

I hope Bryan chooses to test one or more copies of the lens purchased retail to see if the results align with the copy provided by Sigma.

+1

I think that is the solution. I understand TDP having to get their review up in order to be competitive with other sites. SLRgear had a significant number of hits because they were the first review. But I absolutely agree. I trust Bryan's reviews more than most. I simply think he tries harder. If he is seeing copy variation, he tests multiple copies. The only other group I've seen do this is lensrentals, for obvious reasons. But it would be great to see the review results for the 50A verified with a true production copy.

That said, I think the picture is getting clearer with the "Art" series. Excellent optics, especially sharpness. Not the necessarily the old AF issues that Sigma had, but perhaps AF inconsistency issues. I suspect the level of light may affect the Sigma Art lenses more than it affects Canon lens. I'll try to test that tomorrow morning with the 35A.

Of course, the end result is important, can the "Art" lenses deliver the images you want. This may be why I am sensitive to the AF, but I "missed" several shots due to the AF issue in lower light. I've only tried the 35A in two events, so it deserves more of a chance, but one particular sequence with my niece and sister-in-law could have been great. But the 35A missed AF on consecutive shots. Usually with an EF lens, at least one shot would be sharp.

[neuroanatomist]

...but one particular sequence with my niece and sister-in-law could have been great. But the 35A missed AF on consecutive shots. Usually with an EF lens, at least one shot would be sharp.

That's what would worry me. In a controlled test (the butterfly/book series), where neither camera nor subject were moving, the 50A's AF clearly missed on 4 of the 10 shots shown, which Bryan states are representative of the more extensive series. I have a bit of trouble reconciling a 40% miss rate with 'occasional' AF inconsistency.

[Bryan Carnathan]

Thanks for the great discussion, everyone!

My review copy of the 50 Art was indeed manufacturer-provided (the only way to get one right now) and that of course leaves open the question of cherry picking. I will be very surprised if the copy I evaluated is noticeably better than the retail-purchased copies coming soon. If it is, Sigma's practice of selecting ultra-high performing models for evaluation purposes will quickly be called out. I'll try to get a retail copy of this lens in for testing. That way, we will all know. Sean will also be using this lens in more depth soon. We will advise on any inconsistencies we discover.

As for a 40% miss rate being high, I completely agree. My experience was not always that case. For example, I was probably getting a hit rate in high 80% range shooting runners at the track meet and probably in the mid-90% range during the long portrait session. Results with other subjects were mixed. Sometimes great. Sometimes not.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

[Kayaker72]

I preordered the morning of the release, and all I have received is a notice saying that the 50A is backordered.

Anyone received theirs? Any impressions/photos to share?

From what I am reading and seeing on the web, this is a very nice lens but there are potential issues:

• There are reports of AF issues. Apparently the Sigma Dock is a must as setting a single AFMA value at one distance isn't enough. The dock allows you to set different AFMA values for different distances.
• Of course, AFMA is about accuracy, not precision. There seem to be precision issues, potentially similar to what Bryan noted. I've seen at least two reports where people are having perfect AF for a large number of shots and then, inexplicably, AF misses.
• Color rendition. Seems that certain colors are more saturated and I am wondering if others are less saturated.

Despite the above concerns, this lens seems to be making a very good impression with many and I've seen many impressive images. Of course, depending upon the severity, the above issues may be enough for me to keep my 50 f/1.4.

[Kayaker72]

Of course, depending upon the severity, the above issues may be enough for me to keep my 50 f/1.4.

....or...the concerns may be much ado about nothing....

Great shot Sean

It will be interesting to hear your thoughts.

[Sean Setters]

I received my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens yesterday.

I haven't given it a thorough workout yet, but AF has been impressively accurate thus far. AF is a tad slower than most USM lenses, but not so slow as to impede typical shooting.

I didn't get the chance to test AF at longer focal distances, so I can't confirm/deny any issues there. But I do own the Sigma USB Dock and can correct for AF drift at longer distances.

And as for color - well, I'm color blind. I don't think I can comment how which colors are more saturated than others. :-)

The following was shot at 7:44pm last night. Although it doesn't seem so in the picture, the light was very dim. So dim that I'm sure my previous 5D II body would not have been able to focus at all.

EXIF:
5D Mark III in Av Mode
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
f/1.4, 1/40 sec, ISO 1600 (yes, I know I'm below the 1/focal length threshold)




I post processed the image in Photoshop CC and increased brightness and contrast and added a warming color filter.

I plan on shooting some indoor basketball tonight to see how the lens performs when using AI Servo focusing. This will also give me the opportunity to shoot subjects at greater distances to see if AF stays spot-on.

[Sean Setters]

I used the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM for two separate shoots yesterday. One was a senior portrait session and the other a basketball game. I thought the Sigma lens performed very well in the statis portraiture shots, even under challenging AF conditions (I was using the Singh Ray Vari-N-Duo set to a heavy variable ND setting).

It missed AF on some shots, but several of those may be attributed to focus and recomposition when using a wide f/1.6 aperture. This ended up being my favorite from that session:



The Singh Ray filter adds its own warmth to the image. I could have reduced it in post (which I did slightly), but I ended up liking its impact on the skin tones more so than not and certainly appreciated the filter's polarizing effect.

Note that I cleaned up a great deal of the subject's acne in post which reduced the sharpness of what was achieved in the originally captured image.

As far as its performance as the basketball game, I'm afraid I wasn't able to draw a firm conclusion as to its AF performance. It nailed a lot of the closer shots, but it missed many that were further away. After changing my AF setting in the AF preferences from Case 1 to Case 4 I got better results. That said, I don't know if it's because I was locking onto my subjects for a longer period of time prior to actually snapping the first frame in a burst or if the chosen Case was doing a better job.

You can find an example of one of my favorites from the game here. Please note that it was processed with a Topaz Clarity filter that gave it a somewhat HDR look. I was also shooting at ISO 3200 and the processing caused it to look worse from an ISO standpoint (highlighting detail contrast). Overall, I liked the effect (and so did the subject).

[Sean Setters]

Still thoroughly enjoying the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art:


Amanda at Dogwood Park by budrowilson, on Flickr