50mm F1.4 Art DG HSM Lens for Canon

As others here and the almost universal praise this lens has received from the professional reviewers have all said, this lens is astonishing. The Sigma team has been making remarkable lenses now for many years often filling niches left empty by other third party lens makers and the OEM ones as well. A good example of a niche lens from Sigma only available from it is the 'Bigma' a 50-500mm big mama bazooka with a range not found anywhere else. Here the target was the Otus from Carl Zeiss and the target is not only hit but superseded if you consider the addition of AF to be of value to you. It exists here but not in the Otus. So many today rely on AF that in all likelihood, the Otus would be a poor choice for many even if costing 1/2 of the Art. In fact, it costs four times as much. The special part of this lens is that it retains its optical quality no matter the aperture chosen. Even at f1.4 there is almost no loss of edge quality with only a slight decrease in contrast which itself is easily fixed in post assuming you can detect it. I can but only on test snaps. In real world use I see no fall off. However, and this is very important, this lens is not magic. Once stopped down to f4, it performs about where the lesser cost Sigma 50mm f1.4 standard lens does. Sure, this probably would blow away the standard in an optical test but as far as real world use, the difference won't be enough to make or break an image or any image I can think of anyway. Worse, the inherent sharpness of this lens, especially if coupled to an ultra high rez body like the D810, will mean any trivial error in technique will scream out in the finished image. This is a very serious lens and it demands great expertise in use - just as the higher rez bodies from Sony and Nikon demand now and maybe some year, Canon will demand someday Real Soon Now. Yes, I"m a Canon shooter. If your work will fall into ranges where you'll be using apertures between f1.4 and f4 so you can live with the thin DOF AND you demand only the highest quality images, then this lens or the Otus is your lens. If you wish AF, then it's the Sigma or nothing. However, if you work using normal apertures of f4 to f16, (especially above f8) then this lens will bring you nothing much added to justify the added cost of 2x the lesser cost Sigma or the OEM 5Xmm f1.4 offerings. In the case of Canon, there is the f1.2 which is highly specialized so if you wish this trade of very thin DOF but can accept its serious limitations, then you know who you are. I am glad I got this lens. It's a keeper for me but I'm a tech quality screwball who almost always works from a tripod. For many folks, this lens is a trophy lens but not needed over lesser cost offerings from Sigma and other manufacturers.

I have spent a lot of times with 50mm lenses. From the 50 f/2 on my film SLR, to the Canon 50mm f/1.8, then the Canon 50mm f/1.4. I love the versatility of 50mm, and the shallow depth of field that can be had with the wide apertures. So when I read reviews on this lens, I knew it had to replace my Canon 50mm 1.4. The Canon is good. Not great, but good. Sharp. Fast. Terrible at f/1.4. Ok at f/1.6. Starts to get good at f/2.0. It's noisy when focusing, and the minimum focus distance isn't great. The Sigma improves on all of these things, a tremendous amount. Super sharp, even at f/1.4. I have never used a sharper lens. It's crazy. Even the corners are sharper than the canon was at the center! And this is on a full frame camera. The focus is fast and quiet. It did need a few adjustments to be spot on. The Sigma dock and about a half hour dialed everything in nicely. I really like the ability to set different focal adjustments at different subject differences. I needed that, as everything but the closest distance was off, and by differing amounts. I also like that it has a pretty close minimum focusing distance. Still not macro, of course, but an extra 4 inches over the Canon makes a huge difference when trying to compose up close. The only knock is how big and heavy this is for a 50mm f/1.4. It's about twice as big as the canon, and over twice as heavy. Makes walking around with it definitely more noticeable. But I'm a big guy. I sometimes walk around with the sigma 150-600. So this is a cake walk compared to that. I will certainly be buying more into Sigma's art line after this. Update: I have been using this lens more than any other lens in my bag, and I wish I could give it 6 stars. It's easily my go to lens for walking around. Normally I go with a zoom lens for the versatility while walking, but it's hard to pass on the sharpness of this amazing piece of glass. I have attached a few photos that show off this lens.

I've had this lens for a week now and it is very good quality! Can't complain with the sharpness, or the focus. Didn't even need to buy that silly USB Dock... Mainly because I did Micro-AF adjustments in my camera (Canon 5D Mark II) and those adjustments were good enough for me (though lens snobs may have you think other wise :p) People who have complained about the accuracy of focus may just not be used to working with a such a shallow depth of field (The nature of a F-1.4 Lens). Once you get the hang of it, you'll find this lens very useful in low light situations. It also produces some wonderful Bokeh Balls ;-) There are a few cons though. NO weather sealing. NO Image Stabilization (but neither does the canon L50 1.2). & it's heavy (1.8 pounds) if you aren't used to shooting with the canon L70-200mm 2.8 lens (2.8-3 pounds) All in all, i'm very happy with this lens for it's versatile, well constructed, and produces great images which is all you could look for in a lens... right?

Arguably the best third-party 50mm lens for Canon, and better than Canon’s entry level and mid-level 50mm lenses.

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Already owning and having great results from the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 EX Lens I decided to upgrade to the newer Art version. I will not go into the technicalities of this lens as if you are looking at it you will already know your stuff. Instead I will just look at my opinions and my experience for comparisons. Instantly I am impressed with the results, seemingly gone is the AF issues of the old lens, instantly focusing on the desired subject in all but the dimmest of lighting with a dark subject, this sending the lens on a chase looking for its mark. I have used this so far for around about 500 exposures in a variety of settings and the majority of these shots were extremely sharp with a very pleasing bokeh. The ones not quite perfect were more often than not down to user error and therefore the lens cannot be blamed. I use this lens paired with a Canon 5d mark iii and it does just what I want. It has been used so far mainly for portraits of my children and family gatherings and also at my sisters stables for capturing horses and dogs. Whilst at the stables I have used it in fast burst mode whilst my sister rides in the outdoor arena and had some fantastic results were the older version seemd to lack. In short this lens is my go to prime and I have since sold the older version. The bokeh is soft and pleasing, the AF now seemingly fixed and images nice and sharp, the lens nice and quick. If you are looking for a extremely good prime I would suggest spending the extra for this and you will have no regrets. I have also used the Canon F/1.4 and also F/1.2 and in my opinion this leaves them behind in terms of results, especially now with the fixed AF system.

Propriétaire de l'objectif depuis 3 ans. Qualité exceptionnelle avec une ouverture parfaitement utilisable comme tous les Sigma ART. Peu d'aberrations chromatiques même à pleine ouverture, bokeh superbe, diaphragme à 8 lamelles. Déformation quasi-inexistante. Parfaitement utilisable sur des capteurs (à plus) de 50Mp. Rapport Qualité/Prix sans équivalent. La mise au point peut être facilement réglée grâce à la technique DOT-TUNE. Le mieux est d'utiliser conjointement le dock USB qui affine le réglage de l'AutoFocus en fonction de l'appareil auquel il est couplé et de la distance de mise au point. Mise au point silencieuse, rapide et efficace une fois parfaitement réglée même à pleine ouverture. Le Hic c'est l'embonpoint et le poids, mais ça vous le savez sans doute, c'est la politique actuelle du "no undue hardship for top quality". Dernière version firmware à vérifier (2.0 à ce jour); sinon, la mise à jour se fait via le Dock USB... Un sans faute.

Hi all - buying minded, I felt into 'pro' category 5 years ago. I've started with 5D mk.II and Zeiss 50mm/f1.4 ZE - till now it has the best 'film-like' colors of all 50mm which you can stick on Canon. Unfortunately it's only manual focus so I continued in testing/buying/upgrading process. Sigma 50 f1.4 Art is 50mm winner nowadays. Canon EF 50/1.8 is super cheap - but in 2years of average use, plastic focusing failed - and I wasn't 'pro' at that time. EF 50 f1.4 is average on budget lens - well build, small, light, optically well balanced. EF 50 f1.2 - gives you f1.2 - beautiful bokeh, fast focusing but soft look under f2 and quite heavy vinetation wide open. Yes, that lens isn't sharp until you close it a bit. If you live around f4 it delivers you superb pictures. I've tested several copies as my assistant's one is newer and it's a bit sharper. But not as sharp as Sigma 50 Art at all. Plus I live in apertures range f1.2 - f2.5 where I want it sharp. Sigma is bigger and heavier. Filter screw is 77mm, has a nice matte finish, good lenshood which really holds and optically is amazing. Colors are accurate, nice soft vinetation in corners, fast focusing. Simply my new workhorse. I own plenty of 'L' glass - 24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/1.2, 85/1.2, 100/2.8 IS, 135/2, 200/2.8 - they all have strong points and are designed for different purposes. 50mm along 35mm - are the most universal in my portrait world so to have the best possible one is important for me. Sigma wins this time. If it's cheaper I don't care - it's paid its work and saved time behind computer in my case. But it's also cheaper, you can update firmware, adjust focusing with USB dock. I didn't need so I didn't touch it - dock waits in the shelf until its time will come. What at the end? I don't like resume - buy it! No, test it and if you fell in love with it - you already own it. If not, try another one. I also tested Schneider-Keuznach 80mm/2.8 LS on PhaseOne system and actually that is the sharpest '50mm' of all - just the price is at different level and focusing...? In short, you don't want to have it at the wedding even with IQ250. But that's another story... marianmajik.com