Sigma 311101 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon, Black

Product Information

Above from left to right: Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S, Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art, Zeiss Otus 55mm f1.4 (Sigma and Zeiss in Nikon F-mount version) Price: The Sigma (690 EUR / 950 USD) is more expensive than the 50mm f1.4 lenses from Nikon (410 EUR/USD) and Canon (300 EUR / 350 USD w/o lens hood) or the Z-Nikkor (360 EUR / 600 USD). But the Sigma is comfortably cheaper than the Sony (1500 EUR/USD) and especially the Zeiss (3200 EUR / 3600 USD). [0] Crucially the Nikkor 50mm f1.4G is cheaper than the Sigma 50mm Art, so like Canon’s EF 50mm f1.4 below, it’s a case of weighing-up whether you can afford to pay the extra for the Art as well as being happy to carry it around. If you can afford the extra price and don’t mind the size, the the Sigma Art is the way forward. But if your budget – or size desires – drive you towards the Nikkor 50mm f1.4G, it’s still a fine lens for the money.

Head2Head: Sigma 50mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Canon 50mm F/1.8 Head2Head: Sigma 50mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Canon 50mm F/1.8

The Sigma and the Sony come equipped with a nice padded pouch, the Nikkors have flimsier pouches and the Zeiss and Canon come without a pouch at all. All lenses also have their lens hood included (reversible for transport) except for the Canon where you have to buy the lens hood as an extra – which I would recommend to do. [+] Weight: The Sigma is a pretty heavy lens at 805g (28.4oz.) plus 43g for the lens hood only topped by the Zeiss at 945g + 64g lens hood. The Canon and the F-Nikkor are the lightest of the bunch at below 300g. The Z-Nikkor with its focal ratio of f1.8 is somewhat in between at 412g + 27g lens hood. The Sony is 780g + 33g lens hood. Keep in mind though that if you want to use the Sigma, Zeiss, Canon or F-Nikkor on a mirrorless body you need an adapter which weighs another 100 to 130g or in case of the Sigma get the respective mirrorless version which weighs 910g. [-] The score in the “features-department” is 2[-]/5[0]/7[+]. On paper only the large size and weight is on the negative side, although for the money some weather sealing would have been nice. On the positive side is the unique option to get the lens-mount swapped. Canon’s EF 50mm f1.2 L USM has always been a benchmark for Canon owners, a lens which most photographers, especially portrait ones, aspire to having in their collection. It has the joint brightest aperture of any lens in the current Canon EF catalogue, and is the only 50mm in the EF range to carry the ‘L’ status. So what if it also carries a price tag to match? It’s the lens to go for if you’re a Canon owner who wants the best 50mm around, right?Closest focus distance of the Sigma is 0.38m (1.2ft.) in manual focus with a magnification of 1:5.4. The Z-Nikkor yields 1:6.0 at the same distance while the others offer a maximum magnification of around 1:6.5 at 0.45 to 0.5m distance. The Sigma achieves a magnification of 1:10 at 0.61m distance. [0] The Nikon Z 50mm f1.8S is a very good standard prime lens for owners of Z-series mirrorless bodies: its optical performance is right up there with the much heavier and more expensive Zeiss 55mm f1.4 Otus including longitudinal color aberrations – which is no small feat. The size and weight of the Z Nikkor makes it a much better match for the compact Z-series bodies it’s designed for than the Sigma Art (plus FTZ adapter) although it is not the smallest lens itself. The Z-Nikkor also focuses fast and reliably and is sealed thoroughly – an important feature that is missing on the Sigma Art. And finally the lens produces quite pleasing Bokeh that’s not far behind the rendering of the Sigma Art lenses and to me, actually surpasses Nikon’s own 50mm f1.4G. This overall performance deserves a Highly Recommended! Regarding build you have to weigh up (pun intended) the larger seize and heavier weight of the Sigma against its use of metal in the lens’s outer construction which gives it a feeling of very solid construction. But make no mistake: looks can be deceiving: the outer construction does not tell you anything about the quality and durability of the inner workings including the focus-drive. So the Sigma might or might not last longer than the Nikon. After all is said and compared I personally would prefer the new Sigma Art over the Nikon 58/1.4G even if the price was the same – so considering the Sigma Art is cheaper this is a strong recommendation.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon EF - CameraLK Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon EF - CameraLK

As a member of Sigma’s renown Art series the Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art is expected to perform on a very high level. It is positioned roughly between standard 50mm f1.4 lenses and the top-end models from Canon, Nikon, and Sony in price. The big question then is how does it to compare to those below and above it in price? Does it offer a sufficient step-up from normal 50mm f1.4 lenses to justify the price, and does it give the pricier models a run for their money? To find out, Thomas and Gordon teamed-up to give the Sigma 50mm Art a real workout and compared it against a whole slew of other lenses including the Zeiss Otus 55mm f1.4, Canon EF 50mm f1.2L USM, and Sony FE 50mm f1.4 ZA. We’ve completely updated our original review from 2014 with test-shots on the 46MP Nikon Z7 and the 42MP Sony A7R II. So if you’re interested in which high performance standard prime lens to choose for your camera system, you’ve come to the right place! Nikon has the AF-S 50mm f1.4G (410 EUR/USD) and the AF-S 58mm f1.4G (1600 EUR/USD). See my Nikon 50mm f1.4G review and my Nikon 58mm f1.4G review. There is really no comparison here. The Sigma is again better than the 50mm F/1.8. It is sharper, has less distortion, and less CA. There is literally not one thing about the Canon 50mm F/1.8 that I find to be superior to the Sigma. Compared Wide Open at F/1.4 and F/1.8 The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The front element features Sigma’s water and oil repellent coating, which is designed to repel water drops and provide resistance to fingerprintsSome of you requested some portrait shots. The best I can do tonight is these shots of my very squirmy kids. Still, you can see the Sigma edge the Canon in sharpness and the Canon seems to have a creamier bokeh. As far as sharpness, in this scene it was a bit of a wash. In my opinion anyways, maybe the Sigma was a tad sharper. But they are both pretty close. (Plus a dandelion like this is somewhat hard to focus on in the first place.) The focus ring on the Canon leaves a lot to be desired, and makes manual focus a pain. The Sigma, on the other hand, provides an ideal manual focus experience with a smooth motion and good feel. All of the following shots were shot on a Canon 6D with an aperture of F/1.4. (Afterall, the whole point of a prime with F/1.4 is shooting wide open, so that is where I focused my attention with this comparison.) Scene 1: The Dandelion

Head2Head: Sigma 50mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art vs. Canon 50mm f/1.2 Head2Head: Sigma 50mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art vs. Canon 50mm f/1.2

SIGMA’s floating system adjusts the distance between lens groups during focusing, thereby reducing the amount of lens movement required. The result is less aberration at different shooting distances. Thanks to this system, this lens offers a minimum focusing distance of just 40 cm, a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.6, and superb image quality at every shooting distance. Minimized Distortion When the Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art was announced in late 2018, it sat in-between Sigma’s 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art and 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art, both hugely popular with image-makers of all levels. You can read why we rate the latter as a great used lens here. New and used prices For me, the Sigma looks a tad sharper again. The Canon has a little bit of a “haze” going on. But still looks pretty good. The Test

Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art review: Build & Handling

Canon 50mm F/1.8, Canon 6D, ISO 100, F/2.8, 1/250th These lenses are closer at F/2.8, but the Sigma is still much sharper. Here are a few more 100% crops so you can see for yourself… The Nikkor 50mm f1.4G was for a while Nikon’s ‘top-of-the-range’ standard lens, although the introduction of the 58mm f1.4G means the lineup now shares a similar strategy to Canon. As such the 50mm f1.4G is positioned above the f1.8G version, providing a relatively affordable step-up from the ‘budget’ model, but comes in considerably cheaper than the flagship 58mm. This means the Sigma 50mm Art is positioned, price-wise at least, roughly between the Nikkor 50mm f1.4G and 58mm f1.4G. This lens feature Sigma's HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) technology. This system ensures quiet and fast autofocus yet, you also have full-time manual focus override accessed by simply rotating the focus ring. Sigma's enhanced autofocus system, you're able to get a much smoother autofocus experience. Designed to be robust and durable Those familiar with Sigma’s Art series know it offers a wide range of excellent fast primes for full-frame cameras, covering focal lengths as wide as 14mm right through to 135mm. While some have a maximum aperture of f/1.8 or f/2.8, several are f/1.4, of which there are some standout examples. So optically the Sigma is definitely superior, but obviously it’s also larger, heavier and roughly double the price. I’d say it’s worth it if you can afford it and don’t mind accommodating the heft – and if it helps you justify the price, remember another advantage of the Sigma is being able to pay to switch mounts should you swap camera systems in the future, thereby protecting your investment. Oh and it comes with a lens hood too.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Cho Canon - Mayanh24h Ống Kính Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Cho Canon - Mayanh24h

The next scene on my comparison tour was the tree trunk just off the walking path in the city park. For this scene in particular, I was really looking for the the sharpness of the bark and the bokeh of the park behind the tree. Just as before, here are the two shots, can you tell which is which? Lateral chromatic aberration is entirely negligible throughout the entire aperture range, even out at the edges and corners of the image frame. Axial chromatic aberration or ‘bokeh fringing’ is often problematic at very wide apertures with fast lenses, but it’s very minimal in this case. Whereas the Sigma and EF lenses are mechanical in nature, the RF lens employs focus-by-wire which uses a motor to drive the manual focus. Benefits of this mechanism include being able to vary the ring’s rotation speed/sensitivity and customise the direction of the ring. Nikon has come out with a new standard lens for their mirrorless system, the Z 50mm f1.8 S costing 360 EUR / 600 USD. See my Nikon Z 50mm f1.8S review. Image stabilization: No lens in this comparison has an optical stabilization. But the modern mirrorless bodies from Sony and Nikon provide built-in sensor-shift stabilization. [0]Unfortunately the Sigma’s wide-open performance in the center drops towards the corners even of an APS-C sensor. But make no mistake: it’s performance is still good to very good there. In addition to corner resolution the Sigma Art falls behind the Zeiss Otus in three other aspects: field-curvature, loCA, flare/glare-resistance. So the old adage still holds true: you get what you pay for.