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Author Topic: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review  (Read 34722 times)

RogerCicala

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #20 on: April 10, 2014, 07:11:58 pm »

Bernard, we have about 30 of the Otus, but the one we loaned to SLR gear never got tested - it arrived the day before and we sent it straight to them.

I will say, though, that all of the ones we had tested were pretty similar. For that price point I'd hope that they would be.

Roger
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Ellis Vener

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #21 on: April 10, 2014, 08:43:30 pm »

I now have a Canon mount version of the Sigma in hand and am starting to do real world testing of it. I don't have the test gear, hardware and software,  or charts that lensrentals.com has of course, but having shot extensively with the D800 and D800e as well as my Canon 1Ds mark III , 5D mark III, and 1D X bodies, I can assure you that there is a lot of difference  between the 18-22Mp resolution of the Canon cluster and the 36mp D800. I don't have a Sony A7r and the necessary Metabones EF lens to Sony mount adapter but that may be the best current way to test Canon EF mount lenses on a 36mp sensor.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 09:57:58 pm by Ellis Vener »
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #22 on: April 10, 2014, 09:54:29 pm »

Bernard, we have about 30 of the Otus, but the one we loaned to SLR gear never got tested - it arrived the day before and we sent it straight to them.

I will say, though, that all of the ones we had tested were pretty similar. For that price point I'd hope that they would be.

Thanks Roger,

It seems that this pretty much confirms what I had guessed.

Cheers,
Bernard

ErikKaffehr

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #23 on: April 11, 2014, 01:25:48 am »

Hi,

at f/8 most decent lenses would be diffraction limited. So in that case sensor plays a more important role than lens.

Best regards
Erik

interesting to see that if you compare their fullframe samples at D8 of the Zeiss Otus, the Nikon 58mm and the Sigma 50mm Art, the Nikon comes out best...
Why? I think because of the different body;  D800e vs Canon 1ds III

So in this case we are comparing bodies instead of lenses...

I am sure they had no Nikon copies of the Otus and Sigma, but if your job is to compare lenses you should do it better than this.
(Of course to be first with any comparison will make more money...)



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Erik Kaffehr
 

kers

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #24 on: April 11, 2014, 08:49:57 am »

How do you know this?

The d8 full frame is the only example were the Nikon lens is best... In the other examples at 1,4 and both the DX samples the 58mm Nikkor is clearly less good than the other two.
The most striking difference in the comparison of the full frame d8 pictures is the body. The colours of the d800e are better and downsampled at the resolution of the Canon d1sIII you have less to do with the Bayer matrix - it shows...
I have tested the 58mm Nikkor for a week; it is a difficult lens ... the coating is very very good. But the sharpness is not great and unpredictable... maybe after half a year of use it becomes more predictable. (?)

But today the news is that the Sigma sells at a 'modest' 879€
It will probably be my next 50mm lens. And I will also buy the usb dock because I want the autofocus spot on at 1,4



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Ellis Vener

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: $949 and they go on sale at the end of April
« Reply #25 on: April 11, 2014, 10:14:18 am »

I case you have missed the news, Sigma announced the price and availability schedule of the 50mm f/1.4 ART lens early this morning:

 "The 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art, will be available late April for the street price of $949."

So you can buy 4 of them and  get almost exactly the same level of optical performance for the price of a single Zeiss OTUS and still have $200.00 left over.  Looking forward to Roger Ciccala's assessment of multiple iterations to see if they are lens to lens to lens as consistent as the OTUS.
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NancyP

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #26 on: April 11, 2014, 04:54:53 pm »

Ellis, I am looking forward to your impressions of the 50mm Art. It sounds as if it will outclass the Canon sensors, eg, my 6D. I would love to try it at f/2.8 in wide-field astrophotography - the latest review set with photos shows disappearance of coma at f/2.8, and relatively modest coma at f/2.0 and f/1.4, considering the bat wing coma one usually sees with fast Planar designs (my best old Planar still has stubby wings (square stars) at f/4.0.
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: $949 and they go on sale at the end of April
« Reply #27 on: April 11, 2014, 05:03:18 pm »

"The 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art, will be available late April for the street price of $949."

So you can buy 4 of them and  get almost exactly the same level of optical performance for the price of a single Zeiss OTUS and still have $200.00 left over.

Great news, I'll most probably get that Sigma.

The Sigma (at least a good sample) is close in performance to the Otus except in terms of what may be the most remarkable quality of the Otus which is the near total lack of chromatic aberations.

Still, the Sigma is a no brainer.

Cheers,
Bernard

Ellis Vener

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #28 on: April 11, 2014, 05:22:33 pm »

A quick natural light still life with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 A on a tripod mounted Canon EOS-1D X. .cr2 >DNG and processed (minimally: sharpen Landscape). exposure 1/125 @ f/1.4, ISO 640. Full frame reduced to 1296 pixels wide , and a 1:1 crop of the same frame to 1296 pixels wide
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jduncan

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #29 on: April 11, 2014, 06:14:22 pm »

The comparrisons to Otus is interesting. I wonder if the Otus would be relatively better on a D800?
Maybe the Canons 21mp sensor is the limiting factor?

I was wondering the exact same question.  An example is this (from DXO)

Using the D3 the e Otus render  12mpixels  against 10mpxiels of the 50mm f1.4G (20% better)
With the  D800 is  29mpixels against  16mpixels (81%) and it's not clear that the Otus has reach its  limit.
In fact the Otus render 21mpixels on the D7100!!! against  13mpixels of the 50mm f1.4G lens.
That means that the Otus could render far more than 29mpixels in the next generation sensors.

By the way the 135mm f2.0 Zeiss is almost as good as the Otus it has a fraction of the price and a very good angle for portraits.
And yes it does not have auto focus (grrrr)

So lets wait and see. In any case It seem clear that it will totally kill the  58mm noct as a general use lens.  For astro photography the noct should be better.

Best regards,
J.Duncan
« Last Edit: April 11, 2014, 06:23:48 pm by jduncan »
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henrikfoto

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #30 on: April 12, 2014, 05:02:26 am »

When will Zeiss start to add AF to their fantastic lenses?
"2014"  AF is what most people want. They could most likely sell a lot more and their lenses
would be much easier to use for everybody.
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Petrus

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #31 on: April 12, 2014, 06:40:29 am »

Autofocus, to be modern and fast, requires lightweight moving parts. Zeiss seems to think that making a long lasting optically and mechanically superior product rules out AF.
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #32 on: April 12, 2014, 07:47:28 am »

Hi,

Just to say, I have AF lenses from 1985, just working fine today. Zeiss also makes AF-lenses, in the Tuit series. Even MF lenses sometimes need electronics and electrical motors to move aperture.

Best regards
Erik

Autofocus, to be modern and fast, requires lightweight moving parts. Zeiss seems to think that making a long lasting optically and mechanically superior product rules out AF.
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Erik Kaffehr
 

Fine_Art

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #33 on: April 12, 2014, 05:12:25 pm »

Hi,

at f/8 most decent lenses would be diffraction limited. So in that case sensor plays a more important role than lens.

Best regards
Erik


These new premium lenses should be diffraction limited at f4. F8 may be more useful for most real world shots.
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Ajoy Roy

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #34 on: April 13, 2014, 05:28:00 am »

When will Zeiss start to add AF to their fantastic lenses?
"2014"  AF is what most people want. They could most likely sell a lot more and their lenses
would be much easier to use for everybody.
Neither Nikon nor Canon have given Zeiss the know how for their AF. Thus Zeiss has the Nikon and Canon lenses as MF and Sony as AF.
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henrikfoto

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #35 on: April 13, 2014, 05:45:26 am »

Neither Nikon nor Canon have given Zeiss the know how for their AF. Thus Zeiss has the Nikon and Canon lenses as MF and Sony as AF.


Isn't that strange when Tamron/Sigma etc are making these af-lenses?

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Ajoy Roy

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #36 on: April 13, 2014, 06:41:46 am »


Isn't that strange when Tamron/Sigma etc are making these af-lenses?


Tamron and Sigma have reverse engineered the AF, that is why their AF gives problems sometimes, especially with a new body. Zeiss had commented that they would incorporate AF only if the Camera manufacturer agrees to their doing so and provides them the technical inputs (it is some where in Zeiss site).
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henrikfoto

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #37 on: April 13, 2014, 08:07:52 am »

Tamron and Sigma have reverse engineered the AF, that is why their AF gives problems sometimes, especially with a new body. Zeiss had commented that they would incorporate AF only if the Camera manufacturer agrees to their doing so and provides them the technical inputs (it is some where in Zeiss site).


Ok, and that will never happen i suppose..
And I understand why they don't want Zeiss af lenses to compete with.
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Deardorff

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #38 on: April 13, 2014, 09:37:18 am »

All the quibbling on which camera body and how it effects the outcome.

Put the lnes on a Nikon F6 or Canon F1n or EOS3. Use TMax 100 film. Shoot part of a roll of film in one body and then put it in the other if you think film bodies will have some effect.

Develop the film and go from there.

Some of us still shoot film and better lenses are always welcome.
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joneil

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Re: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens: first serious test and review
« Reply #39 on: April 13, 2014, 10:32:28 am »

Sounds like a great lens, and i think the Sigma 35mm is a great lens too.  But an an aesthetic question here.

i never liked the 50mm format.  Not on film (on my FM2) and not on my full frame Nikons (d700 &800).  I have always preferred a 35mm as my "normal lens", or I like to go higher.  Even on my 24-70 nikkor, i cannot think of the last time i ever shot using it at the 50mm mark.

Many moons ago, i used to run into a lot of people who felt the same way,  back in the days of film.  Have things changed that much?  Bear in mind i am not questioning the quality of this lens, just the possible artistic demand for the 50mm size to begin with, regardless of who makes it or how much it costs.
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