Sigma 50mm 1.4 art..worth the £££

Just picked mine up today. Taking my new body for a sensor clean soon and ready to rock. Can't wait to try the sigma though.
 
Exciting times Scott!

Loving the lens and shooting wide open is so addictive!

OKaM6b6.jpg
 
Well this lens has been a bit of a turn-up for the books for me.

I used to love my 85mm f/1.8 - it barely left my camera. I have a longer lens which can be useful, a walkaround zoom as well as a pretty WA zoom. And a Nikon 50mm f/1.8. But the 85mm was my favourite by a country mile.

So, I went on holiday for three weeks taking my 85mm, my Sigma 50mm Art, my WA zoom and (for the first week only as it was UK) my long zoom.

Guess what - my Sigma 50mm barely left my camera. I haven't finished uploading the photos but if more than 2% were shot with other lenses, I'd be surprised.

Awesome bit of kit and forcing yourself into shooting at that focal length is both liberating but also surprisingly flexible - it really is a nice in-between length.

And my, what a piece of glass :)
 
StuartH said:
This thread seems to have gone a bit quiet so thought I would add couple of snaps.Seen quite a lot of people saying that they have had focus issues with the 50mm but mine seems fine out the box.I dont own a dock and use a d5500 so no focus fine tune.Seems ok to me at f1.4!

untitled-0027-2 by Stuart Howe, on Flickr

untitled-0024 by Stuart Howe, on Flickr

untitled-0016-2 by Stuart Howe, on Flickr


untitled-0018-3 by Stuart Howe, on Flickr


untitled-0010-3 by Stuart Howe, on Flickr
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That knife looks sharp.....and the lens is sharper!
 
Really nice shots David!..Wouldnt mind flying the phantom around there lovely scenery. Cheers Robert seems I got a nice sharp copy but saw a few mention focus issues with theirs in the 85mm art thread.
 
minnnt said:
You'd get some fab shots!

My 50 needed a bit of tuning with the dock for my D750. You've done well Stuart with your copy.
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Where abouts is it David?..Yeah maybe I got lucky as I have really looked at images from it at 1.4 and it seems really sharp.Not used it for quite a while and even contemplated selling it but dont think I will.
 
Me too mate but always like a decent 50mm in the bag and dont think I will get much better.Would love to get another 18-35mm art as the one I had did have focus issues so sent it back.
 
Well if I get bored with the phantom the funds would be probably going towards another art lens lol
 
My old 50mm art lens focused perfectly on my old DF and dads D5100 or similar. I hadn't read any misfocusing issues prior to this thread. Great (big heavy) lens anyway!
 
Looks a great lens. I have the 35mm 1.4 Art and use it probably 99% of the time. Looks like the 50 is every bit as good
 
Its a great lens,I would love to add the 35mm at some point or the 18-35mm again
 
I've ordered one! I have a small living room/house and i am finding the Nikon 85mm 1.8G too long indoor!

I'm a bit worried by the size weight of the sigma, i was going to go for a nikon 50mm 1.8G but I took the plunge and a second hand sigma on ebay. Only slight problem so far is that the seller didn't understand that paypal keep the money pending for a while so he thought it was my fault if the money wasn't yet in his bank account... and was ready to wait as long as the money arrived on his account... so I had to explain him how it work and here I am 5 days later waiting for the seller to go to the post office and stop being an idiot. Hopefully it will get there!
 
I've been contemplating buying a sigma art for a while but not sure if to go for the 50 or 35mm... I already have the old Nikon 50d 1.8 and mainly use the 70-200mm 2.8 for portraits... i also have the Nikon 16-35vr ... so, would i be best going for the 35mm art or 50mm art?

Cheers..
Moey
 
If I had your line up of lenses I think I would replace the 50mm 1.8d I don't think you'd regret it once you see the results!
 
StuartH said:
If I had your line up of lenses I think I would replace the 50mm 1.8d I don't think you'd regret it once you see the results!
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Would you go for the 50mm over the 35mm art Stuart for overall quality?? I'm on the D750, i've read on this thread that the 35mm is possibly the one to go for if it's a decision between the two but I was thinking that the 50mm would probably give better bokeh.. .. thanks for your advice ..

Moey
 
Thanks @minnnt .. I think I may lean towards the 50mm and get rid of the 50mm 1.8d as Stuart suggested then. It will give me that extra bit of distance between myself and the subject for those portraits.. thanks again.
 
Moey said:
Would you go for the 50mm over the 35mm art Stuart for overall quality?? I'm on the D750, i've read on this thread that the 35mm is possibly the one to go for if it's a decision between the two but I was thinking that the 50mm would probably give better bokeh.. .. thanks for your advice ..

Moey
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Ideally I would like both but I do like 50mm on crop sensor. You already have the stellar 16-35mm so I would definitely go for the 50mm 1.4 it's a gorgeous lens. I'm hoping to get the 35mm at some point if I can
 
Just got the sigma 50mm f1.4 art by the post today, lol just checking i'm in the good thread! And using it on a Nikon D750, my first impression is pretty good but need to learn how to get moving object properly! I was worried it would be bigger but i I like the size, it don't feel much bigger that the sigma 17-50 f2.8 i had on a crop sensor with its 77mm front element. Yes it's longer and heavier but it doesn't extend when focus so what you see it's what you get ! The weight is good but a bit on the heavy side maybe.

I have done 3/4 of the calibration as i haven't done infinity yet but the lens was front focusing by quiet a margin, i need to check again the results but so far i am +10,+12,+15 so front focusing more and more the further it goes. But happy with the result once calibrated, i've shot a few things at f1.8 and i've been impressed with the sharpness. It's good to be able to calibrate one step at a time specially with a baby running in the background. Now a bit frustrating the "checking if latest software is install" every single time you plug the lens in...specially that the 50mm seems to come with firware 1.00!

Now I've only had a proper test in poor light in my dark living room this evening. But focusing on a moving toddler is a struggle. I got a lot of rubbish there. I need to find the best setting with my d750, continuous shooting, AF-C priority selection, Focus tracking with lock-on, Number of focus points... Any tips with this? Specially when the subject is heading toward you?
 
Thinking about getting rid of my 24-70 for a 50 Art, I already have a 35A/85 1.8 that get most of my use anyway. Have to say 35/50/85 combo would be nice. Although for the price of the 50A I could sell my 24-70 and 85 and just about stretch to an 85 f1.4....decisions!
 
The 50A might be dead weight if you have the 35A and a 85. I had a 50 1.8g and 85 1.4g so decided a 35A would be a good idea. A few months later I sold the 50 as it wasn't getting used as it was so close to each of the others. I will say I do miss it but only due to its size and weight having the other two I wouldn't add a massive 50A, but at some point might pick up another 50 1.8.
 
Only ever had a brief try of this lens but it was stunning, very sharp and with no focus issues but then I've always been a 35mm Art fan so really its just a longer version of the same... big lump of metal though!!!!
Moving back to Nikon FF, may try and pick up a couple of Sigma primes before the prices shoot up!!!
 
StuartH said:
Ideally I would like both but I do like 50mm on crop sensor. You already have the stellar 16-35mm so I would definitely go for the 50mm 1.4 it's a gorgeous lens. I'm hoping to get the 35mm at some point if I can
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Well, I've been contemplating on which one to go for... .. the choice was Nikon 24-70, or either the Siggy 35mm art or 50mm art .. .. I have the 70-200mm 2.8 on my D750 all day during weddings, so I've decided to go for the 35mm siggy for the other body, also a D750. I do like the wider portraits that take in some of the surroundings as well as the subject, so for that reason, I think the 35mm is the one for me. I know I have the 16-35mm already, but the overall look that the Sigma seems to give at 35mm, i'd mainly use the 16-35mm for large group shots. I've just read everything back to myself and it looks like i'm still trying to talk myself into buying it.. .. ..:banghead: Right... . off to do some shopping then.. ..
 
minnnt said:
Good choice pal, doubt you'll regret it. Don't forget there's the dock too if you need to fine tune it. Far far far better than the in camera FT.
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Good point David, I saw the price of one of those docks was about £30 on Wex, so I will get one of those too. Cheers buddy.. :)
 
You may be lucky and get a pearler like Stuart's but both my 24 and 50 needed tuning. Being able to tune at 4 focus distances is brilliant imo. You can also update firmware should it need it.
 
I've only had the time to do distance 1-2-3 but not infinty yet... and all were front focusing a lot. So at the moment i'm super impressed with the sharpness up to 2 meters but after this it's rubbish! Because my calibration is like +10, +12,+15, 0 but that likely going to be somewhere between +15 and +20!

Next job to the calibration for infinity! Did you guy use something really far (like the horizon, a hill,...) or moderately far (like 5-10m)?
 
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