Sigma 50mm f1.4

I shouldn't have looked at this thread - I have lusted after one of these for a while having read some very good reviews of it.

The feedback here has convinced me I now MUST get one :(
 
Joe

Just read that :(

It seems you have to be sure you're getting a good one which pretty much forces me to go down the new lens route
 
daveproctor said:
Joe

Just read that :(

It seems you have to be sure you're getting a good one which pretty much forces me to go down the new lens route
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well, now I believe I do have a good one after a microadjustment, but I dunno, I'm still not convinced it's much better than the 1.8 to be honest.

I mean I think it is better but I'm still trying to decide if it is £260+ better, I'm wondering if since such a cheap alternative exists in this focal range that gives almost near as good results would I rather put that money towards a different piece of glass where a cheap alternative that is almost as good doesn't exist, know what I mean
 
joescrivens said:
well, now I believe I do have a good one after a microadjustment, but I dunno, I'm still not convinced it's much better than the 1.8 to be honest.

I mean I think it is better but I'm still trying to decide if it is £260+ better, I'm wondering if since such a cheap alternative exists in this focal range that gives almost near as good results would I rather put that money towards a different piece of glass where a cheap alternative that is almost as good doesn't exist, know what I mean
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I'll be interested to see what you decide.. from the samples I've seen this lens produces lovely bokeh though the general lack of sharpness which seems to be typical of Sigma lenses is discouraging.
 
The 50mm 1.8 is an utter, utter pain to manual focus and it'll almost certainly break at some point. It's a toy. The Canon 1.4 isn't much better either - although if you are going to use it for stuff f4 and above it is sharper than the Sigma.

The Sigma is a lot, lot nicer to use. Although I do have some (significant) reservations about its AF.
 
joescrivens said:
I don't find this.

Sure, it's easier with the sigma, but I wouldn't describe it as an utter, utter pain. I find it's fine.
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I'd say with confidence it has the worst commercially available focus ring in the world. It's fiddly and small and crap. If you're doing anything at 1.8 up close it's definitely a pain.
 
RevOnline said:
I'd say with confidence it has the worst commercially available focus ring in the world. It's fiddly and small and crap. If you're doing anything at 1.8 up close it's definitely a pain.
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well I've never found it to be that bad, I've videoed a lot with it close up at 1.8. It's fine.

Others are much better, no argument there but it's more than manageable in my experience
 
i have been following this discussion (and the other one) about this lens over the last couple of weeks, except i couldn't reply because for some reason the browser on my phone doesn't let me login, but anyway....

i would like to add that i did indeed micro-adjust this lens to my camera body. i needed +9 to get it right. i still might send it to sigma to get it calibrated, but i haven't noticed any major focus problems with it tbh.

for those of you who have just gone and purchased this lens, go to: http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/quicklinks/warranty/registration.htm to get your free 3 year warranty extension.

i'm a bit disappointed that although i purchased this lens from amazon marketplace (for usual the going rate) it seems to be a grey import so i can't register for the 3 year warranty. i'm awaiting a response from the seller, but i'm not happy about it.

but other than that, very pleased with the lens itself, it's been my sole lens on my two week holiday (in york and then in the cotswolds) and it's been great. i'll post 6 of the best later on.
 
interestingly I just got a 5dMk2 and even at +20 microadjust, the lens is out so I'm sending it back to amazon for a replacement, if the new copy isn't any better i'll either send it for re-calibration or cut my losses and send it back to amazon again for a refund
 
joescrivens said:
interestingly I just got a 5dMk2 and even at +20 microadjust, the lens is out so I'm sending it back to amazon for a replacement, if the new copy isn't any better i'll either send it for re-calibration or cut my losses and send it back to amazon again for a refund
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Shame you're having this hassle, the bokeh sets this lens apart from the other 50's. Part of me wants to buy one but the other part doesn't want to indulge in the Sigma QC lottery.
 
congrats on the 5d2. i've been on holiday for a mere two weeks and i've got over 30gb of photos to sort out... the wonders of raw!

i hope you get the lens sorted out.
 
This is interesting...

http://www.slrgear.com/articles/focus/focus.htm

My camera doesn't have micro adjust but if and when I have a camera with MA I'll probably try it.

One thing that I have noticed and is mentioned in the link is that auto focus isn't God, far from it in fact.

Canon say...

"Expect some minor variations in focusing accuracy within each set of three test images, even though they were all taken at the same microadjustment setting. This is completely normal, and is due to the tolerances of the camera's AF system."

I don't know what the hit rate of my camera AF is but I'm sure that it isn't 100% or anything like it. Thankfully for me this doesn't seem to matter but I suspect that it will matter more if printing very big images and viewing them with a magnifying glass or cropping heavily or pixel peeping high mp count images.

For normal amateur shooting and taking into consideration the less than perfect performance of the AF system in the camera, not the lenses fault, and that this alone reduces the hit rate I don't know if I'll place too much faith in MA improving things for me personally but another view could be I suppose that given the problems with AF systems we need all the help we can get and that MA can offer.
 
a few of my faves from my holiday...

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great shots cuthbert, i hope my 2nd 50mm is a good copy so i can use it like this!
 
I hope so too. I am happy with the one I bought. My only crit with it is that the hood doesn't hang on securely enough and I've dropped it a couple of times when the camera has been slung over my shoulder.
 
funny thing is, been out with this lens today and i just can't get the damn thing to focus accurately. it's been fine up until now.

sometimes it front focuses, sometimes back (sometimes it's ok)... but with the outer focus points on the camera it now seems to never focus accurately when before it did.

any ideas?

i'm a bit cheesed because, as i mentioned earlier unbeknown to me i got sold a grey import lens.

has anybody had any joy with refunds/replacements from amazon with marketplace sellers being naughty like this?
 
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hmm doesn't sound good cuthbert,

the good news for me is my new lens arrived today and the focus looks spot on, no need even for a microadjustment.

Looking forward to using the lens, hope it doesn't fail a few weeks from now as yours has
 
cuthbert said:
funny thing is, been out with this lens today and i just can't get the damn thing to focus accurately. it's been fine up until now.

sometimes it front focuses, sometimes back (sometimes it's ok)... but with the outer focus points on the camera it now seems to never focus accurately when before it did.

any ideas?

i'm a bit cheesed because, as i mentioned earlier unbeknown to me i got sold a grey import lens.

has anybody had any joy with refunds/replacements from amazon with marketplace sellers being naughty like this?
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There does seem to be a large amount of fluke to the AF. I just don't trust it anymore - I've done tests (to see if microadjustments would help) and it seems to come out of them well, maybe not quite perfect but pretty close. Put it in a real-world situation though and it'll focus pretty much wherever it fancies.

(I'm also using it on a 5DmkII. I strongly suspect it is the relationship between the two that is probably the cause of the problem...I'll try it on a couple of other cameras at some point)
 
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Is this AF problem ocurring with multiple focus points in use? I only ever use single poitn focussing and I can't say I've had any problems except in low light where it is a bit slow.
 
AndyB said:
Is this AF problem ocurring with multiple focus points in use? I only ever use single poitn focussing and I can't say I've had any problems except in low light where it is a bit slow.
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Mine isn't, I only ever use the centre point and then re-compose.
 
I've never had a focus issue with any fast prime, but I only have five.

My main focus point is the centre one but I'll use the others now and again and also manual focus too.

With any lens, fast ones especially, you have to be aware of the implications of recomposing or of nodding slightly forward or back when taking the shot. You see this all the time. You also have to be aware that the camera's AF won't get it right every time even if attached to the worlds most stable tripod and that this AF hit rate exists regardless of what the lens is. Canon themselves say that if you take three pictures you may see differences between them and that this is normal.

If I think that I'm pushing things to the limit I therefore take more than one shot if it's at all possible.
 
Focus and recomp is certainly going to be an issue if using the lens wide and in those cases I could normally avoid doing it.
 
been using this lens for a few days on and off now and still no issues, it's a real cracker!
 
The problem with getting a good Sigma is that you then start to think - do I really want to spend all that much on an 'L' again? :)
 
adsayer said:
I'm almost certain it will be - focus-recompose on a fast prime is a recipe for disaster.
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Sadly for your smartypants act, that isn't the cause. Did you really think I'd never tried a single photograph without recomposing? Or that I hadn't thought to check if the focus was accurate before moving it?

It makes exactly the same mistakes clamped to a tripod.
 
If you can get a good copy of this lens, here is the dof and bokeh you can expect

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RevOnline said:
Sadly for your smartypants act, that isn't the cause. Did you really think I'd never tried a single photograph without recomposing? Or that I hadn't thought to check if the focus was accurate before moving it?

It makes exactly the same mistakes clamped to a tripod.
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Being on a tripod doesn't help. It's not moving the camera that's the problem but when you recompose you turn the focus plane so what was in focus in the center is no longer in focus towards the edge.

What is in focus isn't the same distance from the camera, it depends on the angle to the lens.
 
morsing said:
Being on a tripod doesn't help. It's not moving the camera that's the problem but when you recompose you turn the focus plane so what was in focus in the center is no longer in focus towards the edge.

What is in focus isn't the same distance from the camera, it depends on the angle to the lens.
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yeah but I think he's saying that he's tried it on a tripod not moving anything and still has the problem
 
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