Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

^^^Nice one, Nate.

NatDeroxL7 wrote in post #17228367

Stunning!
I noticed you sold your Zeiss 50 MP for this lens. How would you compare the two? How do you like the microcontrast and IQ compared to the old lens?

dadgummit wrote in post #17228443
Stunning!
I noticed you sold your Zeiss 50 MP for this lens. How would you compare the two? How do you like the microcontrast and IQ compared to the old lens?

The sharpness is better with the Sigma, even at f1.4, which is very nice to have. The micro contrast "thing" that people rant about with zeiss lenses is true, but it's not as dramatic as it is made out to sound, and it's benefit is largely at moderate apertures before diffraction kicks in, so 4-8 mostly. Post processing can make the difference completely negligible, if shooting RAW and exposing well.

Of course the sigma has better autofocus.....it actually is pretty dang good.

There is the expected longitudinal fringing, which is about the same as the zeiss, which wasn't anything superb. They are both still in the same 'grade', nothing like the Otus or the Zeiss 135mm ZE lens; so images that I want to use at full resolution still require some deliberate de-fringing if using f1.4-2

Overall I've been very happy with the switch and haven't looked back at all actually. I will have to pick up a new true-macro lens sometime though. Not so much because I missed the Zeiss's macro capability, but because the Zeiss's 1:2 Macro wasn't quite as much as I wanted sometimes. I still think that the Zeiss MP2 was the best 50mm option for general purpose use, right up until the Sigma was released.

Sharp, love the Black and White, but the colors have that washed out overexposed whitish Sigma look. Not trying to knock it, but something that really makes the Sigmas somehow far behind their Canon brothers.

mine will be here next week so stoked maybe i will have a 50 i like now considering i have owned them all and did not really like one

britinjapan wrote in post #17230868
Sharp, love the Black and White, but the colors have that washed out overexposed whitish Sigma look. Not trying to knock it, but something that really makes the Sigmas somehow far behind their Canon brothers.

I don't see a truly qualitative color difference in the RAW files.


One of these is a canon lens renowned for color rendition, another is the sigma 50 Art, aside from the clouds moving, they were taken in almost identical light.

Not a huge difference, especially considering post processing possibility

I didn't think that comment deserved responding to really.