Sigma 50 1.4 EX HSM vs Zeiss Planar 50 1.4 ZE

perryge wrote in post #7192693
I tried manually focusing too, they were not awful wide open, but certainly not sharp. Mind you the Canon 50 1.4 is quite soft wide open too.

I've seen people in here (MANY) swear by their 1.4...that it is tack sharp wide open. So maybe there is just a quality control issue and you have to go in to a shop and test 4-5 copies before picking one up

wallybud wrote in post #7192990
I've seen people in here (MANY) swear by their 1.4...that it is tack sharp wide open. So maybe there is just a quality control issue and you have to go in to a shop and test 4-5 copies before picking one up

Who says that? I have yet to see a 50 1.4 owner who won't admit that it's soft wide open. It's not pure garbage wide open, but not even close to tack sharp. I thought my copy was pretty damn good too...

perryge wrote in post #7192963
The Sigma is CAD$650 here, and the Zeiss is close to $990 .

Holy Jeebus!

If the Sigma is that much cheaper and you are concerned about the cost....okay, I'm confused.

I've been there (as much as I could be ) to see it...and everyones definition of tack sharp is different...there is a certain level of sharp "I" am willing to accept at 1.4 and 1.2. Selective sharpening take close to 20 seconds and works wonders if your good at it

AngryCorgi wrote in post #7193038
Holy Jeebus!

If the Sigma is that much cheaper and you are concerned about the cost....okay, I'm confused.

It's just I've been through so many damn 50mm lenses, I just want to find one that blows me away and that I will keep. I love the focal length so much that I don't care how much it costs in the end. But if nothing's gonna really blow me away then I'll just settle and pick up a cheap used Canon 50 1.4 again or something. The 50L was the closest thing to making my jaw drop, but the focus shift on the copy I tried was so bad and so obvious...

If you can wait, PMA is in a few months and I'm sure Canon will be gracing us with a few new lenses, I'm personally hoping for a 50mm f/1.4 II meself ;D

perryge wrote in post #7193059
It's just I've been through so many damn 50mm lenses, I just want to find one that blows me away and that I will keep. I love the focal length so much that I don't care how much it costs in the end. But if nothing's gonna really blow me away then I'll just settle and pick up a cheap used Canon 50 1.4 again or something. The 50L was the closest thing to making my jaw drop, but the focus shift on the copy I tried was so bad and so obvious...

Yeah thats what everyone says

and I mean I hear ya, you just may not find that in a AF lens...start going back through the years instead of forward and see what you come up with?

KenjiS wrote in post #7193080
If you can wait, PMA is in a few months and I'm sure Canon will be gracing us with a few new lenses, I'm personally hoping for a 50mm f/1.4 II meself ;D

Really? I heard they found a way to make the 50/1.8 even cheaper by using plastic elements in a tessar arrangement. 50/1.8 mk3 on the way!

KenjiS wrote in post #7193080
If you can wait, PMA is in a few months and I'm sure Canon will be gracing us with a few new lenses, I'm personally hoping for a 50mm f/1.4 II meself ;D

That might be the thing to do actually.

wallybud wrote in post #7193084
Yeah thats what everyone says

and I mean I hear ya, you just may not find that in a AF lens...start going back through the years instead of forward and see what you come up with?

Haha been there, done that. I'd really like one with at least auto aperture lol. I have access to some great Nikon and M42 mount full manual 50s, but, y'know...auto aperture would be nice, let alone autofocus (that works).

perryge wrote in post #7193118
That might be the thing to do actually.

I know Sony is bringing 3 lenses to PMA from what I heard...I'm half expecting one of them to be an AF Planar 50mm f/1.4 [I'm guessing it will be a Zeiss, a G and a Consumer lens..could be wrong] and given their leveraging of the Zeiss AF lenses and the 50mm f/1.4 Planar being one of the more famous ones I think its not a stretch to say that...Especially with the a800 crop coming [It'd be the perfect portrait system, a 50mm f/1.4 CZ Planar on a 1.5 crop 15.8 megapixel dslr]

I'm praying for Canon to not disappoint, last year felt disappointing in terms of Canon's lenses [Except the 200mm f/2 IS, but I'm hoping for stuff more affordable and yet not junk]

Especially since last year someone talked to one of the higher ups of the Canon EOS system development team about the new 50D and how it shows the flaws in some of Canon's antiquated primes and he admitted the fact that there are a lot of lenses in the lineup that need a good optical refreshing [The interviewer I think STRESSED the 50mm f/1.4 as being a prime example of it]

50mm has come back now, Sigma proved theres a lot of room for improvement....now I want Canon to come out with a 50 prime that makes the Sigma look like crap wide open, That I would pay $500 for..

A Canon 50 1.4 USM, with real USM and quality optics wide open for less than the Sigma would be an instant buy from me.

A 50 1.4L USM with weathersealing, a floating element, and L optics would be an instant buy too, even if it cost $1200. That of course, won't happen given the 50L...

*Sigh* maybe I'll just keep using my 24-105 and 55 1.8 SMC Tak for now...until someone releases something that really blows me away. Or I'll get a D700 and give the AF-S G 50 1.4 a spin (I kid. Or DO I?)

perryge wrote in post #7193016
Who says that? I have yet to see a 50 1.4 owner who won't admit that it's soft wide open. It's not pure garbage wide open, but not even close to tack sharp. I thought my copy was pretty damn good too...

I call my Canon EF50mm f/1.4 USM "The Razor" for a reason. Because it is just that - a RAZOR. The thing IS sharp. Is it as sharp as my CZJ Biotar T 2/58? No, but it is by no means a slouch in sharpness either.

Carl Zeiss optics have a very dependable and unmatched sharpness and contrast that makes for just the most amazing "pop" of any lens maker out there. The color rendition (due to its excellent contrast - made possible by perfect element design and T* coatins) is something not found in Canon lenses, even the L's come in 2nd to the Zeiss in color rendition.

-Alan

Perry, this may/may not be helpful, but here is the old ZF50 versus Siggy @f/1.4 from some time ago (when the Siggy was released). Its mostly relevant for night shooting, though.

http://210.238.185.197 …/50_14_s_vs_z_y​oru_14.jpg

nureality wrote in post #7193246
I call my Canon EF50mm f/1.4 USM "The Razor" for a reason. Because it is just that - a RAZOR. The thing IS sharp. Is it as sharp as my CZJ Biotar T 2/58? No, but it is by no means a slouch in sharpness either.

Carl Zeiss optics have a very dependable and unmatched sharpness and contrast that makes for just the most amazing "pop" of any lens maker out there. The color rendition (due to its excellent contrast - made possible by perfect element design and T* coatins) is something not found in Canon lenses, even the L's come in 2nd to the Zeiss in color rendition.

-Alan

Your pbase link (well, the first one anyway) in your sig needs some serious assistance.

...and going off your gear list, do you refer to your 70-200/4L IS as "The Magic Paper Towel Roll" because you use it to wipe your arse?

Wtf is that weird flaring or ghosting around light sources with the Zeiss? I like the Zeiss image better than the sigma apart from that flaring.