Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM – Review

-

The segment of the so-called ‘normal’ or ‘prime’ lenses is populated by a discrete number of affordable alternatives. In the Canon system, the possibilities include the Canon f/1.8, f/1.4, f/1.2, and f/1.0, the latter two with USM, ranging between 90€ and about 3,000€ (!). But what are the valid alternatives? And what about the actual quality of these lenses? Taking into account all these issues as well as the price, I started evaluating which lens was closer to both my needs and economic availability. The answer was: Sigma 50mm f/1.4. In this brief review I will try to give a general impression about its use, just to add my experience to the high number of reviews already published by professional websites and testers. I made all the tests with my EOS 7D, allowing to asses the high level of resolution achievable with this lens.

Technical specifications

* Calculated for FF cameras.

** Calculated for APS-C cameras with 1.6x crop factor.

*** From the front lens.

Description

The size of this 50mm is really ‘important’, and the weight as well. The dimensions of this lens are consistent with its brightness, giving it a ‘professional’ appearance. Compared to Canon f/1.4 and f/1.8, the Sigma is really bigger and very similar to the Canon f/1.2 L. The built quality is very good, in agreement with its price. The focus ring is very large and its position very ergonomic, allowing a very efficient fine tuning in manual focus. At f/1.4 the depth of field is pretty shallow, so if the subject (or the photographer) makes just some imperceptible movements, the photo can be misfocused. It occured me many times, it is just a question of making practice, so do not blame neither the camera nor the lens. The HSM is very fast and pretty silent with FTMF (full-time manual focus) available whenever desired. Concerning the focus accuracy, it is well known that, since Canon does not release the AF specifications, Sigma lenses may suffer either front or back focusing problems with Canon DSLRs. Unfortunately, also in this case this was true. If the lens is used with Canon camera bodies with AF fine tuning, such as EOS7D and many others, the issue does not exist, at least within certain limits. In my case, I had to set the AF tuning at +5. Otherwise, the lens should be sent to the customer care to be tuned. Nevertheless, with cameras other than Canon, this kind of problems is really less frequent. This lens, such as most Sigmas, is sold with a petal hood and a very nice lens case.

The depth of field of the Sigma 50mm at f/1.4 is very shallow (photo taken with Canon EOS7D, 1/200s, f/1.4, flash on the background, close to the minimum focus distance). Click on the photo to download a ZIP archive containing the RAW file. Further sample photographs can be found and downloaded below the article.

In the following gallery, the whole series of eight images taken at different apertures (f/1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11, and 16) can give an idea of the variation of depth of field achievable with the Sigma 50mm.

[View with PicLens]

Image quality

The image quality test was performed indoor using some chinese stamps as a subject (below are the 100% crops). Photos were taken with a Canon EOS7D controlled by RC-1, in aperture priority mode (Av), using the built-in flash at full power, and mirror lock-up. The camera was mounted on a Manfrotto 055-XPROB tripod with 322RC2 ballhead.

At f/1.4 this lens is quite soft, improving at f/2.0 and 2.8 but reaching an acceptable sharpness just when stopped down at least at f/4.0. Actually, with a good post-production the image quality at f/2.0 (or at f/1.8) may be sufficient. The optimal contrast can be obtained at f/8.0. From f/8.0 to f/16 the image quality slightly decreases with some detectable diffraction. But let’s take a look at this comparative test between my Canon 18-55 IS and the Sigma 50, both at 50mm.

When I decided to buy this lens, I was motivated by the scarce performance of my Canon 18-55 (IS version), which was my only lens covering the 50mm focal distance. According to the test reported above, at f/5.6 (maximum aperture allowed by the 18-55 at 50mm), the Sigma is clearly the sharpest (no elaboration was performed in both photos). Therefore, I was right in buying this lens for shooting at 50mm.

Flare is visible in the left bottom corner of the photo. Unfortunately, the weather of the last few weeks did not allow me to assess the flare under the sunlight. I will replace this photo as soon as I can.

Colors are acceptable, with no visible lens-introduced dominance, at least in my display (MacBook Pro). Chromatic aberration is almost undetectable. Flare is present with strong light sources in the border of the photograph.

Conclusions

The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM is a high-level lens, not only for its interesting features such as the maximum aperture at f/1.4, but also for its optical quality and robust construction. Considering the image quality, this lens is excellent when stopped down to at least f/2.8, but can be also used at maximum aperture with some post-production work. My test was performed with an APS-C camera (EOS7D) with which it can be mainly used as a ‘short portrait’ lens in low-light conditions (I made good photos at ceremonies). The ability of the photographer allows to use this lens in a flexible way, sometimes even like a zoom. According to my experience, it can be used in two main modes, either stopped down (at least at f/5.6) and with a flash for ‘fast shooting’ situation or at maximum aperture for ‘meditated’ photography. In the Canon system, unless you want to spend 1200€ for a Canon f/1.2 L or even more for the rare Canon f/1.0, this is the lens for you.

If you want to contact me for any specific issue regarding this lens, please click HERE.

Other reviews

Dpreview (click here)

Clickblog (in italian, click here)

Samples

[View with PicLens]

2 Replies

1. Kaden Hayes mag 10th 2010
   

   i own several Canon L Lenses and they have the best quality. even better than Nikon.,~.

Leave a Reply