Nifty Fifty upgrade...

[Barakka]

So... we all know the Canon 50mm 1.8 is a no-brainer when it comes to value for money, but what about the upgrade from there ?

The Canon 50mm 1.4 ?
Or the Sigma 50mm 1.4 ?

Anyone got experience of these ?

[jackvdbuk]

just my opinion, but its hardly an upgrade from a 1.8 to a 1.4 is it? be a pretty big waste of money considering its quite a bit more aswell and already having the 1.8

[htid]

No experience but from what I've heard the sigma just pips the canon.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Sigma reverse engineers the mount electronics so you are not guaranteed compatibility with later Canon cameras. They also tend to use a lot of plastic in the internal mechanisms too (this lead to issues with newer Sony dSLRs for example as the gears ended up being stripped but this did not affect other companies lenses it seems). I have an EX DG zoom myself BTW and these also use plastic internal gears too. The Canon is most likely to have a better resale value too. However,as mentioned earlier if you already have the F1.8 version of the Canon 50MM I would keep it.

[Blastuk]

I hear the Sigma beats the Canon hands down..
Canon seems to have a lot of duff 50/1.4s

[Bobster]

Sigma's 1.4 EX has the same build quality as the Canon 1.2L - i'm getting one at the end of the month ready for wedding season.

Pro
Build quality (EX = L in sigma terms)
HSM Focusing (silent and deadly accurate from what i've seen)
f/1.4

Con
Price - over £350
Weight - 505g!
Size - largest 1.4 50 there is

this was a quick test shot with the subjects Sigmalux, i was interested in the quality so took the opportunity while attending a workshop to have a play

im going to be borrowing the one im buying later this month for an e-session so will post image when its done

[Funkstar]

I bought a Canon 50 1.4 from someone on here a number of years ago, and it is by far my favourite lens.

I've heard there are a number of duffers out there, but buying second hand you can avoid that

Part of the reason I like it is because it is so small.

[Bobster]

I nearly bought the Canon 50 1.4 a couple of Christmasses ago, but it was back focusing so decided against it. i told the shop to send it back to Canon..

Part of the reason I like it is because it is so small.

yeah the Sigmalux is just a tad bigger than all the other 50 1.4's out there.. and is closer to the 50L

left to right
Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax

the Sigma is slower in AF than the Canon, but locks focus better

[Barakka]

I've heard there are a number of duffers out there, but buying second hand you can avoid that

Do you know what tends to be the main problem(s) to watch for ?

The Sigma does look like a substantial lens, I got my wife the 50/1.8 and she loves it, easily her favourite for certain shoots, but it is noisy and slow, and the manual focus ring is dreaful, plus it's tiny and looks almost daft on her 5D with battery grip.

I was looking what she could get to replace it until she can afford the 50/1.2L - I think I need to get her to go somewhere to try them both as the Sigma looks the best on paper but people tend to rave about how good both are.

The reviews on dpreview seem to be fairly inconclusive and although the Sigma looks sharpest they report some significant issues with strong fringing artifacts in high-contrast shots....

[Barakka]

Sigma reverse engineers the mount electronics so you are not guaranteed compatibility with later Canon cameras.

Is this true ? I thought it was a wives-tale... i've seen plenty of people saying the same, but no-one that's actually had it happen to them, only a friend-of-a-friend type scenario, plus a few people saying they have ancient Sigma lenses that work fine on new bodies.

Surely if they changed the mount electronics that significantly the old Canon lenses wouldn't work ?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is this true ? I thought it was a wives-tale... i've seen plenty of people saying the same, but no-one that's actually had it happen to them, only a friend-of-a-friend type scenario, plus a few people saying they have ancient Sigma lenses that work fine on new bodies.

Surely if they changed the mount electronics that significantly the old Canon lenses wouldn't work ?

I would check Photo.net as they have a few threads regarding this:

http://photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00UWyX

The microcode on the Sigma lenses is probably not an exact clone of those found in Canon lenses. Tokina and Tamron tend to actually license the mount so you are less likely to have problems.

I currently use a Sony dSLR and my 17-35MM EX DG is reported as a 28-80MM FFS and it is the same with other Sony bodies I have tested too. On top of this many of the latest Sony bodies will not work with properly with many Sigma lenses too and you need to return the lenses to get them re-chipped!!

The worst thing is that 1980s Minolta lenses I still use have all the info corrected reported and will work with any Sony or Minolta AF SLR from the last 25 years fine.

The stripping of gears even on EX and EX DG lenses is somewhat worrying although it seems to be more model specific.

For instance see what happened to Gonzo:

http://forums.hexus.net/wanted/19105...af-lenses.html

He was sold a Sigma 105MM EX lens and what the con artist did not tell him was that the gears were stripped.

It could be that the 50MM Sigma is totally fine but do some research beforehand!

[this_is_gav]

yeah the Sigmalux is just a tad bigger than all the other 50 1.4's out there

I can't speak for Canon but I'd argue my Nikon 50 F1.4G is too small - it doesn't feel natural to hold it.

And yes, I was going to buy the Sigma instead of my Nikon, but I took a sensible pill for once and paid less (around £75 less IIRC) for the apparently very small differences between them.

[Barakka]

I would check Photo.net as they have a few threads regarding this:

http://photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00UWyX

The microcode on the Sigma lenses is probably not an exact clone of those found in Canon lenses. Tokina and Tamron tend to actually license the mount so you are less likely to have problems.

I currently use a Sony dSLR and my 17-35MM EX DG is reported as a 28-80MM FFS and it is the same with other Sony bodies I have tested too. On top of this many of the latest Sony bodies will not work with properly with many Sigma lenses too and you need to return the lenses to get them re-chipped!!

The worst thing is that 1980s Minolta lenses I still use have all the info corrected reported and will work with any Sony or Minolta AF SLR from the last 25 years fine.

The stripping of gears even on EX and EX DG lenses is somewhat worrying although it seems to be more model specific.

For instance see what happened to Gonzo:

http://forums.hexus.net/wanted/19105...af-lenses.html

He was sold a Sigma 105MM EX lens and what the con artist did not tell him was that the gears were stripped.

It could be that the 50MM Sigma is totally fine but do some research beforehand!

Now you see if I tell her that she won't touch the Sigma with a barge pole !!!

But seriously, cheers... think it will be either the Canon 1.4 or wait for the 1.2L

[Bobster]

i'll be taking the Sigmalux out for a spin on the 26th when i do an Engagement Session. If it performs well, i'll be purchasing

[Bobster]

borrowing the one i plan on purchasing, took some test shots yesterday - 0 MA needed on my 50D - all shots @ f/1.4
#1

#2 testing HSM AF

so far very happy with the results

[j.o.s.h.1408]

excellent pics mate. But i tink the second one is just a tad overexposed?