Nik Software Releases Viveza 2 Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Image Samples

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Comparison with Canon EF 50mm f/1.4

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Posted by Patrick on Oct 23, 2009 in Cameras, Featured Content, Lenses

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Comparison with Canon EF 50mm f/1.4

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I spent nearly a month with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM, but it only took a single outing with it to realize that I preferred it to the lens that spends the most time on my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. It wasn’t any one big thing though, instead it’s the small things, all added up, that made the Sigma’s images look just a bit better than the Canon’s.

Other Parts To This Series

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Introduction
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Comparison with Canon EF 50mm f/1.4
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Field Notes: Image Samples
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Review: [Coming Soon]

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 at f/2.8 (click for larger size)

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM at f/2.8 (click for larger size)

Field Notes

A few details about the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM. It’s a big lens. Much larger than the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. But it’s certainly handsome, and in more than one outing I’d be stopped by another photographer asking what lens I was using, something about its size or maybe the gold trim, it just seems to get noticed for some reason. Regardless, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM is a well made item, very nice construction, with a beefy grooved focus ring for manual focus duties. On it’s advantages, some of these are subtle and hard to “describe” in words or even crops, but in general the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM has superior bokeh performance over the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. The out of focus areas at the widest apertures are softer, smoother, almost as if they were airbrushed with a smaller nozzle when compared with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. Center focus is better too, at f/1.4 – f/1.8 it has the appearance of more real detail, but comes off less contrasty than the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. The Sigma has a shallower depth of field as well at those wide open apertures. As the aperture gets smaller, the Sigma gets sharper, until f/11 or so where things become much more subjective than objective. To be clear, the Sigma doesn’t offer any one big advantage, the out of focus areas are a little bit better, the sharpness is slightly better, the pictures too, are just a little bit better. If you’re a fan of 50mm lenses you’ll want one, unless you need something compact, then it’s a definite pass. If you’re shopping for your first 50mm though or are looking for a really nice portrait lens for your APS-C DSLR camera, the Sigma should be at the top of your list.

Comparison

Below, I’ve provided a series of 3 crops from the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. Use the picture below this to get an idea of where these 100% crops are coming from. Yes they’re small, but the file dimensions from the Canon EOS 5D Mark II are a bit too large for much bigger. In the crops the Sigma example is on the left and the Canon is on the right. Please click on each thumbnail for the full size crop. I’ve supplied all of the images from both lenses at our Flickr. The Sigma series is here. The Canon series, here. Feel free to download them for your own personal use only.

The crop locations

Crop 1 (Center)
This was tricky, as both lenses focused in slightly different places at f/1.4, so I’ve provided this expanded crop here to show exactly what’s happening wide open with both lenses. Remember that black dot is where I’m focused. Clearly the Canon provides more contrast here, but if you look closely, the Sigma is holding the detail here, and the detail is “tighter”.

Sigma on the left, Canon on the right, both at f/1.4


f/1.4: That black dot is the focus point. The Sigma (on the left) is less contrasty here, but has more actual center sharpness, just less depth of field.	f/1.8

f/2.8: Things really spring to life here for the Sigma, again just more real detail.	f/5.6

f/8	f/11

f/16

Crop 2


f/1.4, again the Sigma is on the left, the Canon on the right. The Sigma is softer and the transition is better.	f/1.8. You can still see an "edge" in the Canon's crop, where the Sigma is more out of focus, which it should be.

f/2.8	f/5.6

f/8. The Sigma shows more "detail" to me, there's just a bit more information.	f/11

Crop 3


f/1.4. The Sigma looks much better here.	f/1.8

f/2.8	f/5.6

f/8	f/11

f/16

It’s important to remember, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM is oriented at excelling in ways a 50mm is typically used, wide open. In other word if you use a 50mm prime lens for shallow depth of field effects, isolated areas of detail, and large amounts of out of focus areas, this is the lens for you. Of course it works great at narrower apertures, it just offers less distinction from the competion.

Get the Lens

The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM is available in nearly all mounts at our favorite photography store, B&H Photo. Support our site and get great prices and service at B&H Photo.

Sigma Normal 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Autofocus Lens at B&H Photo Video
The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Autofocus Lens is a standard lens that provides a large maximum aperture of f/1.4. When used on digital SLR cameras with the APS-C size sensor, the equivalent focal length of this lens will be 80mm, which makes it an excellent choice as a bright medium telephoto lens.

Price: $ 499
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