[frank]

http://www.lenstip.com/400.1-Lens_review...ction.html

 

Is it the new king of bokeh for a FF 50mm? The bokeh appears better than the Zeiss 55mm and the Nikkor 58mm, at least in the corner according to the test.

 

Resolutions are second to the Zeiss but well ahead all others. Althouth the size of the lens is very big, but I notice that it is stll quite small compared to the Zeiss.

 

[JJ_SO]

"quite small" really depends on one's definition. It's not much smaller or lighter than 24-105/4 Art and that's "a brick" just to quote Klaus. And it's much bigger than the 35/1.4 - but the latter is lightweight and small compared to it's genuine competitors. If Sigma continues the "bigger and heavier" way I'll have to look for some wheels under a 85/1.4 :wacko:


I'd use "quite small" for one of the usual 50/1.4 standard lenses. Haven't seen much of night shots yet and some sample shots were made in dull light with no big contrast demands and also only average light quality. I'm looking forward to it and hope it will be here soon. Best sample shots for me will be my own I want to see how it handles the crystal clear and sometimes very pastel tones we have here.


Also I'm curious which lens it pretends to be for the AF microadjustments. Hopefully the one I already sold.

[davidmanze]

Hi,

  This is the second review I have seen of this lens ( although I wouldn't have posted a link here because PZ will probably test it )

 

 Well, who would have thunk it?

 

     With all the refined craftsmanship that goes into Zeiss lenses and a no compromise brief optically, I thought the Otus would reign supreme for maybe a decade to come, then in less time than it takes to down a couple of beers ( OK very large ones, did I say a couple?)  Sigma launch their assault on their adversaire whilst shooting from the hip!

   Man O man, this is top league stuff, two "star wars" behemoth optics at the height of their powers firing broadsides from different sides of the planet at one another. But as in many wars, it's not always the size of the explosive shells that wins the day, the Sigma has the latest modern day technology in it's arsenal, the unconquerable system of AF.

        Whilst the Otus  fires steady manual shots a few of which hit the mark, the incoming accurate fire from the Sigma is totally overwhelming, showing that even the biggest battleships afloat carrying the heaviest amour, that accurate firepower will always win the day. 

    So it goes without saying that here, the victor is clearly the Sigma, seen steaming off back to it's sector of the universe flags flying, leaving the Otus floundering and battle scarred limping back to base for extensive repairs.

  The afterbattle analysis confirms the situation, the Otus's manual rangefiring on the battlefield couldn't come close to the Sigma's computer aided firepower (AF).

     A battle has been won, but the war is not over, there are many more focal length battles in front of us, and I'm looking forward to all of them!

[peterottaway]

The testing was done on a Canon camera with a Canon sensor which means it is not translatable to other camera ecosystems. Yes you can take it as a guide but no more. Another question is as Sigma always releases its lenses for Canon first have they done any fine tuning to get the best on existing Canon sensors or not ?

 

A sterner test would be to compare performance on something like the Nikon D800E. Does the Sigma resolve 22 MP or 28 MP or even 36 MP ?

 

Personally I judge a lens by micro contrast once a lens reaches a decent level of performance, but the numbers are important to some.

[JJ_SO]

@ dave's clichés: Do you really need to bring military slang into a beautiful art? To me it never feels I kill somebody when turning a camera towards the person.

 

And let's face it: Otus is already working and always will, due to it's electronically simple design. While Nikon spoilt the fun out of some Sigma lenses by just updating camera firmware. As well as we don't know yet, how it will perform on Nikon, the first tests are on Canons. I do expect higher DxO marks on a D800E and then the combination of Sigma and Nikon will have a higher score than Otus and Canon 5DIII - compared by the numbers. Might become funny or boring to read those battles then..

 

Or in other words: Sigma and Nikon together have the same price as an Otus without a body behind.

 

Last Sigma I bought has the annoying flaw of pretending to be a Nikon Macro lens towards the camera. This is a minor thing, but when it comes to AF work and I want to use both lenses, I need to switch off focus adjustment. Not very cool.

[popo]

Comparisons across systems can be done, in part with caution, as many aberrations don't change with the sensor. Things like distortion, astigmatism, coma, and similar to me are more important once the effective resolution reaches some decency level, which I don't think we have to really worry about with either of these lenses.

 

As for the question why Canon models seem to come first, we have to consider the other launch mount - Sigma's own. At least in the UK, Sigma and Canon mounts will be initially available next month, even if in practice no one will stock the Sigma mount. The Sigma mount is said to use the same communications as Canon, so in effect it is exactly the same lens with a different bayonet.

 

Out of interest, would people out there agree with me in the following. If things aren't good enough, you will look for and pay more to get the best you can. Once you reach a "good enough" level, you look to achieve that at minimal cost. There are many other 50mm lenses which are cheaper, but don't reach the "good enough" level for me to consider. The Sigma is very good and still affordable. It doesn't have to be the best.

[JJ_SO]

To me, it. will be the best if it performs like it's Canon cousin on DxO. I don't mind 3 or 4 points less than the Otus because I won't use it to snap focus charts on a tripod with optimal light and all the time one needs to manual focus it.


I found myself asking about my early order. Is it necessary, aren't there better things to buy for that amount of cash? Are there situations I can' t use one of the other f/1.4 lenses? I'm not sure but I often use lenses wide open and in situations a goof AF is the only way of getting the picture. Sometimes the 85 is just a bit too long and the 35 too short, and with that 50 I can use FX and DX body since I don't own 2 FXs but I'll get the best possible quality out of the Sigma while the Otus would be useless for me. I don't need that super bokeh if I miss the eye in focus.


So, for anybody in the same situation - depending on quick, accurate AF and excellent lens quality - the Otus might be second best. For those with time to focus, it's the other way round. But if I do have time to focus and compose slowly, I'm using a tripod and wouldn't need the fast lens. So I can easily use the apertures on which both are pretty close to each other. I can' t benefit of the Otus' wide open qualities. It would be burnt money.

[Brightcolours]

The testing was done on a Canon camera with a Canon sensor which means it is not translatable to other camera ecosystems. Yes you can take it as a guide but no more.

That is of course not true at all. If a lens performs well on one camera, it will perform well on another.

If you meant this in respect to the OTUS, it still is not true. Lenstip in this very review points out that the MTF results on their Canon bodies (1D mk III, now 5D mk III) are about 1 lp/mm lower than the results with the D3X they test with.

 

Another question is as Sigma always releases its lenses for Canon first have they done any fine tuning to get the best on existing Canon sensors or not ?

There is no fine tuning for a sensor. That statement just makes no sense... 

A sterner test would be to compare performance on something like the Nikon D800E. Does the Sigma resolve 22 MP or 28 MP or even 36 MP ?

 

Personally I judge a lens by micro contrast once a lens reaches a decent level of performance, but the numbers are important to some.

[Brightcolours]

Nice to see that this Sigma does render nicely... Nice bokeh. That is a big plus. (Well, the outgoing Sigma 50mm f1.4 does render quite nicely too). That will make the price of the Nikkor 58mm f1.4 seem even more... odd?

[Guest]

Did they fix the focus shift that existed in the previous version ?