Canon 1.4 or Sigma 1.4 for my MKii

that1guy · Jul 29, 2012

They're both in the same price range (so thats not an issue) and I've been reading a lot of reviews, image quality is almost the same with bokeh being favored for the sigma

I know someone who has the sigma and said they love and its his main lens, with a few cons

my only concern really is the build of the sigma versus the more reliability build of the canon. I want a lens to last and give me what i pay for it (if it makes sense)

i'd like to hear from people here who have the Sigma

:thumbup:

TheBiles · Jul 30, 2012

I went with with Canon because the giant number of people reporting focus issues with the Sigma scared me off. I didn't want to deal with sending off my camera and lens for calibration when I could get the Canon which was cheaper and had better corner sharpness. Search for some of the other threads here on this exact same discussion.

Sent from my Galaxy S III

that1guy · Jul 30, 2012

thanks i looked it up as u mentioned

but it was a lot of the same he say she say .... i ended up youtubing it which i should've done in the start and theres actually a pretty good video on the both comparing them... the Sigma def stands out more in every way i was skeptical about

thanks again!

Big Mike · Jul 30, 2012

I've always heard that the image quality from that Sigma, is more in line with Canon L lenses....so it should be as good or better than the Canon 50mm F1.4. In terms of build quality, I haven't seen that Sigma (but I've had their 30mm F1.4) and I own the Canon...and the Canon is just OK, not great, so I'd guess the Sigma is as good or better in that respect as well.

On thing to consider, is the sheer size and weight. The Sigma 50mm is much bigger and heavier. Sure, that's not an issue for most people, much of the time, but one of the things I like about my 50mm F1.4, is that it's very small and light.

subscuck · Jul 30, 2012

The Sigma is built like a tank. As Big Mike said, it's a huge lens, but it's friggin' brilliant. Most people complaining about focus issues have never owned the lens, they simply feel the need to repeat what they've read on teh internets, making the problem appear more widespread than it is. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but people get bad copies of Canon lenses, too. Seriously, if there were as many problems with Sigma lenses as the internet would have you believe, they would have gone out of business long ago. Kinda hard to stay in busines if 90% of the lenses you sell are returned. Check out the Sigma forum at DP Review. Lots of happy Sigma owners there.

that1guy · Jul 30, 2012

subscuck said:
The Sigma is built like a tank. As Big Mike said, it's a huge lens, but it's friggin' brilliant. Most people complaining about focus issues have never owned the lens, they simply feel the need to repeat what they've read on teh internets, making the problem appear more widespread than it is. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but people get bad copies of Canon lenses, too. Seriously, if there were as many problems with Sigma lenses as the internet would have you believe, they would have gone out of business long ago. Kinda hard to stay in busines if 90% of the lenses you sell are returned. Check out the Sigma forum at DP Review. Lots of happy Sigma owners there.

yup I seen and held the actual sigma but I didn't get to use it it look pretty good to me, I like
it a lot and I was leaning more toward buying it over the canon 1.4 but I just wanted to hear if anyone who actually owned it had any problems the people on YouTube said no problems and one person actually took a video of the AF speed and it was actually pretty fast

so sigma it is for me!

subscuck · Jul 30, 2012

I've had mine for almost four years now, and I love it. I also own their 30 1.4 (not useable on your 5D) and it sits on my 50D 90% of the time. Oddly enough, my Sigma 50, which should have nothing but back/front focus problems, requires less MA than my Canon 85 1.8. Hmmm.

that1guy · Jul 30, 2012

oh nice!

i played around with the new canon 40mm its super small cost more then the nifty fifty and is like almost the same amount of plastic.... i do love the nifty tho great pix for the price

LShooter · Aug 13, 2012

I own mostly L lenses and compared both recently. I was really looking at the Canon 1.2 I walked out with the Sigma 1.4 85mm and couldn't be happier. Amazingly sharp and well built. I compared the 50mm too and wasn't impressed with the Sigma 50mm so got the Canon 1.4 in the 50mm

JohnTrav · Aug 23, 2012

I never used a Sigma 50mm so this comment is pretty bias.

I have a canon 50mm 1.4 though and am very happy with it. Takes awesome pictures. Sharp. Nice build quality. I do not regret my purchase at all. I would recommend it over any other brand 50mm any day.

subscuck · Aug 23, 2012

OK. Let's take this one step at a time.

JohnTrav said:
I never used a Sigma 50mm so this comment is pretty bias.

Translation: "I have no experience or first hand knowledge, or in fact any knowledge what so ever to have any opinion, or the ability to make a sound, educated judgement, on the Sigma 50 1.4.