Sigma 50mm 1.4

[cccott3]

Sorry to keep asking about this lens but I asked my husband to buy it for my birthday and I just want to make sure I'm making a good decision. I want this lens to take pics of my son. I thought I was sure but I keeping seeing comments in peoples pics not to shoot at f1.8 and f1.4?? Just wondering whats the point if getting that lens for portraits? I have read this on several portrait threads? Any thought?

 

[Markw]

1. The lens is a VERY good focal length for portraits. It gives a good FOV, while:
2. The F/1.4 allows you to shoot (with):
-great control over Depth of Field
-In much lower lighting conditions than most other lenses
-Good focusing in low light
3. It's incredibly sharp
4. It performs better than any Nikon 50mm lens made, including the 50/1.4G.

It's a good choice, you won't regret it. Unless you will miss the versatility of a zoom.

Mark

 

[cgipson1]

Because typically most lenses are sharpest stopped down a couple of stops from wide open... so if you stop down a couple from 1.4, say to 2.8.. it will still be large enough to give great bokeh in the background. If you stop down a couple of stops with a minimum F4 lens.. you will end up at 5.6 and up for good sharpness. Huge difference there.

Also.. one of the biggest advantages to the Sigma.. is that it IS very sharp wide open if you shoot it that way. The main disadvantage to using it wide open (and this is probably what the people you mentioned are talking about) is the the depth of field is very narrow.. and unless you know what you are doing, you can easily miss focus. At 1.4, The smallest move on your part or your subjects part, can throw the focus off. But if you stop down to 2.8 to F4... you will still have better bokeh than almost any lens out there... and you will have more than adequate depth of field also.

Does that make sense?

 

[cccott3]

Yes it does! Thanks so much you guys are awesome!!! I have learned so much from reading through these threads

 

[LizardKing]

I was already doubtful about buying the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or this Sigma (based on cgipson1 advice) and now I'm almost convinced about buying the Sigma. Thank you to the OP for asking this, and thank you both gipson and Mark for the answers.
By the way, does the same happen for the 85mm Sigma vs Nikon? Is it also better and such good quality? Or is it just a characteristic of this 50mm? Because 85mm would be a lot more suitable for the kind of portraits I'd like to do, but the Nikon is off my budget

Regards,
LizardKing

 

[Nikon_Josh]

I would disagree slightly that you need to shoot portraits at 2.8 with this lens. I'm speaking as an extremely satisfied Sigm 50 1.4 owner, You can easily shoot this lens for portraits at F stops 1.8 or 2. These F stops really do wipe out the background (great smooth bokeh) and give you the full focus on the subject of your portrait. I have had some great portrait results with this lens shooting at F2, just I am always more careful about the focus with such a shallow DOF and always review results straight away to ensure both eyes are in focus.

2.8 for me dosen't always give the effect I like, I like the bokeh effect where the background is completely smooth and blown away. 2.8 for me leaves the background more visable than I like it! You will be doing this lens a huge injustice if you do shoot it at 2.8 in my opinion, as it gives fantastic results from 1.8 onwards. Ofcourse it is slightly soft at 1.4, but it makes this a very creative tool. I love the dreamy shots it produces at 1.4. Sharpness to me is not always king, great sharpness is not needed in portraits for a start. You want the eyes SHARP and in focus and you want the skin to be soft. This is why this Sigma lens is a fantastic portrait lens on APS and DX crop sensors, being an 80 mm equiv.

Anyway in summary, if you hadn't guessed... I highly recommend this lens! It really is one of my favourite lenses, I used to use the Nikon 50 1.8 D for portraits. I was stunned by how much better the Sigma was for portrait use. I just couldn't believe my eyes upon reviewing my first shoot with this lens! It really is a dream lens for such a low price, some people even say its as good as Canons 50mm 1.4 L lens which is about 3 or 4 times the price.

 

[cgipson1]

I was already doubtful about buying the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or this Sigma (based on cgipson1 advice) and now I'm almost convinced about buying the Sigma. Thank you to the OP for asking this, and thank you both gipson and Mark for the answers.
By the way, does the same happen for the 85mm Sigma vs Nikon? Is it also better and such good quality? Or is it just a characteristic of this 50mm? Because 85mm would be a lot more suitable for the kind of portraits I'd like to do, but the Nikon is off my budget

Regards,
LizardKing

The 85 rocks also... I don't own that one yet, but have used it. There are many who consider it superior to the 50.. which is saying something...

 

[Nikon_Josh]

I was already doubtful about buying the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or this Sigma (based on cgipson1 advice) and now I'm almost convinced about buying the Sigma. Thank you to the OP for asking this, and thank you both gipson and Mark for the answers.
By the way, does the same happen for the 85mm Sigma vs Nikon? Is it also better and such good quality? Or is it just a characteristic of this 50mm? Because 85mm would be a lot more suitable for the kind of portraits I'd like to do, but the Nikon is off my budget

Regards,
LizardKing

The 85 rocks also... I don't own that one yet, but have used it. There are many who consider it superior to the 50.. which is saying something...

Too right and true! There is a well regarded pro online who has literally thrown his Canon 85 L 1.2 in the trash for the Sigma 85 1.4. He reckons the Sigma blows away the Canon in terms of AF speed, sharpness at wide open. haha. I think I may change my name to Sigma_Josh soon, I'm starting to sound like a Sigma sales rep! Ryan Brenizer a Nikon user, says the new Nikon 85 1.4G only beats it by a whisker and says if you dont have the cash for the Nikon, not getting the Sigma would be pure stupidity as it's so damn good.

 

[penfolderoldo]

I was already doubtful about buying the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or this Sigma (based on cgipson1 advice) and now I'm almost convinced about buying the Sigma. Thank you to the OP for asking this, and thank you both gipson and Mark for the answers.
By the way, does the same happen for the 85mm Sigma vs Nikon? Is it also better and such good quality? Or is it just a characteristic of this 50mm? Because 85mm would be a lot more suitable for the kind of portraits I'd like to do, but the Nikon is off my budget

Regards,
LizardKing

If you mean the Sigma 85 1.4 I can tell you it's a fantastic piece of glass, and in my humble opinion is sharper than the Canon 85 1.2L - I use mine loads, so i'm sure you won't be disappointed

 

[MTVision]

I would disagree slightly that you need to shoot portraits at 2.8 with this lens. I'm speaking as an extremely satisfied Sigm 50 1.4 owner, You can easily shoot this lens for portraits at F stops 1.8 or 2. These F stops really do wipe out the background (great smooth bokeh) and give you the full focus on the subject of your portrait. I have had some great portrait results with this lens shooting at F2, just I am always more careful about the focus with such a shallow DOF and always review results straight away to ensure both eyes are in focus.

2.8 for me dosen't always give the effect I like, I like the bokeh effect where the background is completely smooth and blown away. 2.8 for me leaves the background more visable than I like it! You will be doing this lens a huge injustice if you do shoot it at 2.8 in my opinion, as it gives fantastic results from 1.8 onwards. Ofcourse it is slightly soft at 1.4, but it makes this a very creative tool. I love the dreamy shots it produces at 1.4. Sharpness to me is not always king, great sharpness is not needed in portraits for a start. You want the eyes SHARP and in focus and you want the skin to be soft. This is why this Sigma lens is a fantastic portrait lens on APS and DX crop sensors, being an 80 mm equiv.

Anyway in summary, if you hadn't guessed... I highly recommend this lens! It really is one of my favourite lenses, I used to use the Nikon 50 1.8 D for portraits. I was stunned by how much better the Sigma was for portrait use. I just couldn't believe my eyes upon reviewing my first shoot with this lens! It really is a dream lens for such a low price, some people even say its as good as Canons 50mm 1.4 L lens which is about 3 or 4 times the price.

I don't have the sigma 1.4 but I have the nikon one and I agree that you can shoot portraits below 2.8 but....if you are a beginner it might be hard because any focus errors will be noticeable.

 

[rfarrenphoto]

interesting read and especially to hear that it holds up really well against the canon version of the same lens! time to invest maybe.

 

[LizardKing]

Thank you all guys!

 

[traylorc]

Hate to be the dissenting opinion regarding the Sigma 50mm, but I have gone through two copies of this lens and I was not impressed. I will give the Sigma credit, the bokeh was nice but overall I felt my images were incredibly soft, and even after making adjustments I still felt the images were soft (I shoot a D700). I took the Sigma on a recent trip to WDW, and I wound up discarding a large number of pictures taken with this lens. In fact, once I returned home from my trip I sold the Sigma 50mm. Now the Sigma 85mm ....that's a different story altogether. Optically I feel the 85mm is superior to the 50mm.

Just my opinion....

 

[Moe]

[deleted]

 

[Nikon_Josh]

Hate to be the dissenting opinion regarding the Sigma 50mm, but I have gone through two copies of this lens and I was not impressed. I will give the Sigma credit, the bokeh was nice but overall I felt my images were incredibly soft, and even after making adjustments I still felt the images were soft (I shoot a D700). I took the Sigma on a recent trip to WDW, and I wound up discarding a large number of pictures taken with this lens. In fact, once I returned home from my trip I sold the Sigma 50mm. Now the Sigma 85mm ....that's a different story altogether. Optically I feel the 85mm is superior to the 50mm.

Just my opinion....

It has to be a bad copy, as this is not the case with my Sigma 50 1.4. The 85 mm maybe slighty better, but it is not optically superior.