Nikon AFS 50/1.4G and Sigma 50/1.4 DG HSM experiences?

[mogwai]

hi hi

i own several standard 50mm primes from the 50/1.2 to 55/1.2 to the current AFD 50/1.4.

however, i'm considering one of the above 2 to add to my favourite focal length. wonder if anybody has any experiences/ pictures/ direct comparisons to share.

my own thoughts
1. filter thread - although the huge front element on the sigma may put many off, but i use 85/1.4 and have various filters to pop on when i feel like it.

2. autofocus speed/ accuracy - i always go for 1st party if there's one available. however, i've heard that the nikon one may actually fail in this department, even when compared to its predecessor...

3. colour - also always gone for 1st party for this. however, wonder if this sigma matches well with nikon bodies.

thanx in advance to your contributions

[chris667198]

Voigtländer Nokton 58mm/f1.4 SL-II
If you like manual len, get the above len a try.

[xl1]

posted here:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showp...11&postcount=5

if you have extra money go for sigma this time.

[mogwai]

Originally Posted by xl1 posted here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showp...11&postcount=5 if you have extra money go for sigma this time.

your pic looks good. pic was straight out of cam?

i've heard the bokeh is rather harsh from the nikon afs. any thoughts?

[Oshkosh]

Hi, I had a thread on Sigma 50mm f1.4 HSM (Nikon) with pics.


Take a look.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=472755


So far, Sigma have not disappoint me.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by mogwai your pic looks good. pic was straight out of cam? i've heard the bokeh is rather harsh from the nikon afs. any thoughts?

Wouldn't it depend on what is in the backgrounds of your shots?
I don't find the bokeh of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G to be harsh so far and I am not even shooting with it fully opened.

Examples:

[TheChef]

These 3 photos are taken by me with Sigma 50mm f1.4. I have no regret buying this lens.

#1


#2


#3

[wheresmycheese]

Originally Posted by chris667198 Voigtländer Nokton 58mm/f1.4 SL-II If you like manual len, get the above len a try.

this is a nice lens. or you can try the Zeiss T* 50mm f1.4 ZF too. these 2 are simply beautiful if you don't mind manual focusing !

Originally Posted by mogwai hi hi i own several standard 50mm primes from the 50/1.2 to 55/1.2 to the current AFD 50/1.4. however, i'm considering one of the above 2 to add to my favourite focal length. wonder if anybody has any experiences/ pictures/ direct comparisons to share. my own thoughts 1. filter thread - although the huge front element on the sigma may put many off, but i use 85/1.4 and have various filters to pop on when i feel like it. 2. autofocus speed/ accuracy - i always go for 1st party if there's one available. however, i've heard that the nikon one may actually fail in this department, even when compared to its predecessor... 3. colour - also always gone for 1st party for this. however, wonder if this sigma matches well with nikon bodies. thanx in advance to your contributions

[mogwai]

all these pics are nice

tomcat, those are some mean cat photos (as in beautiful shots). i love cats too!

still hard to choose...

ok. how about AF speed? esp on a body with motor, like d300 or d700? i remember some initial comments about the nikon AFS being slow on such bodies, although focus accuracy is more consistent.

[xl1]

Originally Posted by mogwai all these pics are nice tomcat, those are some mean cat photos (as in beautiful shots). i love cats too! still hard to choose... ok. how about AF speed? esp on a body with motor, like d300 or d700? i remember some initial comments about the nikon AFS being slow on such bodies, although focus accuracy is more consistent.

AF is quite fast and quiet, with d700 no problem with focusing and accuracy. I use it in few shoot using Continuous focus and all the picture come sharp.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by mogwai all these pics are nice tomcat, those are some mean cat photos (as in beautiful shots). i love cats too! still hard to choose... ok. how about AF speed? esp on a body with motor, like d300 or d700? i remember some initial comments about the nikon AFS being slow on such bodies, although focus accuracy is more consistent.

Thanks. I like to test my gears on them.

The AF is very quiet on my D700 compared to the 50mm f/1.8. It is also very fast but it gives the impression that it might be slow because of the greater travel of the lens elements which might be a good thing for those who like use the lens in manual mode.

I had to choose between the Sigma and the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 too. The main differences are:
(a) Weight: Sigma is much heavier at 520g compared to Nikon at 290g due to the larger amount of glass and greater use of metal.
(b) Size: Sigma needs a 77mm filter while Nikon a 58mm.
(c) Sharpness: From user reviews, Nikon is sharper wide opened. This is related to the size of the glass elements. Larger frontal element comes at the price of heavy optics and more aberration-prone lens which translate into lower sharpness and reduced microcontrast for the Sigma.
(d) Bokeh: Sigma is known to have a smoother bokeh because of the larger front element at the expense of (c).

So the choice between the two boils down essentially to whether you prefer sharpness or smoothness of the bokeh. I personally prefer sharpness at large apertures than bokeh because bokeh depends a lot on what's in the background in the first place while sharpness will stare you in the face every time regardless of what's in the blurred background. So far, from the Sigma users' images posted here, I find that they are not really sharp at large apertures as expected and would not past muster by me as I like my images to be sharply focussed. At the same time, the bokeh from the Nikon is not as bad as expected.. it is in fact very good to me so far. I can always digitally smoothen the bokeh of an image during post processing but if the image is not sharply focussed, there is a limit to how much could be done in post processing to correct that.

The other considerations for me are:

(e) Sigma needs expensive 77mm filters while 58mm filters for the Nikon are cheaply available.
(f) The Nikon is much lighter in weight and balances well on the D700 which is already heavy as it is. The size (diameter) of the Nikon also look good on the D700 and the finishing seems to be designed to match that of the Nikon DSLRs. The lens is lighter and less conspicuous and would be good for walkaround shooting with a prime lens.
(g) I use Capture NX2 for RAW processing which provides the finer auto adjustments eg. chromatic aberration, vignetting, etc based on the lenses' optical design only for Nikon lenses. Other third party RAW processing software like DxO Pro which I also uses and which carries out customised corrections for chromatic aberration, vignetting, perspective and optical deviations also tends to do so mostly for lenses from the same camera brands that the software is designed for.
(h) Sigma lenses often suffers from front/back focussing and require a trip to the Service Centre for adjustments. I have many Sigma lenses and at least 2/3 of them needed some adjustments. On the bright side, at least they could be carried out locally within a couple of hours unlike Tamron lenses which would all have to be sent back to Japan for weeks to do even the simplest of repairs.

oh... and

(i) Price: This is probably the first time that a Sigma lens costs significantly more than that of the equivalent Nikon or Canon lens. That somehow don't sit well with me and figured stronger than I would have expected at decision time.

So for these reasons, I opted for the Nikon and after using it thus far, I know I didn't make a wrong decision.

[kisim]

tomcat, thank you for the superb comparison.

[mogwai]

wow tomcat. thanx for your insight!

your point about sharpness > bokeh does remind me of when i was choosing an 85mm. (although for that, i chose the 1.4 instead :P)

this is a toughie and i'll certainly have to go down to the shop for some tests. in the meantime, my wife's asking me how many more 50mms do i want?!

lol. she doesn't disapprove of my hobby (because she gets nice photos) but she does play a 'devil's advocate' advisory role to prevent me from spending too much on unnecessary stuff.

btw. wheresmycheese and chris, i did consider the voigtlander and the CZ. but i already have too many manuals...this new AF addition is to improve on my 50/1.4AFD.

at the end of the day, MF lenses are for fun nowadays for me. AF lenses (esp primes) are always in my bag.