Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

by Sigma

• Large Aperature, standard prime lens, has superior peripheral brightness and corrects the sagittal coma fare
• Standard lens with large maximum aperture of F1.4.
• Creates sharp images with high contrast and ensures superior peripheral brightness
• Incorporates molded glass aspherical lens, perfectly correcting coma aberration and creating superior image quality.
• Super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.3 x 3.3 x 2.7 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0018ZDGAC
• Item model number: 310101
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #80 in Camera & Photo > Lenses > Camera Lenses
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Style: Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma's 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM is high quality, professional optics and you'll know it the minute you pick it up. In the past few years, camera manufacturers have overlooked the need for a reasonable fast prime lens that is compact enough for everyday use, yet provides the necessary image quality to meet the highest expectations. Now, with the advent of the APS-c cameras, the long popular 50mm focal length takes on double duty as a portrait length lens of approximately 90mm on most of the small chip cameras. At a fraction of the size, weight and cost of comparable lenses, this is a lens that you might have on your digital SLR at all times.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 95 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, sharp, fast, and fantastic bokeh August 13, 2008

By D. Jacobowitz

Style Name:Canon Digital SLR Cameras

In a world of zooms, many people would find plopping down $500 for a 50mm prime -- from a third party manufacturer, no less -- to be a bit absurd.

However, if you are a "prime person" -- and you know who you are -- you'll love the performance of this lens: super sharp photos, incredibly creamy background bokeh, nice contrast and flare resistance, and operation in low-light without needing super-high ISO or a blast of flash.

Pros:
+ @1.4 it's quite usably sharp
+ @1.8 and beyond, it's very sharp
+ the bokeh (rendition of out-of-focus areas) is really amazingly smooth. More so behind the DOF than in front, though
+ colors, contrast, etc, all excellent
+ great build quality, solid feel, free case and lens hood

Cons:
- weight
- price
- big filters (77mm)

Canon already has three 50mm lenses: the 1.8, 1.4, and 1.2L, so you might wonder why Sigma felt the need to jump into this market. The Canon's are all pretty good, with the 50/1.8 being an great value at $80, the 50/1.4 being a reliable workhorse (though prone to a dreamy look wide open), and the 1.2L, being, well, $1500. This lens is priced between the 1.4 and 1.2L, and judging from photos I've seen, it probably performs in that range as well. So it is filling an niche in the wide gulf between the 1.4 and 1.2L.

On my camera, a 400D, a 50mm is like a short tele, and I use it mostly for relatively close up photos of people. I like that when if upgrade to FF, I'll be able to continue to use this lens (and I'll sell my Sigma 30/1.4) whose place it would take....

The lens has not been out very long, and, to my knowledge, no formal reviews have been published (8/2008), but the general "buzz" is that people are seeing AF problems at distances beyond a few meters subject distance.

I personally have not done exhaustive analysis, but I feel my copy performs quite well. Then again, I don't use this lens for far-off subjects very much, and almost never wide open in that case. So there may indeed be problems with this regime, but I don't feel it affects my photography much. That said, it could be that I'm just not as exacting as some, or my camera's AF is sloppy enough to hide lens variation to begin with. However, I do pixel peep a lot and I get about the same hit/miss rate as I do with other lenses I own.

So far, I'm a happy customer. Read more ›

82 of 89 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Portrait Perfection December 21, 2008

By Kevin

Style Name:Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

This is one of the best portrait lenses I have ever used.

I had originally bought the new Nikon AF-S version of this lens. While it was nice, I really had a problem with the way small bright lights looked in it's bokeh. After using the Sigma version once I sold my Nikon and never looked back.

First, the bad:

At F/1.4 this lens is slightly softer than the Nikon version. Unless you're printing poster sized prints and then standing a foot from them you will not notice. At about F4-F5.6 its razor sharp.

Quality control...Sigma has a poor reputation in this department. Unlike their other lenses I have yet to see reports of this lens having the same issues, but you never know.

Weight...it weighs a fair amount, and a little bit more than the Nikon version. Both are heavy however, and if you're used to using a lens of this quality you won't notice.

Now, the good:

The Build Quality is superb. I'd have no regrets with shooting in the rain, snow, or desert.

Bokeh...Wow. The first word that comes to mind whenever I take a picture with this lens is "Creamy". It truly has some of the finest bokeh I've ever seen. When taking portraits you want nothing to distract the viewer from the face of the model; this lens does just that. It turns the background into a beautifully soft collage.

When comparing the bokeh of the Nikon and Sigma lens it is really clear who the winner is. The Nikon is just SO harsh with lights (especially Christmas style) it really distracts the viewer.

Bokeh is the reason most people buy F/1.4 lenses these days, don't waste your money on the inferior Nikon.

87 of 95 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing value for the money November 23, 2008

By Andres Hirmas Adauy

Style Name:Canon Digital SLR Cameras

I'm a primary Canon user. I owned before the canon 50 mm 1.4, a trully excellent lens for the money too. But not to sharp wide open. You have to stop down at least to f2 in order to get good contrast and saturation. Also, the focusing ring was bad in my opinion.
In the other hand, the 50L 1.2 was a big dissapointment to me.I expected the same image quality as the 35L or the 85L for that price.
When I received the Sigma lens I really love it at once. The construction was amazing, solid as a tank, and the ring is very smooth.
What have really impressed me was the performance wide open. Images are clear as crystal with good color and rendition.
Fully recomended.

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SIGMA 50MM F/1.4 FOCUS ISSUES January 19, 2011

By Danny

Style Name:Canon Digital SLR Cameras|Amazon Verified Purchase

Prior to ordering this lens, I probably spent more time reading owner reviews than I have for any other lens I own. At the time of my order, I think Amazon listed some 85 customer reviews of this lens. It was hard to arrive at a conclusion. Image quality was generally not a point to be disputed. In fact the majority of owners had nothing but good to say about this lens. But, some complained of issues related to a failure to auto-focus when shooting at or near wide open aperture settings especially shooting close-ups in subdued light. I wondered why so many were pleased while others had focus problems. And, while what I have to say should not be construed to be conclusive (perhaps there are some bad copies that slipped through the QC department at Sigma)I wanted to share with others my experience with this lens and what I did to fix my focus problem. Obviously, I purchased one.....

A lens like this is generally purchased with one or both of the following in mind. Either for portrait work or for low light shots. Therefore, it is near essential that the auto-focus be spot on. No auto-focus lens is perfect in that it is impossible to be on the dot 100% of the time, but if the majority of your shots are not keepers, there is a problem to be reckoned with. You could rely on manual focus (I do sometimes where a shot is critical, I won't trust auto-focus alone)but you paid for auto-focus and you obviously laid out the cash for a reason.

When my lens arrived, I went to work shooting test shots to see how auto-focus worked at these wide open settings. Sure enough, many shots were blurred. I tried manual focus, no problem, most of the shots were sharp. I sat down and thought about it for a while and it occurred to me that the camera was set to use multiple point auto-focus.... I thought some more and realized that I had not really paid attention to what point/points were locking in. I reset the camera to a single (the center) focus point. At wide open (f/1.4) I shot close-ups of my wife (close enough that her face filled the frame) placing the single center point on her forehead. Wahlah.......perfect focus. Multiple test shots produced like results.

I am wondering if others have made the same oversight as I did. With focus being so critical at these settings and distances, it is imperative that as much margin for error as possible be removed. I knew that when shooting with apertures wider that f/2.8, a single focus point should be used. I am wondering if others may have made this same oversight??? I can't recall reading any remarks concerning this. In any event, if you have a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and you have had focus problems, give it a try if you haven't tried it already.

I must say that I am pleased with this lens now that I have resolved the focus problem. It is sharp as a tack and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It is a great value when compared to it's competitors besides being a beautiful lens to look at with all that big glass....... Read more ›