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Technical Details
Style: Canon Digital SLR Cameras
- 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
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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.
Available Warranties for This Item
Style: Canon Digital SLR Cameras
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 77 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
62 of 67 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
60 of 67 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great lens!
Im an amateur photographer that's just looking to get some very nice photo's of his newborn baby. I tried the Canon 50mm f1. Read more
Published 2 days ago by SammySosa21
Best 50mm lens
I am not a professional, so amateurs can and listen to me. This is the best lens I have ever taken pictures with. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Rattle_The_Cages
Focus issues
I tried 2 copies of this lens. I had a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 that I loved. It worked great on my 40D and then on my 7D. It was one of my most used lenses. Read more
Published 10 days ago by MI Photographer
excellent lens
after being a little leary of a non nikon or canon issue lens,i took a chance on the sigma 50mm 1.4 prime lens.it turns out to be an excellent choice. Read more
Published 13 days ago by J. COLLETTE
Great Lens!
This lens is awesome. I played around with the canon version of this lens before and found that it was a little soft when it was wide open. Read more
Published 17 days ago by vonjensen
Sigma A+
I uses this on my D700 and I love the sharpness wide open. That is what you buy a 1.4 lens is t shoot it wide open! Color and out of focus are rendered nicely. Read more
Published 22 days ago by TampaStobist
I Really Wanted To Like Ths Lens
I bought this lens after reading several good reviews by users when the Sigma 50 f/1.4 is mounted on the Canon 5D Mark III and thought it would do well on my 5D3 as well, but I was... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Electric Boogaloo
Pairs well with D7000
This was purchased to pair with a Nikon D7000 for use in low-light situations, but since then it's been used more and more as an all purpose lens -- even as a main lens for... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hunter Wimmer
Good but not great
This prime lens focus very fast and quiet, the quality of the image and bokeh is very good but not as good as my Canon 85mm f/1.8. This lens is solid and quality made. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Bruce S. Phung
Needed too much MFA
I bought this lens intending to use it as a replacement for my Canon 50mm f/1.8. I had read good things about this lens in these reviews with only potential focusing issues so I... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mike From Mesa
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