Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM - Disappointed

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Rixy

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Today I've been testing my Sigma 50mm 1.4.

To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. At f/1.4 I'd go as far to say that it's unusable unless you want to create a dream-like scene!

Here is a quick test mounted on a tripod against my trusty Canon 50mm 1.8. Excuse the not so perfect 100% crop sizes. The subject is bang in the middle of the frame.

Canon 50mm 1.8 @f/1.8 - Centre AF Point
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Sigma 50mm 1.4 @f/1.8 - Centre AF Point
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I've been playing with micro adjustment for over an hour on my 5Dmkiii and I do get a slight improvement when set at -20, however it's no where near as sharp as it should be. Do others agree?

When shooting at f2.0 and higher, things start to improve, but it kinda defeats the point of having a large aperture lens. I was expecting poor edge performance but the centre performance is truly horrific.

Shooting with liveview, things slightly improve but it's still not great.

Sigma 50mm 1.4 @f/1.8 - Live View AF
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It has nice bokeh though..... :bonk: :bang: :thumbsdown:

Return for a refund?
 
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It's pretty shocking. It's so soft wide open that you can notice it without even pixel peeping.

I purchased it from Digital Rev, I'm inclined to just send it straight back to them. Not sure whether to risk (roll the dice) getting another though? Hmm..
 
Are you using a tripod for those shots? The DOF at 1.4 is very small!
 
Original Poster said:
Shocking quality, I'd send it back to DR!
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Yeah, it's shocking. I've just started the returns process to DR. I'm hoping it's going to be painless. :suspect:

I can't believe that a lens in this condition could possibly pass through quality inspection. :thumbsdown: Sigma. Especially considering the cost of the lens. If this was in the nifty fifty price range you'd almost expect quality of the optics to vary hugely.

Ordinarily I'd chalk it up to me being unlucky and receiving a bad lens. But I've read quite a number of threads around the net of people experiencing AF and soft problems with this lens.
 
Never mind that lens, I've had two Sigmas (24-70 and 70-200) for a full frame Canon and both had to be calibrated because they went beyond the max settings of the micro adjust! :bang:
 
rbrown74 said:
Never mind that lens, I've had two Sigmas (24-70 and 70-200) for a full frame Canon and both had to be calibrated because they went beyond the max settings of the micro adjust! :bang:
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I know so many people have had good experiences with Sigma lenses, but sadly I am not one on of them.

I had a 70-200 F2.8 - Totally soft anywhere near fully open
I had a 24-80 F2.8 - Ditto

I'm sure they were just duff examples, but I doubt I'd ever buy a Sigma lens again.

Good luck sorting out your fifty! :)

Dav
 
Took me 3 lenses from different suppliers for my 5D, never did get a goodun, when I bought my D700 I tried again and got a good used copy. Annoying to get duffs but its a good lens when you (eventually) find a good copy, love mine.
 
Only ever owned one Sigma lens, when I had Nikon kit, and I was not impressed.

Should these duff copies be out there in the first place?
Where is the quality control at Sigma?
 
Well, not unless you pay, £40 for AF adjust, £80-100 for AF motor.
 
It's pot luck with Sigmas. I'd never buy a grey import Sigma as chances are you'd need to send it back for recalibration. I like the way on the new lenses you can buy a docking station to recalibrate it yourself.
 
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Rixy said:
Yeah, it's shocking. I've just started the returns process to DR. I'm hoping it's going to be painless. :suspect:

I can't believe that a lens in this condition could possibly pass through quality inspection. :thumbsdown: Sigma. Especially considering the cost of the lens. If this was in the nifty fifty price range you'd almost expect quality of the optics to vary hugely.

Ordinarily I'd chalk it up to me being unlucky and receiving a bad lens. But I've read quite a number of threads around the net of people experiencing AF and soft problems with this lens.
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I have returned a lens to Digitalrev previously and got a replacement.

It cost me about £20 to return (Royalmail international service) the lens to Hong Kong and I received a replacement around 10-14 days later.

They do offer a refund on return postage if the lens is confirmed as faulty; although I never chased this up & was just happy to have the replacement.

Digitalrev were decent and kept me informed, just download and fill in the returns form and put it in your parcel.
 
I've had three sigma lenses and one of the the 24-70 f2.8 was woeful, had to return it to Jacobs who tried it in the shop, agreed with me and exchanged it there and then, it's replacement was far better. Why should buying a sigma be a hit and miss affair though, something ain't quite right
 
This is so infuriating... back when I was looking at getting an ultra-wide-angle lens for my 5D mk II, I was seriously looking the Sigma 12-24mm zoom. It looked a lovely well-made lens for the money, there was nothing else as wide on the market (unless you got into fish-eyes), and 12mm is seriously wide on a full-frame sensor.. The problem was, stories of "bad copies" were legion - it seemed that for every satisfied owner, there was someone else with a lens that was soft on one side or wouldn't focus properly. I got as far as placing an order online, but at the last minute I cancelled it and got a Canon 17-40mm L instead (which I'm happy with :) )

Sigma seriously need to get their &%*! together, or they'll lose credibility faster than a certain potty-mouthed Cabinet minister :nono: I suspect they might have got away with this sort of poor quality control back in the days of film, but not when everyone can pixel-peep at the click of a mouse.. until I start hearing uniformly good reviews of their lenses and stop seeing stories like this, I'll be steering well clear :suspect:

A.
 
Anorakus said:
Sigma seriously need to get their &%*! together,
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Their latest lenses seem to be getting very good reviews although only time will answer questions about reliability of build and in use. Also of course you have to pay for extra care and checking and the "better" lenses usually cost... more.

Another nice thing to do is to surf the net for reliability data and some of it may surprise you with for example a couple of expensive Canon lenses being shockers with one company producing stats stating that their most unreliable lens is... no, I wont say :D but that doesn't generate as much internet traffic as Siggy issues does.

Signed.
Happy Siggy 12-24mm and 50mm f1.4 owner :D
 
That's annoying!

I've had 3 sigma lenses now, and all have been fine. I'm saving for a siggy 50mm too, so hoping my experience isn't as unfortunate as yours!

I'd say it's a case of being unlucky, rather than a consistent sigma problem - which I know some people will argue it is.

I hope you get the problem resolved nice and easy though!
 
I had a Sigma short zoom briefly and still have a 50mm Macro and have to say both are faultless, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I'll be looking for a 120-300mm in the future so I hope the luck remains!:thumbs:
 
I've tried 3 of the 50mm and all 3 were (badly) off and returned. I desperately wanted it to be as good as I had read given that the Nikon 50 1.4 is itself pretty crap.
 
Why do you need another 50mm get a 35mm or something!:) That the problem with lens grey imports. If you are going to buy them buy them from a uk seller with stock in this country.
 
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Thankfully I've never had problems with any of my Sigma lenses. My 50 1.4 was and is pin sharp (although I have to micro adjust on my 5dmk3 whereas I didn't on the 60D). My only lens that I'm unhappy with is the 12-24 as it's always been a bit soft until around F8-F11, but on full frame it REALLY shows. So much so I'm thinking of changing to something else, but am unsure what.
 
It's interesting hearing others thoughts on Sigma.

rjbell said:
Why do you need another 50mm get a 35mm or something!:) That the problem with lens grey imports. If you are going to buy them buy them from a uk seller with stock in this country.
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I like the 50mm focal length on a full frame camera. The Canon 50mm 1.8 is a great lens for the money but after buying a 5Dmkiii, it just feels silly mounted on it. AF speed on the 50mm 1.8 is slow and jittery, the bokeh also isn't great.
 
Looks like you'll be folking out for a 1.2l then!:)
 
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rjbell said:
Looks like you'll be folking out for a 1.2l then!:)
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:D It would be nice but got to draw the line somewhere! Spending nearly £300 on a prime has already made my eyes water!

I'll give Sigma another chance before reconsidering the Canon 50mm 1.4.
 
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Hi guys, bought this lens and it arrived today - far from happy.

Anything a metre or two away it's spot on, tack sharp but if I focus on something that is around 10 metres away it's way out and back focuses. Don't think Micro adjust will help as surely if I adjust it to sort out the problem shooting things at a distance it will mess up the close up shots?

Bought mine from Panamoz, thinking I may send it back and steer well clear in future, all of these Sigma lenses that have AF faults can't be a coincidence?

On a side note has anyone had to return a lens to Panamoz before?
 
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