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

At the price this lens goes for on the used market, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal. It gets outshined by the newer Art model and by the much more compact nikkor 1.8g (for those reasons), but this lens is really wonderful. Very sharp with good color and a soft bokeh; the ex version produces excellent picture quality. The max aperture of 1.4 gives more headroom for adjustment to iso and shutter speed. I have read that the canon version of this lens has autofocus issues, but I haven't noticed anything like that on my nikon model. Autofocus isn't the most quiet but it works quickly. The only mark against the sigma is that it's twice the size of the equivalent nikkor lens. If image quality is your top priority, then get the sigma. I have had no issues using this lens on a nikon d5300.

First, I'm not a professional photographer, but a mere hobbyist. I have done extensive research on the lens and knew that it was a gamble with the AF focus being a hit or miss with this Sigma product. I was also debating between getting this over the Nikon 50mm 1.4G. Although I don't know how the latter performs over the former, I can honestly say that I am very pleased with the Sigma. I didn't have any back/front focus issues whatsoever. I used a focus test chart: [...] ...and followed the instructions accordingly. Perhaps the Sigma focus issues are corrected in the later product releases than its initial release...who knows. Granted, the AF had a few minor issues in tracking at night more so than in the day, but I have experienced the same case in other lenses. Good: - Fast lens - HSM is quiet and focuses rather quickly (i.e. much quieter and faster compared to my friend's Canon EF 1.8 lens on a EOS 20D...as a basis for comparison, if acceptable) - Bokeh is exceptionally smooth; I haven't seen any distracting sharp edges in the out of focus regions under reasonable settings. Bad: - The edges are slightly soft at maximum aperture, but gets incredibly sharp at f/1.8 and above. - Lens are larger and heavier than prime lens of equivalent specs; this may intimidate your subjects. Overall: Quality lens! I am currently using this with a Nikon D90 camera and the images are absolutely stellar. I highly recommend.

As you'd expect of an f1.4 lens, I bought this for one purpose: shooting wide-open and creaming out the background. And this lens delivers. First off, I'll start with the build quality. This lens is much larger than the other 50mm lenses available on the market. As a result, it just feels better on the camera. If you're using a heavy D3 or a D700 with a battery grip, a one inch long, 52mm filter lens doesn't feel right, to me at least. But considering this is around 3 times the size with a 77mm filter, it does a much better job of balancing the camera body. The autofocus on the 51 point-AF Nikon bodies is fantastic. It is lightning fast and tack sharp so long as there is enough available light. However, I have noticed that if the light levels drop, it tends to hunt a little, unless you focus perfectly on your subject's nose using the single-point AF. I have heard of Sigma's front-focus quality control issue on this lens, but the sample I got was perfect. Sigma did a wonderful job constructing this lens. The 9-bladed diaphragm delivers dreamy bokeh, on par with lenses 4 times more expensive. Even harsh elements are less noticeable than they are when shot with the Nikkor 50mm F1.4, 70-200, or 24-70. As I said, this is my go-to lens for anything bokeh. Stopped down, this lens is still very sharp, though I don't use it for that purpose because the nikkor 70-200 is sharper corner to corner. But that wasn't what this lens was necessarily designed for anyway.

I will start this review off by saying that I have this lens mounted on a Nikon D700. I've owned several 50mm primes, and know that there are a lot of in depth reviews comparing them, so I won't get into all that. Before I bought this lens I was using the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G af-s lens. This is a beautiful lens! However, I had bought the Sigma 85mm 1.4 and loved it so much that I wanted to look into their 50mm as well. I love creamy smooth backgrounds, and am always on the lookout for a lens (for the right price) that can give fantastic results! Just as I experienced with the Sigma 85mm, this lens was gorgeous and sharp right out of the box! I had no issues with auto focus, and I LOVE shooting wide open. The bokeh this lens creates is beautifully smooth, and the lens has great color and contrast. I do prefer the bokeh of the sigma 50mm lens to my nikon. I know for some this isn't everything, but to me it is. I don't feel like this lens is bulky or heavy. It feels great on my D700, and seems to balance it out nicely. If you are considering this lens, I say go for it! You won't be disappointed!

I dont have too much to add that hasn't already been said by other reviewers. I bought this lens after reading the online reviews for both this lens and the two Nikor versions of this prime lens. The sigma version got consistently better reviews than the Nikon version and I have been very pleased with my past purchases of Sigma EX lenses so I ordered it and am so glad I did. I also own the sigma 105mm Macro for a sony and the 24-70mm EX DG Macro zoom for a Nikon and am very pleased with both lenses. Pro's and Cons are as follows: Pro's 1.) The best bokeh I have ever seen, rich, creamy, perfect. 2.) Sharpness, at f1.4 if you really blow up the image there is just a little softness at F1.8 on up this lens is absolutely tack sharp. 3.) Color and contrast nice rich saturated colors and great contrast just superb with my other lenses I usually have to tweak color, saturation and contrast a bit when editing to get them to my liking with this lens images are perfect as is all I have to do is a bit of cropping and maybe resize if posting online of emailing. 4.) Focusing is very precise and quiet with the HSM, I cant even hear it focus. 5.) This lens is fast, great for handheld shots in low light, and even very low light such as candle-lit subjects with a tripod or rest, I can sometimes even pull of candle light handheld if I am very steady. 6.) The focal length makes it the perfect portrait lens when used with a body with a APS-C sized sensor(75mm equivalent), Looks and balances perfectly on my D300. 7.) Build quality is superb, unlike the Nikon there is not much if any plastic on this lens, metal and glass like in the old days, this is a solid lens. Con's 1.) The only con I can even think of is maybe price, this is one of the few cases where the Sigma version of a lens is actually a little more expensive than the Nikor glass. But IMO this is a better lens than the Nikon and worth the few extra bucks. Usually the Sigma EX lenses are one half to one third the price of the Nikors. Jeff Update: After using this lens for a couple of weeks now and putting it through its paces, I wanted to add that I have not experienced the front focus issues that some other reviewers have. I have tested the lens wide open F1.4 from the minimum focus distance to about 8 feet and every time focus has been consistently spot on. This is with a D300 with no AF tweaking. I continue to be impressed by the sharpness, color and contrast of images taken with this lens. So far I love it a truly outstanding lens.

I am just getting back to SLR photography after giving it up 10+ years ago. Currently using this lens on a Nikon D300s and so far the bokeh, the details, the precision is very nice. So using it more as a portrait type lens but can be quite versatile. See the photo uploaded here for results. ****************************************************** UPDATE: June 9, 2011 After using this for a full year, I have to say that this is an excellent lens ... when it is in focus. I begun noticing some images are not 100% in focus ... which I thought it was not an issue for a while ... now I think it can be an issue as I can repeat the problem. See the pictures in the comments below. Essentially, if I focus on infinity (e.g. rotate it manually to infinity) and have it auto-focus on something close by, I can make it not focus. I purchased this last year during a father's day promotion and got a good deal. Would I recommend this lens again - yes. I gave it a 5 stars originally and now brought it down to 3. ****************************************************** Update: May 23, 2012 After using this for almost 2 years now, I have made to decision to send it back for service. Obtained a test sheet and managed to demonstrate that regardless what I do with AF Fine Tune - which is an important feature with my Nikon D300s - I could not get it to focus sharply in the middle if my aperture is set to f/2.8 or below. It seems that larger apertures the lens just could not focus. See the lines and settings on AF Fine Tune and resulting test images here: [...] Planning to send it back for service.

Okay, first-off, this thing has Bokeh !! I'm talking dream-cheese Bokeh ! Is it the same smoothery creamery dreamery Wisconsin dairy-farm Bokeh like my Samyang 85mm manual ? no, but very very close... with the redeeming factor that this sigma focuses like a stupid-sharp madman. In an instant, you're looking through detail so sharp, you can see it even in the viewfinder (no need to use the live-view magnifier)... and everything else (in the background) is just "back there"... off in the distance in Bokeh-Raton, Fla. I was struggling with whether to get the Sigma 85mm v.s this one at literally half the price. And after examining the specs and seeing sample pics... I found that this Sigma 50mm is the way to go, because it has such a short min focal distance... you get both an 85 AND a 50 ! All you have to do is take one step fwd, and you're getting exactly the same shot (pixel for pixel) as the 85mm would have taken. Now take that same situation in-reverse... try just taking a step back with the Sig85, and you'll find that your detail has suffered, and your Bokeh is slightly less dreamy... and you paid literall twice the price (five benjamin's) for a lesser lens. If you shoot fx - then I don't know what to tell you (all three of you), but on DX - this is the stuff! If you're looking for world-class bokeh against stupid-sharp center detail... skip the Nikkor 85 and just buy this sigma AND a D7000 AND MB-D11 Battery Grip AND Extra Battery AND BallheadMount AND a Tripod... for the same price as the (not one iota better) Nikkor85 (LOL)... I did :) [maniacal laughter at the snooty guys who only eat catered food on the weekends !!]

I just received my Sigma 50mm 1.4 for my nikon today and already love the picture quality and the focus speed. I was really hesitant at first to order this lens, I read all the bad reviews of how this lens will either back focus or front focus, I went ahead and bought it anyways. Before I actually purchased it did I called Sigmas tech support and got to someone without having to go through all the automated stuff. The Tech support was very nice and informative. I told them how I was hesitant to buy it being that everyone says it will not focus properly and they informed me of all the stuff people say on the internet isn't always true and also explained to me the functionality of the lens. Sigma also told me they do a free service to any customer who might need there lens calibrated along side there camera and that the turn around time for them is only one day. I bought the lens and tried out the focusing right away and it is spot on at f1.4, there is such small shallow DOF at that f-stop and maybe people aren't used to that, either way this lens is a steal of a deal and would not hesitate to buy another sigma lens again.

Auf dem Amazon.com - Blog von Ryan Brenizer las ich die erste Rezension dieses Objekives. Nach diesem Test bestellte ich das Glas hier und setzte es seit ca. einem Monat an meiner D700 ein. Im Vergleich zu dem (alten) Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4 ist dieses Glas zwar größer, aber leiser und es bewegt sich außen nichts, so daß ich das Objektiv endlich mit der linken Hand halten / abstützen kann. Ich schieße praktisch nur ganz offen (also bei f/1.4) und mag den Schärfeverlauf und das Bokeh sehr. Für mich ist dieses Objektiv sein Geld wert und es inspiriert zu außergewöhnlichen Bildgestatungen. Ob es besser oder schlechter als das neue Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4 AF-S ist, kann ich nicht beurteilen. Der sehr hohe Konstruktionsaufwand bei diesem Sigma deutet darauf hin, das dieses Sigma Objektiv dem neuen Nikon ebenbürtig oder überlegen sein kann. Ein Vergleichstest im Internet steht nch aus und wird für Unentschiedene hoffentlich hilfreich sein. Ich würde dieses Objektiv jederzeit wieder kaufen.

Lho comprato per fare foto a mia figlia appena nata, tante foto fatte in casa o comunque primi piani o foto a persone ferme. Mi trovo benissimo veramente un ottimo prodotto.

I use this on my D90 and Sony Nex 7 (manual focus with an adaptor) and intend on still using it as my main portrait lens with my soon to be purchased D800. Better image quality than my Nikon 50mm F1.8 (which is a great compact, light weight, budget portrait lens) and lovely build quality but note that it is big and heavy.

私はD800Eを使用しています。ファームウェアは1.11でした。 これでは使用できません。1.10にしましょう。 海外のサイトを探し続ければ昔のファームウェアが手に入ります。 とても高級感のあるレンズで、ワクワクします。 毎日の撮影がより楽しくなります。最小絞りも1.4なので良いボケが入りますよ

J'en suis tres content, c'est mon objectif principal. Il est parfait pour les portraits en lumière naturelle. J'ai pu comparer avec l'equivalent de chez Nikon, qui est moins bien (même s'il est tres bien aussi).