Sigma 50 f1.4 or Nikon 50 f1.4G for portrait?

Hi;

I have Nikon 50 f1.4D on d700..Is it wort to change for new 50 f1.4 lenses? and Which one?

I found 50 f1.4D a little bit soft at wider apertures and a little bit slow focus.

Thanks

Nikon will go higher when stopped down. Depends on what your priorities are.

I personally like 1.4D a lot, I do not use it often but it never fails to pleasantly surprise me each time I do.

--
http://www.pbase.com/sngreen

I have no experience with the Sigma, but recently bought the new Nikon 50 1.4G and it's great. A couple of years ago I had the old D-model but from what I remember it felt more mechanical (clunky) and noisy compared to the new one.

--
Stefan Tell, Stockholm, Sweden
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefantell/

I love my 50G, even more than my 24-70 right now.

I second that. Just got my 50G and could not be happier. It's a pretty good little lens and sharp thru it's range. With the ability to set higher ISOs in the D700 your setting options become tremendous. It's sturdy and light and ready to go in almost any situation and Here I'm talking about available light shooting. With a flash the sky is the limit.

Good luck on your quest

from the 1.4 D to the Sigma. The Sigma focuses faster, smoother and let's manually over-ride AF.

No controlled tests, but two samples w/ entirely differnt light so gleen what you will:

Nikon 50/1.4 D
Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV



Sigma 50/1.4
Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash



--

another sigma sample at f/1.4:

Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

I couldn't decided sigma 50 f1.4 or nikon 50G yet

Based on the quality of bokeh in various sample, I think seriously to buy Sigma near future.

Look at the high contrast lines in your images

This is reason why I've Nikkor.

http://www.pbase.com/nekas/image/110058217

of course, my sample at ISO1600 and f/2.8 also not the best. But you can find at FLICKR more images to compare

nekas said:

Look at the high contrast lines in your images

This is reason why I've Nikkor.

Click to expand...

well, you obviously don't own the nikkor 85/1.4 then. you want to see really bad CA? spend a grand on that lens and you'll see what i mean.

no, this sigma is very good. and it's less expensive than the nikkor G.

--

I just got 50G and have no regrets - great and sharp little lens.

Not tried the Sigma, but recommend the Nikon lens.
--
David

They are both excellent. I've tried both and bought the Sigma. From the perspective of best bokeh and performance wide open, the Sigma is better but the Nikon bokeh is still very good and better than what I've seen from the 1.4D and by 2.8 it is as good or better than the Sigma in terms of sharpness. The Sigma is just smoother in terms of doing portraits whereas the Nikon seems too have a bit more contrast. Having said that. My experience and others is that the Nikon auto focuses more consistently than the Sigma and there is more sample variation in the Sigma. Otherwise the overall quality is pretty much the same for both lenses aside from the Nikon having weather sealing. The Sigma is obviously way bigger but is an excellent match for the D700. If you're going to be using filters, that may influence your decision as they take different sizes. I think on the D700, neither of these lenses will focus as fast or certainly not faster than the 1.4D. Purely from a portrait perspective, I think the Sigma will give you more pleasing results in terms of bokeh and isolation. I'm just not sure going to the the Nikon G will be worth it over the D unless you really need the manual focus override.

Chris

fighterpilot said:

Hi;
I have Nikon 50 f1.4D on d700..Is it wort to change for new 50 f1.4
lenses? and Which one?
I found 50 f1.4D a little bit soft at wider apertures and a little
bit slow focus.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I chose the Sigma F/1.4 and I am extremely happy with it, it is the only non-nikkor lens I own.

Overall the bokeh is smoother, sharper wide open, super fast focusing, and the focusing is deadly accurate at night or in low light situations

fighterpilot said:

Hi;
I have Nikon 50 f1.4D on d700..Is it wort to change for new 50 f1.4
lenses? and Which one?
I found 50 f1.4D a little bit soft at wider apertures and a little
bit slow focus.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I'd go for a longer focal length for portraits. I think the 50 mm on FX gets to close, distorting the persons face.

I'd prefer 85 og 105 depending on the crop.
--
Christian Grüner
http://christiangruner.com/

You are way over sharpening your images and there is subject movement in your photos

Tone down the sharpening, and increase your shutter speed and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results

borisboomboom said:

from the 1.4 D to the Sigma. The Sigma focuses faster, smoother and
let's manually over-ride AF.

No controlled tests, but two samples w/ entirely differnt light so
gleen what you will:

Nikon 50/1.4 D
Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

Click to expand...

The sigma is sharper wide open until f2.8 but the biggest advantage for me is the bokeh of the sigma which is a lot smoother, one of the best for portrait.

On the other hand the nikon is lighter and a bit sharper above f5.6.
you can search the fred Miranda forum for comparaison between both lenses.

Sophal.

The G is nice for portraits but I don't really see any difference. I don't do portraits of test charts though.

50G at 1.4:



--
-Steve

VRII said:

You are way over sharpening your images and there is subject movement
in your photos

Tone down the sharpening, and increase your shutter speed and you
will be pleasantly surprised by the results

Click to expand...

what do you suggest that i increase my shutter speed to ?

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
this seems very fast already.

VRII said:

borisboomboom said:

from the 1.4 D to the Sigma. The Sigma focuses faster, smoother and
let's manually over-ride AF.

No controlled tests, but two samples w/ entirely differnt light so
gleen what you will:

Nikon 50/1.4 D
Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--

borisboomboom said:

VRII said:

You are way over sharpening your images and there is subject movement
in your photos

Tone down the sharpening, and increase your shutter speed and you
will be pleasantly surprised by the results

Click to expand...

what do you suggest that i increase my shutter speed to ?

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
this seems very fast already.

Click to expand...

I was refering to the one with the boy holding the oranges? it was 1/200s