Has anyone regretted buying Sigma 50mm f/1.4

Since I acquired the Canon 17-55IS, I hardly use the Sigma 50mm which was used to be my favorite. From 1.4 to 2.8, the Sigma still has focus issue. From 2.8 and smaller, the Canon is very sharp + IS.

Yes I have three times

Purchased three different copies within a one year period. All would focus terrible on my 7d. Even mfa would not fix.

Not me, I only regretted Sigma didn't introduced this lens earlier. i replaced my EF 50 F1.4 as soon the Sigma 50 came out and used it on my 1DS2, 1D2 and some times 5D2 and have no issues with AF, I only use the Sigma when I need F1.4-1.8 large aperture, for anything stop down, I use my Zeiss 50 F2.0, it's much sharper at te edge while the Sigma is pretty soft at the edge no matter how I stop it down.

I also use my friends' Sigma 50 HSM in Nikon mount on my D3 sometimes and didn't see any focus issue either, same thing, mostly shooting wide open, I actually may pick one up in Nikon mount myself for my D3 and D800E later.

yes - sent mine back after one week - did not delivery good results - like most Sigma lenses I've tried over the years - quality control is a severe issue with Sigma but hey - they are sometimes less then half the price of the Nikon or Canon pendant so you can get two of them ;-)

Unfortunately Canon makes currently no USM lens at 50 mm f/1.4 so you either wait for that or live with the limitations of the Canon lens.

I'd expect a stabilized version of the 50 mm lens sooner or later - until then the f/1.8 plastic fantastic serves well and is much better then it feels like ;-)

--

isn’t it funny, a ship that leaks from the top

ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'

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Yes.

This thing seems to miss focus a lot on my 7D. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't telling me it was actually in focus, when it wasn't. I am going to sell this thing and buy a Canon prime.

I don't know if I got a bad unit, it doesn't like my 7D, or if it is simply defective.

Certainly all these super fast primes are going to miss some focus due to their very narrow DOF, and also most of these lenses tend to be soft wide open, but I think this goes further than that.

I would recommend choosing something else IMO.

YMMV.

Nope, never.
--

Robert Capa said 'you can never get close enough'. Well, he did.... He also often visited my daily photoblog at http://logatec.blogspot.com/

It's the only lens I've returned in the last 10-15 years - AF was hopeless.

Yet I have a Sigma 30/1.4 which I'm completely happy with.

I couldn't say I regretted buying it. It was the best lens (when I still owned sigma 18-50 EX Macro) and then the Canon 17-55mm came.

Depends on the time of day. lol.

Love the IQ up close and from 1.4-2.8 - color, contrast, sharpness, bokeh.

HATE the size, weight and inability to AF at middle to long distance.

There are many days I wish I could trade it straight up for a Canon 50 1.4. May just buy a 50 1.8 for when I want as little weight as I can get.

Sigma 50 mm is not a bad lens but (1) depth of view is razor thin at f/1.4 and (2) my copy has focus shift issues. Not well suited for short distances and wide openings. I have seen no real issues at longer distances.

I and others have found that once all focus points are turned on the Sigma 50mm f1.4 becomes a great lens, but sometimes with center focus only there can be issues:

Xsi with Sigma 50mm f1.4 @ f2.0:



--
"Photography is, indeed, an inclusive language."
Ansel Adams

When I was using 50D as my primary camera, I had a Sigma 30 1.4, need to MFA to +15 to make it focus on target.

After upgrading to FF I sold it, then took a plunge and bought a Sigma 24-70 2.8, this piece of sh!t can front focus 1m in front of a subject standing 3m from you! And no amount of MFA can fix the focus shift because it's different between 24mm and 70mm. Sold it right away and never looked at another Sigma, not remotely interested.

What good a fast prime has if you can't focus it on where you want?

i find sigma lens don't like a bit of rough treatment

as a working photographer, sometimes a lens gets a knock, or a ruff ride,,,, i steer clear of sigma as they just don't have the durability

BozillaNZ said:

When I was using 50D as my primary camera, I had a Sigma 30 1.4, need to MFA to +15 to make it focus on target.

After upgrading to FF I sold it, then took a plunge and bought a Sigma 24-70 2.8, this piece of sh!t can front focus 1m in front of a subject standing 3m from you! And no amount of MFA can fix the focus shift because it's different between 24mm and 70mm. Sold it right away and never looked at another Sigma, not remotely interested.

What good a fast prime has if you can't focus it on where you want?

Click to expand...

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http://www.braddurack.com

BozillaNZ said:

After upgrading to FF I sold it, then took a plunge and bought a Sigma 24-70 2.8, this piece of sh!t can front focus 1m in front of a subject standing 3m from you!

Click to expand...

LOL! I too had one for a week with the same experience - a complete dump of a lens!

The 50mm on the other hand is my favourite lens and use it more often than my 24-105mm. It took a bit to get used to and I sent it in for calibration but I have a good feel for it now.

Lining up for the 30mm now

For some reason if Sigma produces something not optimal it gets press, if a lens is challenging to focus and is a Sigma it gets press, if the lens with a problem is a Canon lens, it gets less press.

You could run a thread on "Does anyone regret getting a Canon 50mm f1.2 L" and you should get some negative feedback. How about "Does anyone regret getting a Canon 50mm f1.4," you should get lots of negative feedback - this lens has a history of breaking down.

And the original 18 - 55 Canon kit lens that came with the Original Digital Rebel didn't ring of quality. I could go on but if you hang around dpreview you'll be surprised at some of the problems folks have with Canon lenses and cameras as posted by dpreview members. I'm not knocking Canon, I own three Canon DSLR's and a number of Canon lenses

Then there is the Sigma has a "yellow" cast myth which I've read here many times over the years. The first thing I do is to challenge the poster to supply images to back up the claim, so far not one. Sigma's may have had a yellowish cast decades ago but I can't see it anymore. I own the Sigma 50 and 150.

Canon has some great, excellent lenses, I'm not really challenging this, but I am saying Canon lenses have their problems as well.

So have some folks experiences been negative with the Sigma 50, the answer is yes, but it also yes to people's problems with the Canon 50 f1.2, f1.4, f1.8 - so there you go, what's a person to do?

--
"Photography is, indeed, an inclusive language."
Ansel Adams