Shiny Object
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I’ve owned the Sony 50mm 1.8 for APS-C (not the full-frame 50mm) and have been quite impressed with it. But the slightly tighter view and f1.4 of the Sigma drew me in. Now that I’ve paired the Sigma 56mm with my a6300 several times, I’ll share my impressions.
Feel/Look: I love the size of this lens. Hard to believe that a f1.4 lens takes up so little room in my bag. Feels solid and substantial on camera without feeling overly heavy. No problem to use with one hand, if that’s how you like to shoot.
Lens Hood: Much more stable than my Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens hood, which tends to get disconnected too easily. Snaps in place firmly and isn’t overly large. Seems to do the job, is reasonably small and quite light.
Manual Focus: Works about as well as you can ask when using a focus-by-wire system. When used with focus peaking, nailing focus is pretty simple, as long as you’re not in a big rush.
Autofocus: Quick in good and poor light. If anything, it seems a bit snappier than the Sony APS-C 50mm 1.8. I usually use AF-S or AF-C single point for nature shooting and AF-C Wide Area with eye AF enabled for people, and it’s done quite well for both.
Image Quality: Very impressive. Much like the Sigma 30mm, this lens is very sharp at f 1.4 in the center. Is it sharp at 1.4 in the corners? I don’t know because that doesn’t seem too relevant to my shooting on a 56mm lens. The mid-frame is excellent at 1.4. Images look quite crisp at f1.4 and get even sharper as you stop down a bit. But even at f1.4, this lens is incredibly sharp. To my eyes, the lens is okay on contrast at f1.4 and gets more contrast-y as it’s stopped down.
There is some color fringing but it’s pretty minor. I’m not bothered by it at all. It is less noticeable than in the Sigma 30mm 1.4.
Subject isolation is fabulous and images look a whole lot like they came from an 85mm 1.8 lens mounted on a full-frame camera. Bokeh is smooth. Colors are nice. As far as I can tell, it’s a home run in the image quality department.
Compared to the Sony 50mm 1.8, the Sigma is sharper. I also see less color fringing. The potential for shallower depth of field and better low-light capabilities also make me much more inclined to side with the Sigma over the Sony. In terms of image quality, once using the Sigma 56, I would find it hard to go back to the Sony 50mm, though I've also been happy with that lens.
Weathersealing: Yay, a somewhat weather sealed APS-C E-Mount lens! I’m not a weathersealing expert, but this thing being splash/dust resistant puts a smile on my face.
Distortion: It’s there. Uncorrected files can look pretty weird. When shooting people or closeups of objects, it’s not noticeable. The jpegs look well-corrected, as do RAW files when opened in Capture One (and likely other programs as well). On one landscape shot, I had a difficult time straightening out the horizon, but I don’t know if that was me or the lens. In general, I don’t expect it would be much of a problem but I’ll admit that I didn’t shoot much architecture or landscapes with this lens.
Conclusion: Great lens. Gives that nice, dreamy, look of an 85mm on a full-frame camera for much less money and size.
Samples:
Apologies, but I am not posting pics of my family members here, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that this is a killer portrait lens.
Or see my duck portrait below.
I find this lens very nice for flowers.
You don't see many old merry-go-rounds anymore
Not a great job of editing the b/w here. I'm more aiming to show subject isolation here.
Showing this for the sake of the bokeh, for those who are into that sort of thing.
Feel/Look: I love the size of this lens. Hard to believe that a f1.4 lens takes up so little room in my bag. Feels solid and substantial on camera without feeling overly heavy. No problem to use with one hand, if that’s how you like to shoot.
Lens Hood: Much more stable than my Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens hood, which tends to get disconnected too easily. Snaps in place firmly and isn’t overly large. Seems to do the job, is reasonably small and quite light.
Manual Focus: Works about as well as you can ask when using a focus-by-wire system. When used with focus peaking, nailing focus is pretty simple, as long as you’re not in a big rush.
Autofocus: Quick in good and poor light. If anything, it seems a bit snappier than the Sony APS-C 50mm 1.8. I usually use AF-S or AF-C single point for nature shooting and AF-C Wide Area with eye AF enabled for people, and it’s done quite well for both.
Image Quality: Very impressive. Much like the Sigma 30mm, this lens is very sharp at f 1.4 in the center. Is it sharp at 1.4 in the corners? I don’t know because that doesn’t seem too relevant to my shooting on a 56mm lens. The mid-frame is excellent at 1.4. Images look quite crisp at f1.4 and get even sharper as you stop down a bit. But even at f1.4, this lens is incredibly sharp. To my eyes, the lens is okay on contrast at f1.4 and gets more contrast-y as it’s stopped down.
There is some color fringing but it’s pretty minor. I’m not bothered by it at all. It is less noticeable than in the Sigma 30mm 1.4.
Subject isolation is fabulous and images look a whole lot like they came from an 85mm 1.8 lens mounted on a full-frame camera. Bokeh is smooth. Colors are nice. As far as I can tell, it’s a home run in the image quality department.
Compared to the Sony 50mm 1.8, the Sigma is sharper. I also see less color fringing. The potential for shallower depth of field and better low-light capabilities also make me much more inclined to side with the Sigma over the Sony. In terms of image quality, once using the Sigma 56, I would find it hard to go back to the Sony 50mm, though I've also been happy with that lens.
Weathersealing: Yay, a somewhat weather sealed APS-C E-Mount lens! I’m not a weathersealing expert, but this thing being splash/dust resistant puts a smile on my face.
Distortion: It’s there. Uncorrected files can look pretty weird. When shooting people or closeups of objects, it’s not noticeable. The jpegs look well-corrected, as do RAW files when opened in Capture One (and likely other programs as well). On one landscape shot, I had a difficult time straightening out the horizon, but I don’t know if that was me or the lens. In general, I don’t expect it would be much of a problem but I’ll admit that I didn’t shoot much architecture or landscapes with this lens.
Conclusion: Great lens. Gives that nice, dreamy, look of an 85mm on a full-frame camera for much less money and size.
Samples:
Apologies, but I am not posting pics of my family members here, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that this is a killer portrait lens.
Or see my duck portrait below.I find this lens very nice for flowers.
You don't see many old merry-go-rounds anymore
Not a great job of editing the b/w here. I'm more aiming to show subject isolation here.
Showing this for the sake of the bokeh, for those who are into that sort of thing.
