The comparisons you do are by far the most helpful/informative side by sides I've seen. No gimmicks, no BS, just informative and very easy to watch/listen to. Thanks mate! Am picking up the Sigma 50mm Art second hand, so help you out by buying through affiliate link so dropped you a few $$ via the support link. Appreciate you work!
This was an exceptionally good comparison/review, and I say that having watched all of the major TH-cam photography channels. You even made the resolution and focus analysis technically engaging without a test chart with all those patterns on it. That Sigma ART lens is a winner.
I'm somewhat new to photography but I've watched a lot of product reviews and comparisons. This should be a textbook example on how to do a short, concise and very informative review. A joy to watch.
The most comprehensive, straightforward and sensibly conscise video comparison on these two lenses out of the other five vids I've seen. Nice job. Thanks.
Your review was spectacular. Most camera reviewers read spec sheets and press releases or discuss strengths and weaknesses without concrete real world examples. Your video is extremely professional and well produced and I learned something having watched it. Thanks for taking the time to create valuable and stimulating content. Being a Nikon user, I would like to see you use your abilities to talk about what you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the Sony, Canon, and Nikon systems as well as the mirrorless Olympus and Fujifilm offerings.
Superb. No annoying talking heads or funny mannerisms, hairstyles, T-shirts. No showing off the expensive studio and it equipment, no name-dropping, no poorly disguised allusions to how great and successful you are. No bias to any brand (i.e. no fanboyism!). Just good, useful information, presented in a clear and interesting way. And although the Sigma lens seems to be the winner on most of the things tested we can still decide in favour of the Canon (lighter, weather sealed) when what we want most is a beautifully blurred background and maximum subject-separation. For landscapes and cityscapes, we can use a slower (and cheaper!) lens that is better corrected at smaller apertures but that would be necessary only if it made any difference at the sizes we print or display.
IMPORTANT! The Canon is actually longer than 50 and the Sigma is a true 50. Most big brand 50mm lenses are actually 51.something millimeters because that's just one of those photography things handed down from the past when 50mm lenses weren't precisely 50.
It's an awesome lens for bokeh, no doubt about that, and it's actually better on mirrorless, IMHO, since the direct focusing is more reliable with that shallow depth of field.
Wow! it's 9 years later and you blow most lens review channels out of the water. This was a breath of fresh air, most lens reviews are just weekend cheer leaders for what ever lens they found on ebay recently that they can write a review about. I swear you could put a trash kit lens from the 2010 in front of them and they would celebrate it and pull buzz words out their ass like film-like and "it has character".
Good Comparison, thank you very much. My thoughs as i own the 85mm 1.2 and use it 85% of the time, at least: - Noise: doesn´t matter - Resolution: my 85mm 1.2 is cristal clear in the center, anything else doesn´t matter. Maybe i was just lucky. If you spend the extra buck because of 1.2 instead of 1.4 you (should) use it at 1.2 nearly all the time...if you use it at 1.4 mostly you bought the wrong lens. - Sealing: Matters! - Weight: Doensn´t matter - Vignette: lol i even like that, i add more in post - bad borders: doesn´t matter, this is no landscape or architecture Lense after all...and if you want to use it for that Stop 8 and Tripod are mandatory anyway. For my style it even helps if the center is the most importend section. - Bokeh: Next to sharp center the most important point. - Price: Does matter!
Please tell me in comparison which lends is better between a Cannon 50mm 1.4 or a Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art? I need to know to decode which one between the two to go with? I use it for filming videos. Thanks
This is the cream of reviews Matt. Thank you for not wasting our time. Subscribed for that fact alone! One question - in the later comparisons, you’ve listed both sides as Canon. Was that in error? You have Canon 50mm f/1.4 on the left and Canon 50mm f/1.2L on the right. Just curious. Thanks again for a STELLAR video. - David
Hey David, Glad you liked it :-) Yes, this video was my first attempt at using chunks of previous videos as templates to speed up production, and it led to all sorts of errors like that. I fixed some of them and re-published the video (which is where the (fixed) part of the title came from, but I didn't catch everything. Back when this was published, TH-cam had a feature that allowed me to overlay the correct camera names, so I didn't need to upload a new copy, but that feature has since been disabled. Oh well :-) You probably got the general idea.
Matthew Gore - Thanks for answering back so quickly:) Yup, got the idea right away! I’m sold either way. Please keep the content coming if you can. Between you and Mark Bone, I’ll be up and running in no time. Thanks again Matt!✨
Matthew, thanks for your review again I was thinking to get the canon 50mm f 1.2.....until i watch this now....Should i go for Sigma? Great video. Plus the Sigma is about $400 cheaper? Thanks!
+LOLA'S STUDIO Unless you really don't like the bokeh on the Sigma (some people don't, I guess), I'd go with the Sigma. It's very sharp, and the AF is pretty fast and reliable. Not much wrong with it, except that it's big and heavy for a 50mm lens.
+Matthew Gore I like the bokeh on the Sigma more hahaha and yes most pix from the Sigma lens are sharper than the Canon....But yes it is bigger and heavier.......but that is $400 diff....Thanks again for your quick response.
Clipped bokeh circles and onion rings are not exactly attractive in terms of bokeh so I'd take the Sigma over the Canon 1.2 any day. There's also no point having soft backgrounds if nothing is particularly sharp in the photo, which seems to be the case with the Canon lens.
Great review Matthew! Looks like no reason to pay more for red rings! But what do you think about front/back phocus on Sigma lens? Did you have such problems or Sigma catch right phocus exactly the same as Canon? thank you!
Great review - I'm looking seriously at the Sigma (my first non-Canon L lens), so I was a little concerned, but your review clearly shows that the Sigma is better.
This is one of the best lens reviews i've ever seen. I am a Sigma fan. I am now glad to see that Sigma beats Canon with most of the conditions and specs including much less price. I just discovered your channel but i will also watch other reviews in a short while. I can simply say i will recommend this review to all my friends who are insisting Canon is much more better than Sigma. I use sigma 35mm 1.4 art and 35mm is incredible lens for weddings, landscape or Daily Street photography. Once again thanks for this helpful review.
Another problem many review forgot to mention, sigma is actually darker than canon at the same aperture ISO shutter speed, about 2/3 stops maybe. Probably due to its lens coating.
I have the sigma since three years and used it for a lot of jobs, extremely sharp lens, but it's too heavy (I use 50mm as my main lens for 95% of my pictures) and often has an unimpressive rendering, lacks a lot of pop and micro contrast. It's an old lens and everything but I find the Canon 50mm 1.2 to have a lot more character and microcontrast, I'm going to switch between the two. Then, if your main purpose is shooting landscapes wide open ok maybe sigma is a better choice, but for portraiture (and shooting people in general) there's no competition between the two. And, sigma 50mm is often inconsistent in focusing, at least my copy but I read that it's a really common issue, more likely than not.
Great review. You have quite the presentation. I have a Sigma 1.8 which I love. Thinking of selling the Canon lenses I have and get this the 1.4 I appreciate your efforts here!
Fantastic Videos, just subscribed. It would be fantastic if you could do a comparison between the 70-200mm and the Sigma 1.4 Art Lens ( as I'm a portrait photographer ) trying to find the best sharpness and bokeh, unless you already have your opinion on suggested lenses? Robin.
This was bloody brilliant. Have been trying to find a replacement for my nifty fifty 1.8, because it's softer than the results of a particularly spicy curry, and the detail you go in to has helped convince me (after my own in-store test shots with it too, versus Canon's ~£300 1.4) that the Sigma is definitely a good deal at the price it's at now. Thanks for being so thorough!
Sigma usually have a micro usb port for updating the firmware. Not sure if this has, but that's another thing to keep in mind. As far as APSC goes, it has the "holy trinity" with 16mm, 30mm and 56mm, how would the 30mm compare with the nifty fifty? Thanks for the very scientific and methodical review
At 8:45, the section of the video when zooming into the details of the Bokeh, the picture titles switch. I was wondering if you could clarify and confirm which one is canon and which one is sigma because they switch midway through the explanation?
The labels switched accidentally... the lenses stay on the same sides throughout each segment. There used to be an overlay that corrected the labels, but TH-cam disabled that feature.
That's a typo. I was re-using some of the template from the previous video and left the text in place accidentally, but the files are all different. It was one of several problems with this video... some of which I fixed, but some I missed, in the "fixed" version :-)
Very nice comparison. Really appreciate. But a lot of people use 50mm for indoor portraits where the sharpness matters in the subject area only. It would have been great to see some indoor portraits comparison. But thanks a lot for the nice comparison.
Thanks for this excellent and detailed review. I like your systematic approach the review, a good pace to the commentary and clear crisp graphics on screen. The only thing I would change would be to see the vignetting examples individually rather than both at once, it's hard to focus on the detail on the two screens. This video is the best lens comparison of these two lenses I have seen. Thanks again!
Great comparison video, I own the Sigma and gave my nifty fifty away. Sigma 50 is an amazing lens but is heavy as you pointed out. Thought about changing to a larger 1.2 aperture but this video has convinced me to continue bearing the weight. Sigma garners quite a few compliments on it’s appearance and the magazine quality photos. They can make an everyday pic look like a professional photoshoot product.
Reggie Brown I actually think Christopher Frost's testing of resolution leaves something to be desired. He takes one frame at a certain focal length and f-stop, and judges both center and corner sharpness from that same image, without refocusing for the corners. So if he tests a lens that has field curvature, that lens may actually be capable of better resolution than his results show.
Thanks for the great reviews Matthew! I was about to get this used Sigma 50mm and a speedbooster to use on a Canon M50 for street and low light photography when I had another idea... I could save some money and perhaps get better quality with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM ART and NO speedbooster and get the about the same focal length. I don't know if you have any experience with that Sigma 30mm but what do you think? Thanks again!
That's a really interesting question, and I'm afraid that I don't have enough experience with the 30mm to really be able to offer much help, and I have even less experience with the metabones speedboosters. Of course, the 30mm f/1.4 art will cost a lot less than the 50 + a speedbooster, and you'll generally get better autofocus performance without an adapter. But I don't know how the resolution will compare, and you'll get an extra f-stop of light or so with the speedbooster... so it's just a matter of whether you really want that extra light. Sorry I can't be of more help!
Hi, Matthew, Brilliant, succinct and clear technical data encompassing unbiased opinions. Thank you so much. As a favour, would you be able to do a Video on a Sigma 150mm-600mm Sports lens to be fine tuned by using a Sigma doc? This process uses Free Sigma firmware and it is tedious and long drawn one. The clips I watched relating to this process, do not cover much and not clear. Many thanks.
You just saved me hundreds of dollars!!! Thanks for putting so much time and effort into your reviews, they really help make it very clear that "L" might just stand for "Loser"
Photographers do not buy a lens with aperture 1.2 to take a remote view, this test is irrelevant and does not emphasize the beauty of a lens shot with a reduction of 1.2. Because a sharp drop on the sides or slightly less sharp on the sides, really irrelevant to a lens that is considered a lens for street photography or portraits, you should do the same test with the photographs for which these lenses are intended
Hay Matt great review , I am looking to buy a 50mm lens and now I am stuck on the sigma and or the Tamron since the Tamron has VC and weather sealing. What do you recommend. I really would love to hear what you have to say about the Tamron
I have been enjoying the Sigma 50mm quite a bit and the quality is great, but recently I noticed on my shoot at an event something worth mentioned. I'm not sure if there's something I am overlooking and maybe you might have a suggestion or idea. I was using my Canon 5D4 w/24-105mm lens and had the Sigma ART on my 5D3 (both with UV filters). When I aimed the Sigma in the direction of the windows (it was a mid afternoon event) the whole image in my viewfinder had a noticeable haze...When I did the same thing with the Canon lens the haze was not present, except where the windows were located. I tried removing the UV filter, which was a Tiffen included with the Lens, and it still looked the same. I thought the free filter included might be the problem as it was a low end Tiffen filter they included with the sale of the lens. The Sigma lens looks great normally on all my shoots, but it seems strange it would exhibit this much haze when facing towards the windows. Have you heard of any similar stories with haze. Thanks........
The "haze" that you mention is "flare", and more specifically, it's a type called "veiling flare". There's always a bigger danger of getting flare if you use a UV filter on your lens, so I recommend never using them, and it's also usually significantly reduced by using your lens hood (which also protects the front element from fingerprints and damage). Large aperture lenses like the Sigma are often more susceptible to flare (especially if the hood is not used); that's normal and to be expected... they're designed to gather a lot of light. The lens hood is part of the lens design that reduces flare, so always use it. Of course, it's also really important to keep your optics clean. If the front element is dusty or oily, that will catch and diffuse light, and cause flare. Anyway, there's not much else I can suggest. Use the hood. No UV filters. Keep it clean. I've never had any particular problems with flare on the Sigma lenses, so you're probably looking at normal behavior for an f/1.4 lens.... but it would be interesting to see how they compare to other models. I'll keep that in mind when I'm doing future reviews.
It sound's like, in your opinion, the Sigma would be a better choice for shooting weddings. I am thinking of buying it for engagements shoots and weddings....My main concern is a lot of photographers I have asked say there are focus issues with Sigma lenses, but I believe they are voicing their opinions on older Sigma performance with focus issues and not the newer ART series lenses. Any thoughts.
Between these two lenses, the Sigma was much more reliable for me, when it came to focus, though I have heard plenty of people complain about the ART lens. There are probably some camera/lens combinations that will need some adjustments, but I suspect a lot of it comes from people who are new to large aperture primes... getting accurate, tack-sharp focus with such a shallow depth of field is always going to be hard when you're learning how to use them. I have not experienced the focus problems that I've heard about. For what it's worth, I've been using the Sigma ART lenses on Sony mirrorless cameras recently, and they focus is awesome... but that will be an advantage of any mirrorless system.
@@MatthewGore Thanks for the insight. I would be using the 50mm Sigma on a Canon 5D4 mostly....I have a 5D3 also which it could also be used with....Thanks....
learning music video production. i bougth canon 5d mark iii. do i need this lense or canon lense for my video production. like how many lense do i need to start up video production. help please
Mark Nakib Thanks Mark! You're one of 8 people who have supported my channel since I've started accepting fan funding. It's an elite group :) And it's already been a big help... I'm working on my next video now. All my gratitude - Matt
Well, personally, you've had a hand in 3 lens purchases already for me. You've saved me probably over $1000, so it's the least I can do. I wish I had more than $5 to give but I'll try to keep it coming in the future as long as you keep putting out such quality stuff.
thanks for posting this: I had been mulling buying the Canon 50mm F1.2 for dance photography, but I think I will be taking a serious look at the Sigma 50mm F1.4.
You do a fantastic job sir! Thank you for sharing! I've been on the hunt for a good 50mm going from Canon's 1.2 to the 1.4 for faster focus, then the Tamron 45mm and I'm getting my 1.8 fixed this week. I think I might have to try out the Sigma. Every photog needs a good, reliable 50!
Matthew thank you so very much for an excellent review! I came here looking to compare the 50mm f1.4 for Canon and Sigma but found your video, watched it and my mind is made up! Thanks! I am a newbie and just wondered if you could give me some advice... I would like to do fashion shots, portraits and because I am an interior designer, I would like to shoot the Interiors/ room spaces I style and design. Will I be ok to start with the Sigma 50mm f1.4 and do all the types of pictures I want to do or will I need another lens? I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks heaps in advance, for answering.
+Petrina Sarkar Fashion photography can be pretty flexible, so the 50mm should work for some of that, especially if you shoot with an APS-C camera, although many people prefer a longer focal length for portraits (85-200mm). For interior work, you're going to find it very hard to frame your photos. On full frame cameras, a 24mm lens is really a good idea, or even wider. A 16-35mm would work well, or some people are satisfied with something like the Sigma 24-35. If you're shooting APS-C, a wider zoom would make more sense: the 18-35 f/1.8 would be great, but any lens in that range would be just fine, since you'll want to shoot from a tripod and stop it down quite a bit anyway. That said, the 50mm will be wonderful for taking detail shots.
Looking at the color, sigma appears brown in nearly all the scenes compared to the canon. Canon seem to bring more pink, red feeling to the image. Is this the case?
Yep.. most useful, perhaps extending the sigma tests using M43 (gh5) for filming (popular in many countries) both native and ef via adapter. That would be a unique presentation. Thanks for a very comprehensive (and surprising ) result.
Great videos! Can you please make a video for the Sigma 24-105 Art f4, also, possibly on nikon bodies or compared to a Nikon lens, since I'm a Nikon guy.
I'm looking to buy a sigma 50mm but I already have the canon 50mm 1.8. I have a canon t5i (cropped sensor). Is it worth the upgrade? I shoot portraits and I'm looking for a lens that is more versatile for portraits.
You should do more of these. It would be great for us more low budgeters, if you explore some of the Vintage Lens's. I'm really interested in purchasing an Olympus 50mm 1.4 lens but a review like this would help a lot
Hi Vincent, I'd love to do more of these... they just take a long time to make, and since I don't really make any money from them, it's hard to justify spending all of the time :-) I am making more, though... just generally have to stick with more popular lenses. I'll see about starting a Patreon page or something, maybe I can expand a bit.
Years ago, I bought a 50/1.2 but it had bad backfocusing problems. The shop went through another three and they all misfocused, so I got a 35L instead. The new EOS R and R5/6 will give those backfocusing EF lenses new life.
I was torn between one or the other, but I was sold on the Sigma right when I saw the sharpness results. I don't mind the extra weight so much, I always have battery grip on my 6D to counter it becoming front-heavy with heavier lenses anyway. Cheers mate!
![ILLSLICK - THE KING'S LANDING [Freestyle]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/feIJJnNkTfk/mqdefault.jpg)
The comparisons you do are by far the most helpful/informative side by sides I've seen. No gimmicks, no BS, just informative and very easy to watch/listen to. Thanks mate! Am picking up the Sigma 50mm Art second hand, so help you out by buying through affiliate link so dropped you a few $$ via the support link. Appreciate you work!
Thanks Nathan :-)
bro this is how you do a review. You killed this shit man, appreciate the time you spent on this!
This was an exceptionally good comparison/review, and I say that having watched all of the major TH-cam photography channels. You even made the resolution and focus analysis technically engaging without a test chart with all those patterns on it. That Sigma ART lens is a winner.
This is the best lens reviewer I ever seen! So informative!
Him and Christopher Frost are my favorites.
I'm somewhat new to photography but I've watched a lot of product reviews and comparisons. This should be a textbook example on how to do a short, concise and very informative review. A joy to watch.
The most comprehensive, straightforward and sensibly conscise video comparison on these two lenses out of the other five vids I've seen. Nice job. Thanks.
Your review was spectacular. Most camera reviewers read spec sheets and press releases or discuss strengths and weaknesses without concrete real world examples. Your video is extremely professional and well produced and I learned something having watched it. Thanks for taking the time to create valuable and stimulating content. Being a Nikon user, I would like to see you use your abilities to talk about what you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the Sony, Canon, and Nikon systems as well as the mirrorless Olympus and Fujifilm offerings.
Your comparison of image sharpness and quality is very nice and clear. I really appreciate that. Great video.
Superb. No annoying talking heads or funny mannerisms, hairstyles, T-shirts. No showing off the expensive studio and it equipment, no name-dropping, no poorly disguised allusions to how great and successful you are. No bias to any brand (i.e. no fanboyism!). Just good, useful information, presented in a clear and interesting way. And although the Sigma lens seems to be the winner on most of the things tested we can still decide in favour of the Canon (lighter, weather sealed) when what we want most is a beautifully blurred background and maximum subject-separation. For landscapes and cityscapes, we can use a slower (and cheaper!) lens that is better corrected at smaller apertures but that would be necessary only if it made any difference at the sizes we print or display.
Best lens review I have ever watched, technical and evidence based. I usually don't comment on videos but had to let you know.
Cheers,
IMPORTANT! The Canon is actually longer than 50 and the Sigma is a true 50. Most big brand 50mm lenses are actually 51.something millimeters because that's just one of those photography things handed down from the past when 50mm lenses weren't precisely 50.
Matthew, your comparison is flawless!
It is just another perfect review of yours.
Thanks a lot.
My R6 and the canon 50mm 1.2 L really gives unique pics. The bokeh is legendary.
It's an awesome lens for bokeh, no doubt about that, and it's actually better on mirrorless, IMHO, since the direct focusing is more reliable with that shallow depth of field.
Wow! it's 9 years later and you blow most lens review channels out of the water. This was a breath of fresh air, most lens reviews are just weekend cheer leaders for what ever lens they found on ebay recently that they can write a review about. I swear you could put a trash kit lens from the 2010 in front of them and they would celebrate it and pull buzz words out their ass like film-like and "it has character".
You forgot to mention the main selling point of the cannon at least for me : Weather Sealing
ive watched a looot of lens/camera reviews but this was so far the best, in depth, on point review ive ever watched
Good Comparison, thank you very much.
My thoughs as i own the 85mm 1.2 and use it 85% of the time, at least:
- Noise: doesn´t matter
- Resolution: my 85mm 1.2 is cristal clear in the center, anything else doesn´t matter. Maybe i was just lucky.
If you spend the extra buck because of 1.2 instead of 1.4 you (should) use it at 1.2 nearly all the time...if you use it at 1.4 mostly you bought the wrong lens.
- Sealing: Matters!
- Weight: Doensn´t matter
- Vignette: lol i even like that, i add more in post
- bad borders: doesn´t matter, this is no landscape or architecture Lense after all...and if you want to use it for that Stop 8 and Tripod are mandatory anyway.
For my style it even helps if the center is the most importend section.
- Bokeh: Next to sharp center the most important point.
- Price: Does matter!
Wouv... No shitting around, just pure necessary info.. Congrats man.... What a good review...
Please tell me in comparison which lends is better between a Cannon 50mm 1.4 or a Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art? I need to know to decode which one between the two to go with? I use it for filming videos. Thanks
BeautyByDamaris The Sigma is definitely the better lens, although it is heavier and larger.
Thank you so much Matthew Gore for answering my question. Subscribed to your channel
This is the cream of reviews Matt. Thank you for not wasting our time. Subscribed for that fact alone! One question - in the later comparisons, you’ve listed both sides as Canon. Was that in error? You have Canon 50mm f/1.4 on the left and Canon 50mm f/1.2L on the right. Just curious. Thanks again for a STELLAR video. - David
Hey David, Glad you liked it :-) Yes, this video was my first attempt at using chunks of previous videos as templates to speed up production, and it led to all sorts of errors like that. I fixed some of them and re-published the video (which is where the (fixed) part of the title came from, but I didn't catch everything. Back when this was published, TH-cam had a feature that allowed me to overlay the correct camera names, so I didn't need to upload a new copy, but that feature has since been disabled. Oh well :-) You probably got the general idea.
Matthew Gore - Thanks for answering back so quickly:) Yup, got the idea right away! I’m sold either way. Please keep the content coming if you can. Between you and Mark Bone, I’ll be up and running in no time. Thanks again Matt!✨
Matthew, thanks for your review again I was thinking to get the canon 50mm f 1.2.....until i watch this now....Should i go for Sigma? Great video. Plus the Sigma is about $400 cheaper? Thanks!
+LOLA'S STUDIO Unless you really don't like the bokeh on the Sigma (some people don't, I guess), I'd go with the Sigma. It's very sharp, and the AF is pretty fast and reliable. Not much wrong with it, except that it's big and heavy for a 50mm lens.
+Matthew Gore I like the bokeh on the Sigma more hahaha and yes most pix from the Sigma lens are sharper than the Canon....But yes it is bigger and heavier.......but that is $400 diff....Thanks again for your quick response.
I have owned the canon 50mm 1.2 and i would say definitely go with the sigma!
i have and sigma and canon on sony a7sll ///sigma good for contrast image/not for art/// bokeh is absent/////canon is art.and best for me
Clipped bokeh circles and onion rings are not exactly attractive in terms of bokeh so I'd take the Sigma over the Canon 1.2 any day. There's also no point having soft backgrounds if nothing is particularly sharp in the photo, which seems to be the case with the Canon lens.
The age of watching reviews that absolutely suck has ended. Thank you for this review, it definitely determined what I am going to purchase.
Great review Matthew! Looks like no reason to pay more for red rings! But what do you think about front/back phocus on Sigma lens? Did you have such problems or Sigma catch right phocus exactly the same as Canon? thank you!
Seriously the best review I've ever seen. I wish all reviews were this good
Great review - I'm looking seriously at the Sigma (my first non-Canon L lens), so I was a little concerned, but your review clearly shows that the Sigma is better.
Due to videos like these, you are my go to guy for lens comparisons. Thanks for this!
Thanks, John, glad you find them useful!
The best comparison I have ever seen on these two lenses.
This is one of the best lens reviews i've ever seen. I am a Sigma fan. I am now glad to see that Sigma beats Canon with most of the conditions and specs including much less price. I just discovered your channel but i will also watch other reviews in a short while. I can simply say i will recommend this review to all my friends who are insisting Canon is much more better than Sigma. I use sigma 35mm 1.4 art and 35mm is incredible lens for weddings, landscape or Daily Street photography. Once again thanks for this helpful review.
Nice review but weather sealing forgotten (pros for cannon)
Your reviews are better than some of FStoppers. Great work!
Thanks!
Another problem many review forgot to mention, sigma is actually darker than canon at the same aperture ISO shutter speed, about 2/3 stops maybe. Probably due to its lens coating.
Dxomark shows Sigma transmission at 1.8 and canon at 1.5
I have the sigma since three years and used it for a lot of jobs, extremely sharp lens, but it's too heavy (I use 50mm as my main lens for 95% of my pictures) and often has an unimpressive rendering, lacks a lot of pop and micro contrast. It's an old lens and everything but I find the Canon 50mm 1.2 to have a lot more character and microcontrast, I'm going to switch between the two. Then, if your main purpose is shooting landscapes wide open ok maybe sigma is a better choice, but for portraiture (and shooting people in general) there's no competition between the two. And, sigma 50mm is often inconsistent in focusing, at least my copy but I read that it's a really common issue, more likely than not.
thank you, this is the best sigma 50 1.4 art review video on youtube
Thanks buddy. Really detailed comparison. Couldn't wait to see your next 1635IS review.
Great review. You have quite the presentation. I have a Sigma 1.8 which I love. Thinking of selling the Canon lenses I have and get this the 1.4 I appreciate your efforts here!
Fantastic Videos, just subscribed. It would be fantastic if you could do a comparison between the 70-200mm and the Sigma 1.4 Art Lens ( as I'm a portrait photographer ) trying to find the best sharpness and bokeh, unless you already have your opinion on suggested lenses? Robin.
This was bloody brilliant. Have been trying to find a replacement for my nifty fifty 1.8, because it's softer than the results of a particularly spicy curry, and the detail you go in to has helped convince me (after my own in-store test shots with it too, versus Canon's ~£300 1.4) that the Sigma is definitely a good deal at the price it's at now. Thanks for being so thorough!
Same!
Sigma usually have a micro usb port for updating the firmware. Not sure if this has, but that's another thing to keep in mind. As far as APSC goes, it has the "holy trinity" with 16mm, 30mm and 56mm, how would the 30mm compare with the nifty fifty? Thanks for the very scientific and methodical review
So glad you included night shots mate.
Excellent comparison! Very informative and well-produced. Earned a subscriber in me! :)
At 8:45, the section of the video when zooming into the details of the Bokeh, the picture titles switch. I was wondering if you could clarify and confirm which one is canon and which one is sigma because they switch midway through the explanation?
The labels switched accidentally... the lenses stay on the same sides throughout each segment. There used to be an overlay that corrected the labels, but TH-cam disabled that feature.
At 4:24 is this a typo or part of the previous week's review of the canon 1.4 vs 1.2? Are those files from the sigma or the 1.4 canon?
That's a typo. I was re-using some of the template from the previous video and left the text in place accidentally, but the files are all different. It was one of several problems with this video... some of which I fixed, but some I missed, in the "fixed" version :-)
Very nice comparison. Really appreciate. But a lot of people use 50mm for indoor portraits where the sharpness matters in the subject area only. It would have been great to see some indoor portraits comparison. But thanks a lot for the nice comparison.
Thanks for this excellent and detailed review. I like your systematic approach the review, a good pace to the commentary and clear crisp graphics on screen. The only thing I would change would be to see the vignetting examples individually rather than both at once, it's hard to focus on the detail on the two screens. This video is the best lens comparison of these two lenses I have seen. Thanks again!
just purchased the Sigma 50mm, thanks for the great review!
Hey Josh, glad you found it useful :-) Enjoy the new lens!
the reviews you do keeps everything real and authentic to the lenses!
Great comparison video, I own the Sigma and gave my nifty fifty away. Sigma 50 is an amazing lens but is heavy as you pointed out. Thought about changing to a larger 1.2 aperture but this video has convinced me to continue bearing the weight. Sigma garners quite a few compliments on it’s appearance and the magazine quality photos. They can make an everyday pic look like a professional photoshoot product.
You and Christopher Frost make the best lens review videos!
Reggie Brown I actually think Christopher Frost's testing of resolution leaves something to be desired. He takes one frame at a certain focal length and f-stop, and judges both center and corner sharpness from that same image, without refocusing for the corners. So if he tests a lens that has field curvature, that lens may actually be capable of better resolution than his results show.
wrong
Thanks for the great reviews Matthew! I was about to get this used Sigma 50mm and a speedbooster to use on a Canon M50 for street and low light photography when I had another idea... I could save some money and perhaps get better quality with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM ART and NO speedbooster and get the about the same focal length. I don't know if you have any experience with that Sigma 30mm but what do you think? Thanks again!
That's a really interesting question, and I'm afraid that I don't have enough experience with the 30mm to really be able to offer much help, and I have even less experience with the metabones speedboosters. Of course, the 30mm f/1.4 art will cost a lot less than the 50 + a speedbooster, and you'll generally get better autofocus performance without an adapter. But I don't know how the resolution will compare, and you'll get an extra f-stop of light or so with the speedbooster... so it's just a matter of whether you really want that extra light. Sorry I can't be of more help!
i think canon 50mm1.2l is for portrait not for other things don't you aware of that????
its not for landscape
Really phenomenal work on this review. Continue on with this format, please.
Really great video, seriously man.. fantastic
Hey, Matthew. Nicely put together and presented video. Thanks, Man
Hi, Matthew, Brilliant, succinct and clear technical data encompassing unbiased opinions. Thank you so much.
As a favour, would you be able to do a Video on a Sigma 150mm-600mm Sports lens to be fine tuned by using a Sigma doc?
This process uses Free Sigma firmware and it is tedious and long drawn one. The clips I watched relating to this process, do not cover much and not clear. Many thanks.
You just saved me hundreds of dollars!!! Thanks for putting so much time and effort into your reviews, they really help make it very clear that "L" might just stand for "Loser"
Awesome review! Is it any surprise that the bokeh on the Canon is better?! The Canon was a step ahead in the blur department to start with!!!
u just got a new subscriber! best comparison video I have watched
Thanks James! It was a fun one to make :-)
thank you for a very informative and precise review of these two lenses!
Photographers do not buy a lens with aperture 1.2 to take a remote view, this test is irrelevant and does not emphasize the beauty of a lens shot with a reduction of 1.2. Because a sharp drop on the sides or slightly less sharp on the sides, really irrelevant to a lens that is considered a lens for street photography or portraits, you should do the same test with the photographs for which these lenses are intended
Hay Matt great review , I am looking to buy a 50mm lens and now I am stuck on the sigma and or the Tamron since the Tamron has VC and weather sealing. What do you recommend. I really would love to hear what you have to say about the Tamron
tamron has a 45, not 50. :)
Found your channel through /r/photography. Fantastic, to the point, lens comparison/review. Thank you.
I have been enjoying the Sigma 50mm quite a bit and the quality is
great, but recently I noticed on my shoot at an event something worth
mentioned. I'm not sure if there's something I am overlooking and maybe you might have a suggestion or idea.
I was using my Canon 5D4 w/24-105mm lens and had the Sigma ART on my 5D3 (both with UV filters). When I aimed the Sigma in the direction of the windows (it was a mid afternoon event) the whole image in my viewfinder had a noticeable haze...When I did the same thing with the Canon lens the haze was not present, except where the windows were located. I tried removing the UV filter, which was a Tiffen included with the Lens, and it still looked the same. I thought the free filter included might be the problem as it was a low end Tiffen filter they included with the sale of the lens.
The Sigma lens looks great normally on all my shoots, but it seems strange it would exhibit this much haze when facing towards the windows. Have you heard of any similar stories with haze. Thanks........
The "haze" that you mention is "flare", and more specifically, it's a type called "veiling flare". There's always a bigger danger of getting flare if you use a UV filter on your lens, so I recommend never using them, and it's also usually significantly reduced by using your lens hood (which also protects the front element from fingerprints and damage).
Large aperture lenses like the Sigma are often more susceptible to flare (especially if the hood is not used); that's normal and to be expected... they're designed to gather a lot of light. The lens hood is part of the lens design that reduces flare, so always use it. Of course, it's also really important to keep your optics clean. If the front element is dusty or oily, that will catch and diffuse light, and cause flare.
Anyway, there's not much else I can suggest. Use the hood. No UV filters. Keep it clean. I've never had any particular problems with flare on the Sigma lenses, so you're probably looking at normal behavior for an f/1.4 lens.... but it would be interesting to see how they compare to other models. I'll keep that in mind when I'm doing future reviews.
very well done comparison.. I was already set on the Sigma, but the high weight and large formfactor kinda throw me off.
It sound's like, in your opinion, the Sigma would be a better choice for shooting weddings. I am thinking of buying it for engagements shoots and weddings....My main concern is a lot of photographers I have asked say there are focus issues with Sigma lenses, but I believe they are voicing their opinions on older Sigma performance with focus issues and not the newer ART series lenses. Any thoughts.
Between these two lenses, the Sigma was much more reliable for me, when it came to focus, though I have heard plenty of people complain about the ART lens. There are probably some camera/lens combinations that will need some adjustments, but I suspect a lot of it comes from people who are new to large aperture primes... getting accurate, tack-sharp focus with such a shallow depth of field is always going to be hard when you're learning how to use them. I have not experienced the focus problems that I've heard about. For what it's worth, I've been using the Sigma ART lenses on Sony mirrorless cameras recently, and they focus is awesome... but that will be an advantage of any mirrorless system.
@@MatthewGore Thanks for the insight. I would be using the 50mm Sigma on a Canon 5D4 mostly....I have a 5D3 also which it could also be used with....Thanks....
Now, in 2021, Canon 50mm 1.2 focuses just great with R-cameras!
And its picture is better to my eyes.
Very competent and complete review, well done!
Does this Sigma lens support 61 auto-focus points? Thanks.
learning music video production. i bougth canon 5d mark iii. do i need this lense or canon lense for my video production. like how many lense do i need to start up video production. help please
Thank you so much Matthew for the helpful and informative comparison video! God bless, good luck and keep creating!
wow!!! very nicely done!!! very informative and helpful!
Takes a soft portrait lens, tests it on sharp cityscape and forest :D I'd take the canon 50 1,2 any day for portraits and people! )
This is the best comparison of two lenses I ever saw...very helpful statistics! Thanks a lot !
Respect, this video is all I ever wanted. You keep at it.
Your stuff is very helpful and I really appreciate it! Keep at it, for all of our sakes!
Mark Nakib Thanks Mark! You're one of 8 people who have supported my channel since I've started accepting fan funding. It's an elite group :) And it's already been a big help... I'm working on my next video now. All my gratitude -
Matt
Well, personally, you've had a hand in 3 lens purchases already for me. You've saved me probably over $1000, so it's the least I can do. I wish I had more than $5 to give but I'll try to keep it coming in the future as long as you keep putting out such quality stuff.
Brilliant take. All plausible doubts answered. Thank you.
Great quality content. Im looking forward you doing comparison between Canon 85mm 1.4L IS and Sigma 85mm Art 1.4.
thanks for posting this: I had been mulling buying the Canon 50mm F1.2 for dance photography, but I think I will be taking a serious look at the Sigma 50mm F1.4.
Very informative about the distortion ,very nicely explained !
i can see the difference at 480p. how sad
One of the best video on lens comparison. To the point. Thanks.
Dear Mathew,
would you please someday review the Canon 135mm f2 Lens? Great videos! way better than most people out there..
You do a fantastic job sir! Thank you for sharing! I've been on the hunt for a good 50mm going from Canon's 1.2 to the 1.4 for faster focus, then the Tamron 45mm and I'm getting my 1.8 fixed this week. I think I might have to try out the Sigma. Every photog needs a good, reliable 50!
Oh and I'm from Seattle as well! www.nakean.com
Matthew thank you so very much for an excellent review! I came here looking to compare the 50mm f1.4 for Canon and Sigma but found your video, watched it and my mind is made up! Thanks! I am a newbie and just wondered if you could give me some advice... I would like to do fashion shots, portraits and because I am an interior designer, I would like to shoot the Interiors/ room spaces I style and design. Will I be ok to start with the Sigma 50mm f1.4 and do all the types of pictures I want to do or will I need another lens? I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks heaps in advance, for answering.
+Petrina Sarkar Fashion photography can be pretty flexible, so the 50mm should work for some of that, especially if you shoot with an APS-C camera, although many people prefer a longer focal length for portraits (85-200mm).
For interior work, you're going to find it very hard to frame your photos. On full frame cameras, a 24mm lens is really a good idea, or even wider. A 16-35mm would work well, or some people are satisfied with something like the Sigma 24-35. If you're shooting APS-C, a wider zoom would make more sense: the 18-35 f/1.8 would be great, but any lens in that range would be just fine, since you'll want to shoot from a tripod and stop it down quite a bit anyway.
That said, the 50mm will be wonderful for taking detail shots.
+Matthew Gore Thanks heaps Matthew!
Looking at the color, sigma appears brown in nearly all the scenes compared to the canon. Canon seem to bring more pink, red feeling to the image. Is this the case?
Fantastic review
Thanks! Hard to believe it was seven years ago that I made this video... I still remember shooting with those lenses like it was yesterday 🙂
Yep.. most useful, perhaps extending the sigma tests using M43 (gh5) for filming (popular in many countries) both native and ef via adapter. That would be a unique presentation. Thanks for a very comprehensive (and surprising ) result.
Great videos! Can you please make a video for the Sigma 24-105 Art f4, also, possibly on nikon bodies or compared to a Nikon lens, since I'm a Nikon guy.
Hey man, that was a great review and very helpful. Thanks for helping me decide.
Glad it was helpful!
All of the reviews are super accurate, will done!!!
Thanks, Matthew! Good job!
This video is amazing!! Great job! You deserve way more subscribers!
I'm looking to buy a sigma 50mm but I already have the canon 50mm 1.8. I have a canon t5i (cropped sensor). Is it worth the upgrade? I shoot portraits and I'm looking for a lens that is more versatile for portraits.
great information. stuck between these two but i've come closer to a decision thanks to this.
The best review of Sigma Art 50 ever .. thank you !
You should do more of these. It would be great for us more low budgeters, if you explore some of the Vintage Lens's.
I'm really interested in purchasing an Olympus 50mm 1.4 lens but a review like this would help a lot
Hi Vincent,
I'd love to do more of these... they just take a long time to make, and since I don't really make any money from them, it's hard to justify spending all of the time :-) I am making more, though... just generally have to stick with more popular lenses. I'll see about starting a Patreon page or something, maybe I can expand a bit.
Matthew Gore I understand.
Years ago, I bought a 50/1.2 but it had bad backfocusing problems. The shop went through another three and they all misfocused, so I got a 35L instead. The new EOS R and R5/6 will give those backfocusing EF lenses new life.
hi Matt, waiting for rewiev of Tamron 15-30
WoW your reviews are just the best!
I was torn between one or the other, but I was sold on the Sigma right when I saw the sharpness results. I don't mind the extra weight so much, I always have battery grip on my 6D to counter it becoming front-heavy with heavier lenses anyway. Cheers mate!
got my 50art because of this review. thanks matt :)