Photography news, before it happens

Will Chao (willchaophotography.com) will review the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens (currently $100 off) and compare it to the Canon 50mm f/1.2, Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the old Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lenses:

Will Chao here, I am a wedding photographer in Melbourne. Welcome to my review of the Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART vs Canon 50mm 1.2. I also threw briefly the old Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX lens and the Canon 50mm F1.8. Before I start, I have to make it clear that I am in no way affiliated with any of these brands and certainly am not being paid to write this review. Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART is henceforth known as S50A.

I have used Sigma 50mm 1.4 EX Old version (henceforth known as S50) and the Canon 50mm F1.2L (henceforth known as 50L) quite extensively in the past, but both left something to be desired.

The two lenses are on par when it comes to image quality, with Sigma 50mm F1.4 HSM having slight edge when it comes to Bokeh creaminess, which surprised me because it was a 1.4 compared to Canon’s 1.2, but the Bokeh circles have less outlining issues and smoother in general.

However, as someone who is used to the image quality produced by the 70-200 F2.8 IS II, 85mm F1.2 II, as well as the 200mm F2.0 IS, I couldn’t seem to get similar results from the two 50mm’s, especially after being printed (I shoot a lot of times wide open, so wide open sharpness is important to me).

For years, 50mm had been a void in my arsenal that I would have loved to use but hated the image quality, but that is until the announcement of Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART. The lens which is designed to rival even the Otus 55mm F1.4 in image quality terms, let’s see how it measures up against the old 50mm’s.

For a bit of fun I also threw in a $125 50mm F1.8 lens, just to see how they compare.

I am privileged to have access to a SUPERBLY SHARP copy of the Canon 50mm F1.2L, courtesy of Clarte Photo , so you might recognize a bigger resolution gap between more standard copies.

The images are JPG directly converted from RAW with no processing what-so-ever. White balance is set manually using a grey card (this is important when comparing colours from the lenses because white balance affects it more than you imagine).

All images are shot with the maximum aperture available for the lens, with Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX and Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART being shot at F1.4, Canon 50mm F1.2 L being shot at F1.2 and the 50mm F1.8 being shot at F1.8:

The Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART obvious has the sharpness advantage, I don’t think anybody had any doubts.

But does the bokeh live up to the F1.2 hype?

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