I've totally lost track of which color I'm supposed to use for which headline post, so forget it! I'm just gonna do whatever...

The beastly Sigma 50 1.4 just got reviewed on DPReview. Basically, this sigma lens is easily more than twice as big / heavy as all the other 50mm 1.4 lenses, and roughly twice as expensive at $500.

What it IS is the same size as the Canon 50 1.2, but half the price and (hopefully) equal the image quality at f/1.4...

Well, is it? Ehh, well, umm, err, yeah, you know I had high hopes for this lens... But...

It DOES indeed outperform the Canon and Nikon 50mm 1.4 lenses, as far s sharpness is concerned. But contrast wide-open is, well, flat. I'd say sharpness is on par with the Canon 50 1.2, but contrast is not.

Flare is almost nill when the sun is IN the frame, (none of those annoying little green spheres) and quite well-controlled when the sun is just outside the frame. On par with the Canon 50 1.2 I'd say.

Bokeh is gorgeous. Best combination of bokeh & sharpness on the market considering the aspherical lens element, I'd say... (aspherical elements help sharpness etc. but can harm bokeh...)

On full-frame, the lens totally out-resolves even the 21 megapixel 1Ds mk3, dead center, but the extreme corners are crap. Great corners on DX, though, and corners aren't really important with a lens like this anyway. (And the sample images look pretty darn good, despite the numbers...)

But there's one thing that saddens me- The autofocus speed does not "beat" the Canon 50 1.4, nor the 1.8. I was really hoping that it could be lightning fast, but I guess with all that glass it just doesn't have the muscle. Maybe on the Nikon bodies it can perform better? Who knows...

Will I be buying one? Probably not, especially considering the fact that Nikon has some new f/1.4 primes of it's own on the horizon. I'll wait and see what Nikon does; if they try and release a 50 1.2 at $1000+, I'll probably go for this Sigma. If Nikon does a "pro-grade" 50 1.4, (which would be a first) ...then I'll consider it. For now, I'm just going to stick with renting 85mm primes instead...

=Matt=

PS: Oh and we can expect to see the Canon 5D mk2, starting THIS week. Thursday is a historic favorite for Canon...