Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Review

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Performance

As far as sharpness is concerned, this lens puts in an excellent performance, especially in the centre of the frame. At f/1.4, sharpness in the centre is already outstanding, although clarity towards the edges of the frame lags behind somewhat. Sharpness towards the edges of the frame improves as the aperture is stopped down, reaching very good levels by f/2.8 and outstanding levels by f/4.

MTF

How to read our charts The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are virtually non-existent, with Imatest only able to detect fringing of a quarter of a pixel width towards the edges of the frame at f/1.4. This is exceptional performance, which will allow shooting of high contrast subjects with no qualms or worries.

CA

How to read our charts Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is fairly typical for a lens of this focal length and maximum aperture. At f/1.4 the corners are 2.17 stops darker than the image centre and visually uniform illumination is achieved with the aperture stopped down to f/4 or beyond.

Imatest detected 0.349% barrel distortion, which is virtually indistinguishable. This low level of distortion should rarely require correction, but if it does, you'll be glad to know the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame.

A deep petal-shaped hood is supplied with this lens, which does a good job of shielding the lens from extraneous light that may cause loss of contrast or flare. Even when shooting into the light, contrast remains good and flare is virtually non-existent.

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