How's the Sigma 50mm f1.4 on 5D Mark III?

[Policar]

I love my 50mm f1.8, but I use it almost exclusively wide open since the pentagonal bokeh isn't my favorite.

How do people find this lens? Too big and awkward? How does it focus on the Mark III? Good for video? Will it intercut well with Samyang primes? I'll be using this half for video and half for stills. Thanks!

[Edge100]

Originally Posted by Policar

I love my 50mm f1.8, but I use it almost exclusively wide open since the pentagonal bokeh isn't my favorite.

How do people find this lens? Too big and awkward? How does it focus on the Mark III? Good for video? Will it intercut well with Samyang primes? I'll be using this half for video and half for stills. Thanks!

I had one on my 5D Mark II, and it was terrific. Easily better than the 50/1.8, especially in the area of bokeh and focus speed/accuracy in low light (which are, in my opinion, the fatal flaws of the 50/1.8).

The important thing with the Sigma is to use it on a body that has microadjustment. I got lucky in that it was fine on my 1D Mark II, but there are clearly some issues with some copies of the Sigma 50/1.4 on some specific bodies, so if you get one, make sure you try it out on your camera first.

[nburwell]

The Sigma 50mm is by and far better than it's Canon counterpart (I'm talking about th 50mm f/1.4). Maybe it was the copy I had, but it was soft wide open, and I would constantly have to keep it at f/2.0 to get consistent results. I rented the Sigma 50mm and it continously gave me great results for the period that I rented it for. Out of the two, you can't go wrong with the Sigma.

[Policar]

Great, thank you both... Looks like I'll pick one up soon. I was considering buying used, but if I do I'll make sure to get a newer copy (or just expect that I might have issues focusing and have to re-sell).

My one lingering concern is that this lens won't match my Samyang lenses for video, the bokeh seems to be much softer and the color might be different. Is this a legitimate concern? Probably not... The shared 77mm filter threads are welcome.

I'm also worried this will be a lot bulkier than the 50mm f1.8, but doubt that will be a deal-breaker.

[Prodo123]

Just an FYI the Canon lenses are much faster at focusing than the Sigma 50. I just manual focus in lowlight since the accuracy is too low. In daylight it autofocuses tolerably.

Bokeh is superb, very good colors and contrast, sharp when focused.

[nburwell]

Originally Posted by Policar

My one lingering concern is that this lens won't match my Samyang lenses for video, the bokeh seems to be much softer and the color might be different. Is this a legitimate concern? Probably not... The shared 77mm filter threads are welcome.

Samyang lense are super sharp and produce great colors. Nothing againist Sigma, but you may be a little disappointed with what you shoot. You can always correct color/sharpness in post if you do that, but straight out of the camera, you're going to see a minor difference in color and contrast with Sigma.