Sigma 321954 85 mm F1.4 DG HSM Art Canon Mount Lens - Black

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We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations. Really not easy to use, deep of field and AF precision arevery impressive... and hard to use with perfection Now, if aesthetics are your thing, know that this lens is bulky once on a camera body and adds an extra bit of weight that you usually don’t expect from primes, especially the Sigma Art collection. At 85mm for a full frame, to get it to be as bright as 1.4 means it has large glass elements, and likely a lot of them, and thus heft and added weight. So here, the choice of making it f/1.4 has led to the engineering issue which requires it to be a more heavy-set lens. [LEARN: Free Engagement Photography Guide] Auto-focus I've appreciated this lens together with the Nikon D700, and I think it's a very good choice to spare money (in comparison with the double costly Nikkor), keeping an high quality.

Sharpness– Definitely gives the Canon 85L a run for its money and blows the Sigma 85 EX DG HSM out of the water. Some of the photos in this video were completely unusable but I haven't experienced that really. I have, however, had far too many slightly off shots. As you said, the quality of the Sigmas is almost unbeatable - when they get it right. But because of that incredible quality and laser sharpness, it is very noticeable when it's not quite right.The lens shows a slight amount of corner shading when attached to the sub-frame Canon 7D - just over 1/4 EV in the corners when set to ƒ/1.4. On the full-frame 1D Mark III, it's a bit more significant: the corners are almost 3/4 of a stop darker than the center at ƒ/1.4. Stopped down, it's less significant: at ƒ/2 the corners are just over a quarter-stop darker, and stopped down further than that, the light falloff is marginal.

Serious portrait photographers need this focal length in their tool kit because it is just a portrait essential. It definitely isn’t a recreational lens to have on hand at all times, as it is highly specified and catered to perform in the realm of portraiture.that always makes me laugh when I read it. i'll bet many of us "amateurs" have more disposable income than many "pro" photographers. or do you mean as an amateur you are not worthy of the gear you really want? We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration). While the Canon 85L wasn’t designed for peak sharpness, it has an almost ethereal fade from sharpness to blur. The “bokeh balls” do have more of an ovular characteristic to them compared to Canon’s circular appearance. Both have a soft transition due to their wide apertures and the difference is negligible. There is only build quality compromise (the lens mount side exposes electronics within when focused at MFD), but am not sure how many of us really thrash our equipments.

Haven’t seen one yet, but I’m guessing the sigma will be sharper, they will be similar in other ways including Bokeh, but some big time Canon fans will say the Canon has better Bokeh simply because the other one is a sigma.AF-D version is weaker in almost all respects, except maybe on bokeh ( probably those soft corners are helping here) Fast and accurate AF, on a D300 using any mode ( including mounted flash + AF-assist illuminator ). That's a good summary but after looking closely at that review I feel the Art has a slight edge in sharpness wide open. And light transmission is clearly to the 1.2L ii. Canon will have better focus consistency and has the addition of is which is likely to be a very effective is. Sigma 85mm f / 1,4 on the field is not inferior to Nikon 85 / 1,4G, has a beautiful soft bokeh, good design, accurate and fast AF, a beautiful rich color. Photographing a great pleasure, you do not want to remove from the camera. This is a wonderful lens!