50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

I will start this review off by saying that I have this lens mounted on a Nikon D700. I've owned several 50mm primes, and know that there are a lot of in depth reviews comparing them, so I won't get into all that.Before I bought this lens I was using the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G af-s lens. This is a beautiful lens! However, I had bought the Sigma 85mm 1.4 and loved it so much that I wanted to look into their 50mm as well. I love creamy smooth backgrounds, and am always on the lookout for a lens (for the right price) that can give fantastic results!Just as I experienced with the Sigma 85mm, this lens was gorgeous and sharp right out of the box! I had no issues with auto focus, and I LOVE shooting wide open. The bokeh this lens creates is beautifully smooth, and the lens has great color and contrast. I do prefer the bokeh of the sigma 50mm lens to my nikon. I know for some this isn't everything, but to me it is.I don't feel like this lens is bulky or heavy. It feels great on my D700, and seems to balance it out nicely. If you are considering this lens, I say go for it! You won't be disappointed!

As you'd expect of an f1.4 lens, I bought this for one purpose: shooting wide-open and creaming out the background. And this lens delivers.First off, I'll start with the build quality. This lens is much larger than the other 50mm lenses available on the market. As a result, it just feels better on the camera. If you're using a heavy D3 or a D700 with a battery grip, a one inch long, 52mm filter lens doesn't feel right, to me at least. But considering this is around 3 times the size with a 77mm filter, it does a much better job of balancing the camera body.The autofocus on the 51 point-AF Nikon bodies is fantastic. It is lightning fast and tack sharp so long as there is enough available light. However, I have noticed that if the light levels drop, it tends to hunt a little, unless you focus perfectly on your subject's nose using the single-point AF. I have heard of Sigma's front-focus quality control issue on this lens, but the sample I got was perfect.Sigma did a wonderful job constructing this lens. The 9-bladed diaphragm delivers dreamy bokeh, on par with lenses 4 times more expensive. Even harsh elements are less noticeable than they are when shot with the Nikkor 50mm F1.4, 70-200, or 24-70. As I said, this is my go-to lens for anything bokeh.Stopped down, this lens is still very sharp, though I don't use it for that purpose because the nikkor 70-200 is sharper corner to corner. But that wasn't what this lens was necessarily designed for anyway.

First, I'm not a professional photographer, but a mere hobbyist. I have done extensive research on the lens and knew that it was a gamble with the AF focus being a hit or miss with this Sigma product. I was also debating between getting this over the Nikon 50mm 1.4G. Although I don't know how the latter performs over the former, I can honestly say that I am very pleased with the Sigma.I didn't have any back/front focus issues whatsoever. I used a focus test chart:[...]...and followed the instructions accordingly. Perhaps the Sigma focus issues are corrected in the later product releases than its initial release...who knows. Granted, the AF had a few minor issues in tracking at night more so than in the day, but I have experienced the same case in other lenses.Good:- Fast lens- HSM is quiet and focuses rather quickly (i.e. much quieter and faster compared to my friend's Canon EF 1.8 lens on a EOS 20D...as a basis for comparison, if acceptable)- Bokeh is exceptionally smooth; I haven't seen any distracting sharp edges in the out of focus regions under reasonable settings.Bad:- The edges are slightly soft at maximum aperture, but gets incredibly sharp at f/1.8 and above.- Lens are larger and heavier than prime lens of equivalent specs; this may intimidate your subjects.Overall: Quality lens! I am currently using this with a Nikon D90 camera and the images are absolutely stellar. I highly recommend.

I am just getting back to SLR photography after giving it up 10+ years ago. Currently using this lens on a Nikon D300s and so far the bokeh, the details, the precision is very nice. So using it more as a portrait type lens but can be quite versatile. See the photo uploaded here for results.******************************************************UPDATE: June 9, 2011After using this for a full year, I have to say that this is an excellent lens ... when it is in focus.I begun noticing some images are not 100% in focus ... which I thought it was not an issue for a while ... now I think it can be an issue as I can repeat the problem. See the pictures in the comments below. Essentially, if I focus on infinity (e.g. rotate it manually to infinity) and have it auto-focus on something close by, I can make it not focus.I purchased this last year during a father's day promotion and got a good deal. Would I recommend this lens again - yes. I gave it a 5 stars originally and now brought it down to 3.******************************************************Update: May 23, 2012After using this for almost 2 years now, I have made to decision to send it back for service.Obtained a test sheet and managed to demonstrate that regardless what I do with AF Fine Tune - which is an important feature with my Nikon D300s - I could not get it to focus sharply in the middle if my aperture is set to f/2.8 or below. It seems that larger apertures the lens just could not focus. See the lines and settings on AF Fine Tune and resulting test images here: [...]Planning to send it back for service.