Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM

How different is the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art compared to the older Sigma 50mm f/1.4 version? Let’s take a quick look at the performance benchmarks:

Looking at the above charts, it is immediately clear that the older Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM simply does not stand a chance against the new 50mm f/1.4 Art. The older version is much worse at the maximum aperture and does not have near as good of sharpness when stopped down. This is expected, since the optical formula is very different between these lenses.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Nikon 50mm f/1.4G

What about the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G lens? Let’s compare the two:

The performance of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G is nowhere close to what the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art is capable of, even stopped down to f/8.0!

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4

Here is how the amazing Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 compares to the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art:

I must have had a bad copy of the Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4, because it could not resolve much detail in the center from f/1.4 to f/2.8 apertures, whereas the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art rocked all the way through. The Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 also didn’t do nearly as good in the corner of the frame, which was surprising to see from such a sophisticated lens. I will need to test another copy on a high-resolution camera to see if I can get better results.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art vs Nikon 58mm f/1.4G

Lastly, let’s take a look at how the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art fares against the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G:

As we have pointed out in our Nikon 58mm f/1.4G review, the lens is not about sharpness and the above chart reflects that. Not only is the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G noticeably softer wide open, it also has quite poor mid-frame and corner performance due to its wavy / sombrero field curvature. Its corner performance stays poor even when stopped down. Clearly, if you are looking for ultimate sharpness, you should just skip the 58mm f/1.4G…