Sigma 50mm f/1.4 A and Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 comparison shots are up

Ksanti · 15 Apr 2014 at 23:41

A bit of a shame that they're on the 1DS3 rather than D800E's but nevertheless it's a nice comparison.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

My takeaway is that the Sigma is not quite as sharp as the Otus (though slightly less distortion and stopped down corner sharpness go in Sigma's favour, they're really minor points) and at first I was about to be disappointed... Until I swapped the Otus out for the Nikon 58, Canon 50L and the standard 1.4's in the comparison tool and it completely blows them out of the water.

TL;DR: Sigma weren't kidding when they said they were gunning for the Otus. No, it's not /quite/ there but the pair of them are so far above standard lenses in the range I'm not even sure it matters. (Though the differences comparison may be limited by the 1DS3 as the Zeiss is definitely outresolving the 1DS3 almost from the get go, and the Sigma not long after)

Ksanti · 16 Apr 2014 at 00:34

Yeah that's what I meant. It's noticeably softer than the Otus (though these are very very tight crops) but when you compare that to the gap between the pair and then the rest of the market it's next to nothing.

Ksanti · 16 Apr 2014 at 17:31

When did this become a discussion of just landscape 'toggers?

Ksanti · 16 Apr 2014 at 18:57

DP You're the only one who has made this about landscapes... I get that it's a big part of your work but nobody else made this about landscapes so it was a little odd of you to say "It's not an interesting focal length" and then later say that you're only talking about landscapes.

Ksanti · 16 Apr 2014 at 20:13

D.P. said:
I'm also very confused what Above&Beyond is talking about TBH.
Of course you can take great photos with a 50mm lens, no one has said otherwise.

And yet your first comment in this thread...

D.P. said:
It is not an interesting focal length for most people.

I'm guessing you were misremembering the other 50mm thread and I guess someone was talking about landscapes in there? Because certainly nobody else has brought up landscapes. The discussion came up because you said 50mm was boring and then gradually transitioned to "I'm only talking about landscapes" when nobody else had been talking about landscapes...

Ksanti · 16 Apr 2014 at 20:37

Perhaps, but from an outsiders perspective it basically seemed like he was just saying 50's were perfectly valid but you were saying because they're not interesting for landscapes in your opinion they weren't interesting full stop (which is why it looked odd when you dismissed say HCB as irrelevant to the discussion because he didn't shoot landscapes, when you'd been the only one talking about landscapes).

Anyway. Back on topic.

Ksanti · 18 Apr 2014 at 12:53

D.P. said:
Dxo gives the sigma equal sharpness

That's misleading. They're both outresolving the 5d3 and that's all that is. We'd need to see D800e or crop tests (or preferably both) to make any sort of claims to that

Ksanti · 18 Apr 2014 at 13:06

The Otus has been tested on the D800 already and hit 29MP, but I'm not sure if that's outresolving the D800 or not or if the Sigma would hit 29MP as well. (on a side note it's really annoying that Dxo test on so many bodies but not the D800E)