Sigma has officially announced the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM "Art" lens. Sigma made a bold claim that their 50mm f/1.4 Art lens would compete with the Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4. The Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 retails for $4,000 while the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 will retail for $949. Expected shipping date is April 29th.
You can purchase the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 at Amazon, B&H Photo and Adorama.
Continue reading for full press release and production description.
PRESS RELEASE:
Sigma Corporation is pleased to release the new SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM, the large aperture, standard prime lens from our "Art" line.
In 2008, Sigma released a large diameter standard lens designed for digital SLRs, "SIGMA 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM". At that time, products for film cameras were prevalent, yet we spent enormous effort to set a new benchmark for the 50mm lens that optimizes the characteristics of digital cameras, such as compensating peripheral brightness, controlling the point images in the corners, and improving the image drawing, not only around the focusing point, but also other areas in the image.
In recent years, as the DSLR evolves, development of image sensors for higher pixel size has created the photographers’ desire for the lenses with superior performance. In 2012, Sigma has announced the "Art" line that achieves unsurpassed expressive performance to fulfill the higher requirement of photographers. The first lens from the "Art" line "SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM [A 012]" sought for uncompromising performance, and it resulted in great reviews as well as a lot of awards from all over the world. Based on the accumulated wisdom and know-how to establish the standard for our "Art" line series, we are proud to announce the development of the new high performance standard lens with a large diameter for this new era of superb image quality.
SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM F/CANON fittings are scheduled to start the shipment towards the end of this month.
Launching date of Sigma, Sony and Nikon mount is not determined yet.
Corresponding AF Mounts: SIGMA, Canon, Sony and Nikon
Accessory: Case, Petal-Type Hood (LH830-02) supplied.
* The Appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFICATIONS:
The Canon EF mount Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Lens is a fast standard-length prime designed to achieve high optical performance through the incorporation of both three Special Low Dispersion glass elements and one molded glass aspherical element. These elements, coupled with an advanced optical design, work to minimize sagittal coma flare and chromatic aberrations in order to provide high image sharpness and clarity. The lens’ large diameter and floating system also help to correct for vignetting to ensure maintained peripheral brightness. A Super Multi Coating has been applied to lens elements, too, to reduce flare and ghosting for higher contrast and color fidelity.
A Hyper Sonic AF Motor, along with an optimized AF algorithm, produces quiet, smooth, and fast autofocus performance that benefits this lens’ use in a wide variety of situations. This AF motor also permits full-time manual focusing control for refined precision by simply turning the focus ring at any time.
Sigma Global Vision – Art
As part of the Art line within Sigma’s Global Vision series, this lens’ is designed to achieve truly notable optical performance and is ideally suited for creative and artistic applications.
Molded Glass Aspherical Element
This lens has been designed using an advanced optical structure to achieve both high resolution and sharpness along with an aesthetic out-of-focus quality for greater subject separation. A molded glass aspherical element corrects for sagittal coma flare and enables full use of the fast f/1.4 maximum aperture with maintained sharpness and clarity. This design also works to minimize vignetting, color blur, and other distortions help to produce natural and pleasing bokeh for selective focus and shallow depth of field techniques. By reducing these aberrations, this lens is also well-suited to astrophotography or other situations with point-light sources due to its ability to suppress blur near the edges of the frame.
Special Low Dispersion Glass Elements
Three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements have been incorporated within the lens design to correct for axial chromatic aberration throughout the entire focusing range. This helps to ensure maintained image sharpness, clarity, and contrast regardless of focus point or aperture setting.
Large Diameter Lens
In designing the lens with a large 85.4mm diameter, and placing the widest elements within the front group, greater peripheral brightness is more easily attained when working with larger apertures. This design also lends itself to minimizing vignetting throughout the aperture range for greater clarity and detail across the image frame.
Super Multi-Layer Coating
A Super Multi-Layer Coating has been applied to lens elements in order to minimize lens flare and ghosting and contribute to producing contrast-rich and color-neutral imagery, even in backlit conditions.
Floating System
By employing a floating system, the distance between glass elements is adjusted during focusing in order to limit the amount of lens movement required when shooting. This floating system helps to realize a minimum focusing distance of 1.3′ with a maximum magnification of 1:5.6. Additionally, this design also contributes to high detail rendering capabilities throughout the entire focusing range.
Hyper Sonic AF Motor
The integrated HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) realizes quick and quiet autofocusing, which is further complemented by an optimized AF algorithm to produce smoother focusing performance. The HSM also permits full-time manual focus control simply by rotating the focus ring at any time.
Other Lens Features
- A rounded nine-blade diaphragm helps to produce an attractive out-of-focus quality.
- The lens is constructed using a Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) material, along with traditional metals, for greater precision and use in wide temperature variations. The outside of the lens barrel is also engraved with the year of production.
- The bayonet mount is constructed from brass for ensured accuracy and durability.
- The included lens hood is fitted with a rubber connection for a secure fit.
- This lens is compatible with the optional Sigma USB Dock for fine-tuning different lens characteristics and updating its firmware.
