Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM vs Nikon 58mm 1.4? Which opne to get?

[haring]

I am thinking about buying a new 50mm lens for my wedding photography lens collection.

Which one do you think it is better? The sigma or the Nikon? Sigma is cheaper and has amazing reviews....!!! It is hard to pay more for the Nikon....

[gstark]

It's a no brainer.

The Nikon is sharper, sharper, sharper, and sharper.

And better built.

[haring]

Thanks so much! Do you have both of them? How about color rendition?

[zafra52]

My SLRs are both Canon, but I believe the same would apply to Nikon. I learned long time ago in this forum that it is preferable to spend money in good glass. I bought a Sigma lens at one third of the price of the Canon equivalent only to buy the Canon lens later; now the Sigma lens is languishing at the bottom of a box. It is not a bad lens, but it is no match.
So my general advice is "to buy the Nikon lens once off and if you cannot afford it, save your money till you can; buy a Sigma or Tamron lens if Nikon has no equivalent, which I would find very hard to believe." I take you earn money with your photography; if this is the case, there can be no compromising with picture quality and for that you can rely on Nikon.

[haring]

I think you are totally right!
Thanks so much!!!!

[gstark]

As Zafra has observed, the question is "how many times do you want to pay for this lens?" The same question is often asked with reference to tripods.

You can spend an amount many times in buying cheaper non-alternatives, until you buy the one you should have bought the first time around. That money you have spent "many times" will often exceed the cost of the correct purchase.

I've seen paint coming off Sigma lenses. One has to wonder what that does to your image quality if it sheds paint onto a glass surface.

Actually, one doesn't.

[aim54x]

I should probably point out that the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM is a competitor to the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4G, and a poor one as its edge sharpness is truly inferior. The Nikkor is sharper in the centre as well. The only place where the Sigma is superior is in vignetting, and only really wide open.

http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/616-sigma5014ff?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/441-nikkor_afs_50_14_ff?start=1

The Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G's Sigma counterpart would be the 50mm f/1.4 Art....but then you are comparing character with clinical precision

[PiroStitch]

It's one thing to compare from an aesthetic perspective and it's another when it's to do with business.

You say you want to use it for weddings? Then why compromise on yourself and the client? Go with the Nikon and offset the cost of buying the lens to the client.

[haring]

Thanks so much! I will start saving for the 58mm nikon lens!!!!