Nikon AFS 50mm f1.4 or Sigma 50mm f1.4

[lsisaxon]

Hm, decided to send my lens to be calibrated by Sigma. Came back, still front focussing - -"!!

Want to bring it back again but the lady told me the technician is on leave. Only available next week, sigh. I guess I have to use AF Fine Tune on my camera first until next week.

The sad part is, I specifically told the lady to make sure it's calibrated perfectly as I am planning to use it on this coming weekend. And she told me, no worries, that's what the calibration for, we'll make sure everything comes good

It can only be calibrated at one distance and it's body dependent. That's why they asked for the body you intend to use with the lens and use that for calibration as well. I think the calibration distance is 20x the focal length, so for 50mm lens, they calibrate at 100cm distance, so outside this range, there may still be front/back focus. For example, my 24/1.8 is good for mid distances but it's front focused for infinity and back focused for closer shots.. :sweat:

I think that's going to be my last Sigma lens. Even AF Fine Tune on D300 could not fully address the problem because the front/back focus is not consistent throughout the focusing range. Meanwhile, I'll wait for Nikon's reintroduction of their renowned AiS fast prime lenses in AF-S flavour. ;p

 

[henry soh]

Hi, Chose one that has weather sealing, more durable and lasting, especially if you are a heavy user and shoot outdoor often.

 

[amachi]

It can only be calibrated at one distance and it's body dependent. That's why they asked for the body you intend to use with the lens and use that for calibration as well. I think the calibration distance is 20x the focal length, so for 50mm lens, they calibrate at 100cm distance, so outside this range, there may still be front/back focus. For example, my 24/1.8 is good for mid distances but it's front focused for infinity and back focused for closer shots.. :sweat:

I think that's going to be my last Sigma lens. Even AF Fine Tune on D300 could not fully address the problem because the front/back focus is not consistent throughout the focusing range. Meanwhile, I'll wait for Nikon's reintroduction of their renowned AiS fast prime lenses in AF-S flavour. ;p

ouch.. that sounds very bad - -"!!

oh well, I have to set +15 to AF fine tune the lens, sigh. funny that the technician himself called me and asked if the problem occurs in long distances while the problem was actually at closer distances. he told me that he had made it sure that it was working properly.. - -"!!

I guess I better take some sample shots for him to see that the focusing is still off, and ask him to take shots after calibration to show me that it's working well.

 

[lsisaxon]

ouch.. that sounds very bad - -"!!

No it isn't that bad, just that the focus is not spot on. Quite a pity actually because the lens is very sharp when in focus. If you use contrast detection AF in LV mode then it's quite sharp.