Sigma 50mm 1.2 DG DN L mount v Leica SL 50's

[Boojay]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

5 hours ago, BernardC said:

The influencers love it because it's Sony's fastest lens. Don't forget that they can't publish a bad review of a mainstream product, because that would mean no-one clicks on their affiliate links. That's how they make money.

As far as I can tell, Sony's 50/1.2 is nothing special. Canon and Nikon also offer "legendary" 50mm/1.2s, so every system is covered! Arguably, Canon's is the most legendary, because they've offered similar lenses since the 1950s.

I loved my Canon EF 50mm 1.2L, a lens that's had a lot of criticism over the years, but the lens that I've taken some of my most memorable photos with, so a totally personal choice.  I now really like the Canon RF 50mmm 1.2 and am trying very hard to ignore the new Sigma😃

 

Edited April 8, 2024 by Boojay

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[JohnSantaF4]

I’m wondering if the Sigma meets or exceeds the equivalent Leica lens? Looks like many reviewers think so. Is it shipping in USA?

[counselor440]

12 minutes ago, JohnSantaF4 said:

I’m wondering if the Sigma meets or exceeds the equivalent Leica lens? Looks like many reviewers think so. Is it shipping in USA?

I believe the release date is 4/16

[BernardC]

54 minutes ago, Boojay said:

I loved my Canon EF 50mm 1.2L, a lens that's had a lot of criticism over the years, but the lens that I've taken some of my most memorable photos with,

All of Canon's 50/1.2s have been epic. They started with an LTM lens in the mid-1950s (produced until the late 1960s), which was arguably the best fast 50m of its time, even if their 0.95 was more of a showcase lens. The aspherical SLR lens from the 1970s was groundbreaking. Erwin Putts rated it higher than Leica's 50/1.2. They released a 50/1.0 with the EOS system, but replaced it with a new 1.2 when digital came around. And now they offer an RF version. Most 1.2 lenses are much worse than their 1.4 cousins, but Canon has gone the other way. Perhaps that's a way of saying that their 50/1.4's haven't been great, but the 1.2's are a matter of corporate pride for Canon.

7 minutes ago, JohnSantaF4 said:

I’m wondering if the Sigma meets or exceeds the equivalent Leica lens?

Do you mean the M lens? That's a re-issue of their 1960s design, so it's not a competitor. People buy it for its vintage character.

If you mean the Summilux-SL, that would be an interesting comparison. I'm sure we'll see some back-to-back tests once the Sigma is available. The Summilux is also a character lens (especially when compared to the near-perfect APO Summicron SL), but we've seen many outstanding images made with that lens, in this forum.

[Sohail]

The 50mm Summilux-SL is a very special lens:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Stuart Richardson]

I think we are at the point where all of these fast lenses are great, and the question is the specific look that you are trying to achieve. For me one of the things that bothers me the most is LOCA, and at least from the petapixel commentary, the Sigma lens has it, though not that bad apparently. I am not sure about the SL lux, but the photos I have seen from it are truly lovely. I use the 50mm APO Summicron myself as I tend to value the sharpness and color purity over bokeh and speed, but there are some lenses that are definitely more than the sum of their parts. For me, there are three lenses like that that rise above the pack: The 110mm Planar for the Hasselblad 200 and Rollei 6000 series, the 75mm Summilux and the 50mm Summilux E60 for the R series. All three of those just have something that is truly extraordinary and beautiful to me in the way they render out of focus transitions. They are all lenses that can be very sharp when stopped down, while still maintaining their bokeh, and wide open they are sharp (or at least resolution is rendered, if detail is glowy, as in the case of the 75mm), but gentle. From all that I have read, and in my very brief test, the 50mm Summilux SL seems to have that gift as well. I did not get the lens because of the size, price and availablility of the 50mm APO, but I would love to have one in my bag one day. I hope this Sigma can capture that, but at least from my quick look it seems more like it is a great performing lens, but I have not seen anything truly magic about it yet. That said, this is impossible to reckon with without having it in hand and working with it. I always find it funny that so many youtubers are like "here is my comprehensive review of this lens I have used for six hours at a corporate sponsored retreat". I guess we got the culture we deserved...

[Dr. G]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

57 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

I think we are at the point where all of these fast lenses are great, and the question is the specific look that you are trying to achieve. For me one of the things that bothers me the most is LOCA, and at least from the petapixel commentary, the Sigma lens has it, though not that bad apparently. I am not sure about the SL lux, but the photos I have seen from it are truly lovely. I use the 50mm APO Summicron myself as I tend to value the sharpness and color purity over bokeh and speed, but there are some lenses that are definitely more than the sum of their parts. For me, there are three lenses like that that rise above the pack: The 110mm Planar for the Hasselblad 200 and Rollei 6000 series, the 75mm Summilux and the 50mm Summilux E60 for the R series. All three of those just have something that is truly extraordinary and beautiful to me in the way they render out of focus transitions. They are all lenses that can be very sharp when stopped down, while still maintaining their bokeh, and wide open they are sharp (or at least resolution is rendered, if detail is glowy, as in the case of the 75mm), but gentle. From all that I have read, and in my very brief test, the 50mm Summilux SL seems to have that gift as well. I did not get the lens because of the size, price and availablility of the 50mm APO, but I would love to have one in my bag one day. I hope this Sigma can capture that, but at least from my quick look it seems more like it is a great performing lens, but I have not seen anything truly magic about it yet. That said, this is impossible to reckon with without having it in hand and working with it. I always find it funny that so many youtubers are like "here is my comprehensive review of this lens I have used for six hours at a corporate sponsored retreat". I guess we got the culture we deserved...

The Lux SL has very little CA.  Also, when stopped down to f/2, the Lux is nearly as sharp as the 50 APO.  I have both and could be totally happy with the 50 Lux in the bag all the time except for the size/weight - which is just an issue of if I want to carry it; or minimum focus distance.  The APO can get much closer than the Lux can.  

[SJH]

Hi Everyone - here's the first review of the Sigma 50 1.2 v the 50mm APO:

 

[SJH]

What are peoples thoughts who own either the Lux or the APO v the new Sigma, way less price wise and lighter than the Lux/better AF but the review highlights the key differences. He says he'd take the Sigma overall but if you see the video what are your thoughts as I'm going to buy either the Sigma or the a used (as new) Lux for my SL3. 

Thanks

[Dr. G]

1 hour ago, SJH said:

What are peoples thoughts who own either the Lux or the APO v the new Sigma, way less price wise and lighter than the Lux/better AF but the review highlights the key differences. He says he'd take the Sigma overall but if you see the video what are your thoughts as I'm going to buy either the Sigma or the a used (as new) Lux for my SL3. 

Thanks

I have the Lux SL and the 50mm APO SL.  The Lux stopped down to f2 comes very close to the sharpness of the APO.  It’s heavy to carry, though, and the minimum focus distance is not as good as the APO (makes a difference for some of the things I shoot).

I’ve made this point before…. If you like shooting high contrast black and white, the APO will run away from the Lux (and probably the Sigma).  Even though we think about APO lenses in terms of color, by having the color channels aligned on the sensor at optimized distances the black and white images you get have a tremendous about of microcontrast and detail. I have heavily cropped architecture photos taken with my 75 APO and SL2-S that you would think were taken with a much higher resolution camera. It’s a shame Leica never made a SL monochrome.  With the APO lenses the resulting images would be stunning.

All that being said, I’m waiting for someone to directly compare the Sigma 1.2 to the Lux.  If the rendering is close to the Lux, I could see picking up the Sigma for the weight and size advantage.

[SJH]

3 hours ago, Dr. G said:

I have the Lux SL and the 50mm APO SL.  The Lux stopped down to f2 comes very close to the sharpness of the APO.  It’s heavy to carry, though, and the minimum focus distance is not as good as the APO (makes a difference for some of the things I shoot).

I’ve made this point before…. If you like shooting high contrast black and white, the APO will run away from the Lux (and probably the Sigma).  Even though we think about APO lenses in terms of color, by having the color channels aligned on the sensor at optimized distances the black and white images you get have a tremendous about of microcontrast and detail. I have heavily cropped architecture photos taken with my 75 APO and SL2-S that you would think were taken with a much higher resolution camera. It’s a shame Leica never made a SL monochrome.  With the APO lenses the resulting images would be stunning.

All that being said, I’m waiting for someone to directly compare the Sigma 1.2 to the Lux.  If the rendering is close to the Lux, I could see picking up the Sigma for the weight and size advantage.

Many thanks for your thoughts on this and I love B&W, I use my M11M all the time so yes, shame about no SLxM!!

[Olaf_ZG]

14 hours ago, SJH said:

What are peoples thoughts who own either the Lux or the APO v the new Sigma, way less price wise and lighter than the Lux/better AF but the review highlights the key differences. He says he'd take the Sigma overall but if you see the video what are your thoughts as I'm going to buy either the Sigma or the a used (as new) Lux for my SL3. 

Thanks

I have the lux, and won’t consider it changing. Why? What would I gain? Some less weight? Some spare money? .2 stop?

The lux will stay.

Now, if I didn’t had a 50mm yet and was looking for one, then my view would be totally different and most probably I would be very interested.

[JohnSantaF4]

I wish I could afford the Lux.

[Sohail]

Lots of talk about the new kid on the block, but the SL 50 'lux is in a league of its own. A B/W example:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited April 25, 2024 by Sohail

[thatkatmat]

Would love to see a comparison between the Lux and the Sigma. I've owned a few Lux SL's but for now I own just a couple lux M's.

The M and the SL Lux's are very close, but I always lock focus on my SL2 with the SL-Lux, it's harder with my M. That's why I bought the SL lux, but it's just HUGE, so, as much as I love it, I buy one, I fall in love with it, then I don't feel like adding it to my bag because it's not just too heavy, it's big as well. So I sell it, then miss it!... Argh.

I have the Sigma 1.2 now, as much as the folks on this forum don't give much light to 3rd party lenses, heck, I'm a little snobby about that myself, (Wish I could color the white font orange/yellow lol)...I have to say, the Sigma put an end to my 50mm SL search. It focuses WAY faster than the lux, It's blisteringly sharp wide open and the bokeh and fall off is gorgeous, not quite as blotchy as the Leica (which I like), but quite nice. If you're in the market, you should probably try it before you pay $6500 for a lens that might not see your bag as much as you'd like. 

Just my thoughts after owning both.

Edited August 17, 2024 by thatkatmat

[Olaf_ZG]

 Not selling my lux… on the sl2:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Ning Ning]

Am 25.4.2024 um 14:50 schrieb Sohail:

Viel Gerede über das neue Kind auf dem Block, aber der SL 50 'lux ist in einer eigenen Liga. Ein S/W-Beispiel:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I'm missing the direct comparison photo with the Sigma.😉 Don't get me wrong, great photo and the SL is certainly a super lens. However, I fear that a blind test (after deleting the EXIF data) would put the "other league" into perspective.

To clarify. I don't own, never have owned and probably never will own an SL 50, but I do have a Sigma and I'm delighted with the results.

[Dr. G]

13 hours ago, thatkatmat said:

Would love to see a comparison between the Lux and the Sigma. I've owned a few Lux SL's but for now I own just a couple lux M's.

The M and the SL Lux's are very close, but I always lock focus on my SL2 with the SL-Lux, it's harder with my M. That's why I bought the SL lux, but it's just HUGE, so, as much as I love it, I buy one, I fall in love with it, then I don't feel like adding it to my bag because it's not just too heavy, it's big as well. So I sell it, then miss it!... Argh.

I have the Sigma 1.2 now, as much as the folks on this forum don't give much light to 3rd party lenses, heck, I'm a little snobby about that myself, (Wish I could color the white font orange/yellow lol)...I have to say, the Sigma put an end to my 50mm SL search. It focuses WAY faster than the lux, It's blisteringly sharp wide open and the bokeh and fall off is gorgeous, not quite as blotchy as the Leica (which I like), but quite nice. If you're in the market, you should probably try it before you pay $6500 for a lens that might not see your bag as much as you'd like. 

Just my thoughts after owning both.

 

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Sohail]

12 hours ago, Ning Ning said:

I'm missing the direct comparison photo with the Sigma.😉 Don't get me wrong, great photo and the SL is certainly a super lens. However, I fear that a blind test (after deleting the EXIF data) would put the "other league" into perspective.

To clarify. I don't own, never have owned and probably never will own an SL 50, but I do have a Sigma and I'm delighted with the results.

Thanks for the kind comment! Whenever I read comments like this, I'm always curious to see the photos that showcase the magnificence of the lens in question (the Sigma in this case). Show us one or more examples (not tedious side-by-side comparisons) of why you feel it is a spectacular lens on a par with the 50 SL Summilux. Simply speaking, show us the photo or photos you have taken that have led you to make the claims you're making. Otherwise, all I'm reading is X is the same as Y. Examples please?

Edited August 18, 2024 by Sohail

[Ning Ning]

Please read my post again. You will notice that I did not claim that the SL 50 is bad in any way (quite the opposite), nor that the Sigma is the best 50 mm lens on the market.

I was merely stating that I am (!) satisfied with the results of my Sigma and that I think it is a bit exaggerated to speak of the SL as being in a "league of its own".

A lot of such comparisons are based on the “feeling” that is triggered by photographing with a particular lens. And that's all right. I know that about myself too. However, I find myself unable to convey this feeling in a forum-sized image on the Internet. But I like photos that appeal to me. It doesn't matter to me what name is on the lens.

Edited August 18, 2024 by Ning Ning