David William Sargent Jr.
This is initial reviewing feedback - I will update later with long-term use notes. - UPDATE: Not fantastic. Dropping from 5 to 3 stars. I shot 4 weddings using this lens and found that while the f1.4 aperture did indeed give me more light and throw my background way out of focus, there is almost no sharpness to speak of until you stop down to about 1.8. For portraiture, the lens is fine. I didnt get unusable shots at 1.4, but I was just much more pleased working in the 1.8 range on this lens. I also tested this lens outdoors with night sky photography and this is where the lens really disappoints. I tested some shots wide open and the chromtaic aberration and coma issues are bad enough to give me completely unusable images. Only the very center of the images would be sharp. Soft corners ended up being large areas of coma. The chromatic aberration was so bad that I had to actually push the limits in Lightrooms manual adjustments for fringing until I was able to correct the majority of it - but if anyone has every needed to go that far, theyd know that at that point youre really making compromises. Do not buy this lens for astro work. I had only gotten satisfactory image quality at f/2.8 and for that, you can buy much cheaper lenses and still get better results. But, for basically anything else, the lens will be fine. Many of my clients favorite images came from this lens because of what that 1.4 aperture can do. They just dont nitpick the intricate image quality things like photographers do, so take that as you will. And for what its worth, I also bought the Sigma 50mm Art for full frame on my D810 and it produces significantly sharper images at f/1.4 than this does. - I bought this lens to help my wide open arsenal for indoor shots with wedding photography. This should help me get those dreamy shots with smoothly blurred backgrounds and beautiful light with how wide the aperture is. Upon opening the box (bought used, but looks mint) I notice firstly the sturdy build. It feels solid. Doesnt feel like lightweight plastics being used. The front element glass is small and overall, the lens isnt too long at all, though a bit wide, as a 1.4 lens typically may be. Its not too heavy to hold for a couple hours. It seems to focus pretty snappy and accuratlely back and forth without hesitation. I need to run it through some tests, but upon first BOC looks, it appears sharp and clean. For an APS-C lens, this is a steal. Owning the D500, I knew Id always have a crop sensor body on hand, so I saved a good chunk of change by not going with the 35mm and sticking to this guy to drop on the D500 and I think I made the right choice. we shall see.