I received a phone call from one of our valued suppliers who has just been reading my report on the new Sigma 50mm f:1.4 lens. It gave me a little to pause - had I neglected to read the advertising material sufficiently, or slighted another man's product?
So I re-read my post...and went back to the DP Review report of the new lens. I don't think that DP did miss their comparison when they set this new lens up against the other three major manufacturer's products. They seem to have picked close-run devices.
I was afraid that I had contributed to mis-understanding, but thankfully, DP Review seem to have been pretty fair-handed. They did point out that the new Sigma hasn't got a rubber gasket seal at the rear of the lens, and that it has a slightly different bokeh from that of the nearest rivals - both of which might be taken as laudable sales points for the other lenses.
And to be fair, my caller did point out that the products of his firm have won three prestigious awards from the Japanese reviewers and enthusiasts recently. ( I did blog this last week...) Good devices.
Well - - -how to resolve this and reassure people that we are not being biased? I know. As I am the proud owner of one of the rival lenses - a Nikon 50mm AF-S f:1.4 G - and use it all the time ( last night in a studio shoot ) I will have a perfect opportunity to test it myself if we get one of the new Sigma lenses in stock.
Then I can make up my own mind. I won't give up my Nikon 50mm AF-S f:1.4 G for anything - nor my equally fine Nikon 35mm lens nor the Nikon 20mm nor the Nikon zoom lens that does most of my dance photos. I know the value of them from experience. But I will test out the new one gleefully.
