I use the lens mainly for low-light and night photography in the Yorkshire Dales. It's immensely heavy for a 50mm lens, but the optical quality is outstanding - pin sharp from corner to corner from f2 upwards. I don't mind the extra weight when I can get such high quality images.

Consistent Output; Durable; Rugged; Sharp Focus; Strong Construction

Heavy

This is an excellent lens, with crisp and clear imaging. Made of solid materials, this thing feels nice in hand and on camera. I was a bit put off by the chunky lens cap, but I usually replace those anyway. Other reviewers have written detailed reviews, so I won't get into that here.

This is not a lens I would have considered except that I was offered it at such a bargain price that I could not refuse. I have been nicely surprised. I find that having more flexibility in aperture makes a prime lens like this more useful than a mid-range zoom such as the 24-70 f/4 that it has...

Wide aperture Fast focussing Solid build Excellent IQ overall Versatile Pleasant to use

Corners are not so sharp as some alternatives Quite big and heavy compared to alternatives No Image Stabilisation Not weather sealed

This thing blows the canon 1.4 and 1.8 out of the water. Solid build, reasonable fast auto focus and great low Light performance. This was my first sigma lens and I may consider upgrading it to the new 50mm model down the road.

Now, with the advent of the APS-c cameras, the long popular 50mm focal length takes on double duty as a portrait length lens of approximately 90mm on most of the small chip cameras.

Unlike other full format 50mm f/1.4 lenses it features a massive front element (77mm filter thread) and it takes advantage of an aspherical element and both aspects are pretty unique design decisions for a 50mm f/1.4 lens.