Foreign Abbott and I'm here today for another One of my versus episodes in this case I'm going to compare the brand new Sigma 50 millimeter F 1.4 DN lens with the Samyang AF 50 millimeter F 1.4 Series 2 Lens the reason why I'm comparing these Two particular lenses is that number one They have the same focal length and same Maximum aperture but they're also very Close in terms of price and while the Samyang is cheaper than the sigma as We'll see in just a moment the price Gap Is much smaller than if you compare the Sigma to either the older 50 millimeter F 1.4 for planar and more particularly If you compared it to the 50 millimeter F 1.2 G master from Sony and so these Two I think will be cross-shopped to Some degree and so I wanted to dive in And to compare them today now just so You know I'll give a quick rundown of Reasons to choose the samyang followed By reason to choose the sigma a brief Summation and then if you want to stick Around I'll give you a detail tailed Image quality breakdown and direct Comparisons between the two following That so starting with reasons to choose The samyang but first a word from our Sponsor today's episode is brought to You by hellofresh America's number one Meal kit we've seen a shift in the way That people shop and eat over the past
Several years and it can be hard to make Good food choices due to the high cost Of groceries and getting too accustomed To take out hellofresh delivers the Ingredients you need right to your door So that you can make healthier better Tasting meals right in your own kitchen But they're Fast and Fresh recipes Ingredients travel from the farm to you In less than seven days which is Probably something you can't say about Your favorite takeout place because Hellofresh provides the right quantity Of each ingredient you'll spend less too So skip the trip to the grocery store And get fresh pre-portioned ingredients And seasonal recipes right to your Doorstep by clicking the link in the Description and using the code on screen To get a limited time discount plus free Shipping from hello fresh today so let's Talk reasons to choose the samoying as Noted the first of those is price the Samyang retails right now for 650 US Dollars compared to 850 US dollars as The MSRP on the sigma and so that 200 Difference is a significant one for at Least you know particularly for some Consumers and so that in itself might be A really compelling reason to choose the Samyang another I think even more Compelling reason to choose the samyang Is that it Remains the compact option if You're looking for a 50 millimeters and
F 1.4 this is a winner when it comes to Size it is only about 80 millimeters in Diameter and about 89 millimeters in Length and weighs only 420 grams that Compares to 78 millimeters so it is Slightly narrower on the sigma but the Sigma as you can see is considerably Longer it is 111 and a half millimeters And so uh very close to 22 millimeters Longer and so and it weighs 660 grams so Just to break that down for you in terms Of volume the sigma is about 22 percent Bigger and it's about 57 percent heavier And so that compact size and low weight May be a compelling reason to choose the Samyang as we're going to see on our Image quality breakdown the samyang is Actually the sharper of the two when it Comes to Center Performance and that's Fairly consistent that it is really Really strong in the center of the frame And also it has considerably lower Distortion and vignette and so if you're Someone that really cares about those Things you know being corrected Optically within the lens itself samyang Is the winner in that regard One thing that really surprised me in my Comparison between the two is that I Felt like the samyang is actually the One that produced slightly more neutral Colors being a little bit closer even While the sigma was the one that felt Just slightly warm and I know that's a
Complete reversal of what we've come to Expect in the past but I have noted a Trend that started somewhere about with This lens samyang has been much more Neutral with its color profiles and is Doing a much better job with that when It's with its Optical glass The samyang has very slightly higher Magnification when you're talking about Close focus and the ability to fill the Frame with something it's neither one is Filling the frame but the samyang is 0.16 times compared to 0.15 times for The sigma and this is either a pro or a Con I'm going to list this for both of Them but in this case if you prefer your 50 millimeter lenses to frame just a Little bit wider the samyang frame is a Little bit wider than what the sigma Does and we'll uh just focus in on more On that in just a moment so reasons to Choose the sigma the sigma has the new HLA autofocus system that Sigma has Developed and first debuted in the 150 To 600 millimeter sport it is a really Really fast autofocus system that puts It closer to being on par with the G Master and as you can see here it is Noticeably snappier in making any kind Of focus changes and so if you want fast Autofocus the sigma is the winner there It also has very very slightly less Fringing chromatic aberrations as we'll See in our comparison I would not choose
Between the two based on that but I did Feel that the sigma had ever so slightly Less CA it also has better Real World Contrast and one of the things that We're going to see is that the sigma Does very well in testing in the real World as compared to just testing on a Chart it is also sharper when stopped Down essentially the way that this Breaks out is that while the salmon is Sharper in the center of the frame the Sigma is basically sharper everywhere Else in the frame and so if that matters To you the sigma is the sharper lens and It is the sharper lens when stopped down Though again it's more about everywhere Else in the frame as compared to the Center it also has a better build Quality this feels more robust the Materials feel just a little bit higher On this it also has a few more features Than what the samyang does and I would Say that those features are a little bit More accessible in the way you get to Them than what the samyang is it also Has a slightly higher aperture blade Count and and so the aperture Iris has 11 blades compared to nine blades on the Samyang and that's slightly more exotic Aperture for one thing it looks a little Bit cooler when it's closing down but Also it does help to keep a circular Shape a little bit better than the Samyang does and I will note on that
Front that the sigma does give you a Clickless option for a d-clicked option If you're one for aperture racking and So if you're wanting to use these lenses For video that could be a factor though On the flip side of that for video Purposes the sigma does suffer with a Little bit more focused breathing than What the samyang does and as I noted in Our previous discussion it also frames a Little bit tighter and so at similar Situations it frames a little bit Tighter so it may give you slightly a Slightly softer background and a Identical situation because it is Framing just you know around a Millimeter tighter than what the samyang Does not a huge you know difference or Really a plus for either one of them Just more of an observation on the Difference between the two so a quick Conclusion is this buy the samyang if You want to travel light or you're on a Budget and you like a more analog Rendering I think that the samyang has a Really really beautiful rendering by the Sigma if you love really really sharp Lenses because the sigma I feel like has More real world bite and definitely if You're looking for fast autofocus and You don't want to spend GM money by the Sigma by the G Master if you have lots Of money and you want the best 50 Millimeter lens on the Sony platform it
Has the most exotic rendering thanks to The F 1.2 aperture it's really an Incredible lens but it's also 2 000 Bucks not everyone has that to spend and Thankfully we have got two fantastic Options here for much less money if you Are so inclined stay tuned now if you Would like a breakdown of the image Quality and to see how these two lenses Compare side by side let's dive in let's Take a look okay so throughout this Comparison I'm going to try to keep the Sigma on the left side and the samyang On the right side so starting by looking At vignette and Distortion you can see First of all that there is more of both On the sigma here and so the sigma shows Much more of the pincushion Distortion Than what the samyang does and much Heavier vignette as well to compare Those numbers I had to dial in a minus Eight to correct for the pin cushion Distortion on the sigma and a plus 84 to Correct for the vignette and then slide The midpoint way over by comparison I Only needed to use a -3 in correcting For the distortion on the samyang and Only a plus 58 so considerably less of Both there So next we'll take a look at our overall Resolution and contrast and so measuring Obviously these were not shot at the Exact same time metering is not quite The same but looking here in the center
Of the frame we can see that the samyang Is actually a bit sharper and has a Little bit more contrast right in the Dead center of the frame we can see that More pattern there a little bit more Contrast we can see looking at the text That it just bites a little bit more With the um with the samoying as Compared to the sigma now if we pop over Towards the mid frame that starts to Switch around and so the sigma is much Sharper in the mid frame than what the Samyang is if we look down towards the Corner it's a little bit sharper here But if we pan right out to the outer Edge you can see that the samyang starts To drop off while the sigma remains Strong if we move on to F2 we can find In the center of the frame that the I Would say that the samyang is still a Little bit sharper and a little bit Higher contrast the sigma has closed That Gap a little bit looking at the mid Frame while both lenses have improved a Bit still the sigma is has the clear Advantage you look in particular and the Hair here on the Prime Minister you can See just how much more detail is there And popping down to the bottom both of Up their contrast but there's more Detail that's showing on the sigma and Again it's consistently sharp right out To the very edge of the frame finally at F 2.8 in the center of the frame both of
Them are intensely sharp the samyang Continues to have the sharper Center Performance but the sigma is basically Sharper everywhere else and and so as we Can see as we look around a few Different spots this time you can just See that the sigma is showing a stronger Performance basically everywhere but the Center of the frame it just has a little Bit more resolution and contrast and uh And it's just our winner in those other Places we look up in this upper corner And it's it's quite a significant Difference there and so the samyang has The sharper Center Sigma has sharper Everywhere else so as noted the samyang Has a slightly higher maximum Magnification it is 0.16 times versus 0.15 times and if we compare the two the Samyang actually performs a little bit Better here in the plane of focus that Has a lot to do with the fact that Samyang is so sharp wide open and both Of them start to drop off as you move Off axis though as you can see the Samyang suffers more than what the sigma Does as you get off axis it just starts To show this uh kind of a little bit of A chromatic aberration a little bit of a Haze and and so the sigma is a little Bit stronger in that regard though the Samyang is the sharper in the center of The frame now as we move off towards a Real world Target here things do
Complicate a little bit um you know Focus is hard to get as identical in These situations but we can see that Once again the uh the sigma and samyang Are you know they're both very sharp Sammying maybe just a little bit sharper In the center of the frame but in this Case we're also going to look at things Like chromatic aberrations and so you Can see that there is some fringing on Both of them there's a little bit more On the samyang than what there is on the Sigma you can see that in a few spots Now as we look towards the bokeh the Trend that I'm going to point out here And I've already mentioned is that the Sigma does frame tighter than what the Samyang does despite that you know Slight Advantage there we can see that Both of them have very soft bokeh and in Some ways the samyangs is still just a Little bit softer I think Here's a secondary subject here and so Once again you can see although this was Shot off of a tripod you can see that The sigma is framing tighter than what The Sandman is if we look towards the Defocused area of the bokeh we can see For example looking at this area the Samyang is just a little bit rounder and Just a little bit softer in that regard Not a huge Advantage between the two Looking here again Focus may not be Identical in this case the samyang looks
Just a little bit sharper but I do want To point out the fringing situation so You can see that both of them have some Fringing but the samyang has a little Bit more of the purple fringing and also More pronounced of the green fringing if We look down into this little kind of Tripod thing both of them have it the Samyang has just a little bit more if I Will point out that the difference Between the two is not radical now one Final series here that I want to look at And that is again using Three-dimensional Real World objects Here and we're going to look at a couple Of things as a byproduct of this so First of all in the center of the frame In this case I think Sigma actually does A good job of performing a little bit Higher than what it does in the chart Test when it comes to real world objects And I just felt like the sigma had Slightly more bite and real world Contrast we can see as we kind of pan Off of of this and we start to look Towards the defocus area obviously the Bokeh circles look a little bit bigger Because you can see that the sigma is Framing tighter here what we can also See is that the samyang is a little bit Better in the geometry towards the edges Of the frame and even wide open it is Very close to Circular right towards the Edge of the frame whereas the sigma is
Showing a little bit more of the lemon Type cat eye type shape one final thing I want to point out here is both of them Show just a tiny bit of fringing there With the samyang showing just a bit more Now if we stop both lenses down to F2 we Can see here that when it comes to the Bokeh the um the sigma has gotten better In terms of being circular towards the Edge of the frame the samyang still Looks ever so slightly more circular and If we look towards our subject both of Them are sharp but you can see that the Sigma is intensely sharp and has higher Contrast and ability just to render some Of those fine details one final example To show that real world detail and Contrast in this case it was easy since There's kind of a flat plane there to Focus on this and you can just see that The sigma does show more texture Information than what the samyang does Again highlighting that ability to show You know really really fantastic detail When you get just slightly off the Center where the sigma actually takes a Jump rather than a dip and you can see The same kind of truths when it comes to The bokeh that it's just ever so Slightly rounder on the samyang but you Know again not radically different Between the two So if you stuck around to the end thanks For watching today I really hope that
This has helped you to make a more Informed decision between these two Lenses there are buying links to both of Them down below also links there to an Image gallery and a full text review for Both of these lenses if you are Interested and as always if you haven't Already please like And subscribe thanks For watching have a great day and let The light in [Music] Foreign
