Q for Sigma Art 50mm 1.4 owners

EDIT: Sorry, no manual aperture control on the ART so not really an option for the FM3A! I'd delete this post but I can't figure out how.


G'morning.

I'm in the process of rationalising my 35mm equipment and looking to buy a good 50mm lens (that I plan to use often and keep forever) to do duty in turn on a Nikon FM3A and F6. Use will be multipurpose.

The short list is the Zeiss Milvus 1.4 and Sigma Art 1.4.

Both are obviously great optically and I'm well aware of their bulk. Price is also not a serious consideration as they're budgeted for, and a lot is really nothing when amortised over forever.

The Art with autofocus has the advantage over the Zeiss on the F6, but my question is what's the manual focus action like?

I don't expect it to be as good as the Milvus, but is it perfectly useable, or is it short throw and horrible like so many autofocus lenses?

I've been using manual focus glass for 30+ years, so I'm quite comfortable it, and open to changing the focus screen on my F6 to suit manual focus.

Replies from people experienced with one or both of these lenses much appreciated - thanking you in advance.

Well I think my first point would have to be of course the Sigmalux will have limited functionality on your FM3a, but will positively sing on your F6. The Sigma of course, has no aperture ring. I have some experience with the Milvus, it's a nice lens, but very large. I can't make an argument that MF will be bad with the ZF, but I can tell you that manually focusing the Sigma is fine. Similar to other pro spec AF lenses with built in focus motors. The Sigma tho, can be completely focus optimized using Sigma's USB dock. You'll need a digital camera for confirmation to do this, but you can do it. I have with my 24 & 35mm ART lenses, which were both way off, and now they work great! The focus throw on the art is shorter than the ZF but still an AF lens. I can't say whether you'll be satisfied with it, I was personally.

For my buck I'd say get the Siggy. It's gotten to the point now where the Zeiss and the Siggy will have different IQ attributes here and there in subtle ways. People will see what they wanna see in that regard. They frankly aren't different enough to spot within a blind test. I'd want to take advantage of that great F6 AF personally. If you want that classic Zeiss look, I'd tell you to find a used Planar or Makro Planar for your FM3a. The Planar exudes character and AFAIK the Makro-Planar wasn't even updated for it's Milvus edition so that'll tell you how good it is. And they won't dwarf the FM3a. Those old ZF/ZF2 lenses look great on the FM/FE bodies.

The sigma Art is a great lens. Combined with their software and focus adjustment capability, it's really a good value.