50mm Lens Advice

[Culhwch]

Even though I'm still waiting on the Tamron 90mm I ordered last week, I've started looking for my next lens purchase. I've been wanting a 50mm for a long time now, and I'm looking at a couple of lenses - the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM. I've noticed that the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC is in the same rough price range as well, so that has intrigued me. Anyone have any thoughts about these lenses, or suggestions for others I might look at?

[Jules]

I just picked up the Sigma 50mm 1.4 last week (Canon mount). I've only used it for a short while, but so far I'm loving it. The 1.4 allows for shooting in really low light and the DOF is wonderfully shallow (I love shooting lenses wide open). The bokeh is beautiful too. I've heard people describe it as 'creamy' and I can't say I'd disagree. Previously I had the Canon 50mm f1.8 and there's just no comparison. Build wise, it's reasonably large and feels solid and substantial. Filter thread is 77mm, which is convenient for me as I have several filters of that size already.

On the negative side, it has a slight front focus issue when used wide open (resolved by f4) which I've heard is quite common. I bought it at Rainers (Camera House) in Adelaide Street and they told me to bring it back in and they'll send it to Sigma for calibrating, so hopefully that will set it right. I doubt I'll stop it down very often, so I want it focusing properly at f1.4. At the moment though, I'm manually focusing and it's working quite beautifully.

[R1titan]

Sigmalux ftw!!
its easily one of the best value 50mm lenses out there.
Mine had a slight front focus issue, but since calibration, its a gem ;)

Although, I do find the 30EX generally easier to frame on a crop....