review: Sigma 56mm for micro-four-thirds
published : 2024.12.25
I used this lens for a year and found it a mixed bag. For one thing, it renders nice images with both sharpness and decent "character". But it's a tough lens to keep balanced on the E-M5, and the auto-focus is such a mess -- even on a camera with phase-detect sensing -- that I gave I traded it in after a year. Auto-focus is usually not a priority for me, but I'd bought this to photograph my son at his basketball games so it was a factor in my purchasing this thing in the first place. I will add that in this lens's defense, I found center-cropped field of view on the 56mm a little tight for the kind of photography I do outside of high school basketball. With a fair chunk of change invested in this glass (by my standards) I moved on more because this lens didn't fit the original purpose rather than having *no* place in my camera bag.
images
As usual, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. And boy, I have no complaints about these results.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
Collections containing this photo.
- sigma 56mm - micro four thirds
Flare, vignetting, and chromatic aberrations were minimal, which is nice on a third-party lens.
All of the photos above show good focus. What I'm not showing are the countless images taken when the auto-focus had gotten it completely wrong. While always fast, the auto-focus could be wildly inaccurate on some occasions. I found that it had no idea idea where it had been last used and could go on some truly strange hikes in the wrong direction altogether. I lost a lot of photos of my son's games this way. I mean .. a lot.
build and use
I'm using the micro-four-thirds platform because of its small size, low cost, and good-enough images. This lens, which appears to be the same size as the Sigma lenses for larger APS-C cameras, is on the large size for a prime on the micro-four-thirds platform. It's also heavy.
The build is superb, however. While largely plastic, it has a good feel to the focus ring and generally feels solid and weighty without going overboard. The accessory ring is 55mm, which is a older standard that still checks out. I had no complaints about the way this lens handled, aside from the awkward weight on my E-M5.
conclusion
If you don't need sports-grade auto-focus, and can use the mid-telephoto field of view, this might be a decent lens for you. It produces lovely results. But, I do believe Sigma has stopped producing these lenses for the platform, so you might be stuck with the used market. Also, the auto-focus simply can't be trusted and it's neither a small not cheap lens and just as I decided to put my money elsewhere, you might find better investments.
The database is based on the CMS I made for this website. I could weld a user authentication piece to it and make it available for the public, for sure. I'll have a look at that in the weeks to come.
rand()m quote
Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.
—Albert Einstein
2 in 10! what great news. hugs I truly sympathize.
what's the database? anything that can be given out to other sufferers?