IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

[KyleSTL]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Just out of curiosity, I ran the numbers for these rumored lenses for 'hand-holdability'. Here's the breakdown:

The 50mm f/1.8 IS would tie the 35mm f/2 IS for 'most handholdable':
EV 0 = 35mm | f2 | 0.4 sec | ISO 1000
EV 0 = 50mm | f1.8 | 0.5 sec | ISO 1000

A 50mm f/1.4 IS would be the new 'most handholdable' lens:
EV 0 = 50mm | f1.4 | 0.5 sec | ISO 640

The 85mm f/1.8 IS would be
EV 0 = 85mm | f1.8 | 1/6 sec | ISO 2000

And 135mm f/1.8, 2 and 2.8 would be
EV 0 = 135mm | f1.8 | 1/10 sec | ISO 3200
EV 0 = 135mm | f2 | 1/10 sec | ISO 4000
EV 0 = 135mm | f2.8 | 1/10 sec | ISO 8000

Nothing important, just thought I'd share what I found.

 

[CarlTN]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

That is not what I was trying to say, at all. Carl, you are one of the most argumentative and unreasonable people on this forum, your level of discourse brings the entire community down.

It is not unreasonable to say that Canon will replace the 20mm f/2.8 in the near future with IS, if they are replacing the 85mm f/1.8 USM with an IS version. Price should be pretty comparable to the 24/28/35mm IS primes. My assumption of this future lens was in no way unrealistic.

Also, a stop faster lens means either: 1) a lower ISO for less noise, or 2) even lower light levels than the 24-105mm f/4L. I'm sure you can get sharp pictures at 24mm at 0.8 sec with a somewhat acceptable keeper rate, but a wider, 20mm lens should in-theory increase that keeper rate (especially with the newest IS version and a fixed focal length lens that they can really optimized its effectiveness). I'm not trying to convince you I'm right, but your tendency to denegrate fellow forum members is disturbing.

EDIT: Sorry if I misread the tone of your post, I just noticed the tongue smiley.

Frankly I am offended by your personal attack, just a bit...it seems like you just couldn't wait to lambast me. You were saving up obviously. The little tack on at the end, since you still left the rest in, is obviously just you trying to cover your ass a bit, while still letting me have both barrels. I'm not sure where your anger is coming from, and I don't recall saying you were being unrealistic...nor why you should take such a thing so personally in any case, even if that is how you took it. This is all just speculation about these lenses anyway!

Regarding the last comment about the Zeiss lens, that was definitely me JOKING...because it's about as realistic as resurrecting Marilyn Monroe from the grave, and attempting to make her forget all about JFK! (That's meant as a joke too, so don't go telling me he was your uncle or something!!) What I mean with all this is, I can wish for things too...I'd like a Zeiss lens, and then that carbon fiber hood that someone DIY'ed popped into my head, so I just threw it all together...and laughed.

I come here to learn, and to share. I've learned a lot! Sometimes I get into arguments with people. But that's life. I don't come here with the idea that I'm going to get along with, or please everyone. That's just not me. If I feel a certain way, then I defend how I feel, if it seems important. I do try to be polite, until given a reason not to.

To say "your level of discourse brings the entire community down"...is just harsh, uncalled for, and a lie...it really is. GO BACK AND READ ALL OF MY POSTS BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT. You are in dire need of getting the hell over yourself...you are taking yourself too seriously! My level of discourse is appropriate at least over half the time, and especially here now. Sometimes I've been inappropriate and I apologized for it. But nobody's perfect, my God man!! Not even you...

If I have brought the entire CR "community" down in this thread, then wow I do apologize...but I just don't see it! You proclaiming it does not make it so, not by a mile...

I think my main interest in this thread was speculating, selfishly, about which of the lenses I would be interested in (85mm f/2 IS). There's no telling what 2014 holds, but I have a feeling there could be disappointment, along with gratitude...towards Canon. I don't claim to have any inside info though, just my two cents!

At some point it becomes time to sell and consolidate lenses, cameras, etc. I'm trying to do a bit of that now. There's not any one lens that's going to magically transform my photographic life...

 

[Ellen Schmidtee]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

It is not unreasonable to say that Canon will replace the 20mm f/2.8 in the near future with IS, if they are replacing the 85mm f/1.8 USM with an IS version. Price should be pretty comparable to the 24/28/35mm IS primes. My assumption of this future lens was in no way unrealistic.

I agree with you that it is realistic, but here's another way to look at it: the 20mm f/2.8 is apparently selling well enough to stay in production for many years. Canon could make a new non-L 20mm, and have one 20mm prime lens in production, or a new 20mm L prime and keep on selling the non-L as well.

Then again, maybe Canon never made a 20mm L because 20mm f/2.8 sales are too low to justify two primes at that focal length, in which case it might be too low to justify a new 20mm f/2.8 IS USM.

 

[clartephoto]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I have the 14LII, 24LII, 35L, 50L, 85LII and 180L and reckon all of them need IS.

My personal opinion is anyone who claims fast primes don't need IS has (fortunately) not had to push their lenses into service in truly low light situations.

The amount of times I have had to contend with camera shake because of using the 85L at 1/20, 1/30 etc. is very frustrating.

 

[ahsanford]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I have the 14LII, 24LII, 35L, 50L, 85LII and 180L and reckon all of them need IS.

My personal opinion is anyone who claims fast primes don't need IS has (fortunately) not had to push their lenses into service in truly low light situations.

The amount of times I have had to contend with camera shake because of using the 85L at 1/20, 1/30 etc. is very frustrating.

Agree 100%. I'm a handheld, available light shooter who often ends up in the ISO 3200 - 6400 range on my 5D3. I'll take IS on everything.

In low light / non-moving subject scenes, IS simply buys you speed and options. IS lets you either bring the ISO down to something more reasonable or lets you stop the lens down to gain more DOF and sharpness.

Remember, a huge aperture lens like an F/1.4 might seem a creative opportunity, but lack of IS on it will make that F/1.4 a light-driven necessity that punishes you when you don't want a small DOF. Put differently, an F/1.4 lens might seem better than (say) an F/2.8 IS lens, but if you always have to slam the F/1.4 wide open to net a long enough shutter, your shots will be soft and have a limited DOF. Stopping the F/2.8 down to F/4 will net sharper shots with more working DOF, so in low light, and for what I shoot, I'd choose the F/2.8 IS over the F/1.4 every time.

- A

 

[Zv]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I have the 14LII, 24LII, 35L, 50L, 85LII and 180L and reckon all of them need IS.

My personal opinion is anyone who claims fast primes don't need IS has (fortunately) not had to push their lenses into service in truly low light situations.

The amount of times I have had to contend with camera shake because of using the 85L at 1/20, 1/30 etc. is very frustrating.

Agree 100%. I'm a handheld, available light shooter who often ends up in the ISO 3200 - 6400 range on my 5D3. I'll take IS on everything.

In low light / non-moving subject scenes, IS simply buys you speed and options. IS lets you either bring the ISO down to something more reasonable or lets you stop the lens down to gain more DOF and sharpness.

Remember, a huge aperture lens like an F/1.4 might seem a creative opportunity, but lack of IS on it will make that F/1.4 a light-driven necessity that punishes you when you don't want a small DOF. Put differently, an F/1.4 lens might seem better than (say) an F/2.8 IS lens, but if you always have to slam the F/1.4 wide open to net a long enough shutter, your shots will be soft and have a limited DOF. Stopping the F/2.8 down to F/4 will net sharper shots with more working DOF, so in low light, and for what I shoot, I'd choose the F/2.8 IS over the F/1.4 every time.

- A

Exactly, I agree with that summary. More dof in moderate to dim light is more important to me than shallow dof in low light. It makes perfect sense why Canon made the newer IS primes slower. I can't recall the last time I actually wanted to use f/1.4 for any reason. I find myself shooting at f/8 and f/11 more to get sharpness front to back. When you're walking about in the evening pics look really nice with more dof as it is "unusual" and not expected. I also don't want to carry an extra 2 or 3Kg of weight in the shape of a tripod when I'm traveling around South East Asia. There's no room for tripods on those narrow, broken dusty streets anyway!

IS is my most loved fearure of all. Can't wait for the 50 IS!

 

[dgatwood]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Exactly, I agree with that summary. More dof in moderate to dim light is more important to me than shallow dof in low light. It makes perfect sense why Canon made the newer IS primes slower. I can't recall the last time I actually wanted to use f/1.4 for any reason.

If I had to choose one or the other, sure, but I'd rather have an f/1.2 or f/1.4 IS so that I have the stabilization with the wider DoF for 95% of the shots, and also can dial in that great subject isolation of a fast lens for the other 5%.

I'll readily admit that I've never owned or used a lens quite that fast—the closest I have is a full-manual 58mm f/2.0 lens—but I'd like to. I just can't justify spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a lens that I can't use for day-to-day shooting because of the lack of IS.

 

[Zv]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Exactly, I agree with that summary. More dof in moderate to dim light is more important to me than shallow dof in low light. It makes perfect sense why Canon made the newer IS primes slower. I can't recall the last time I actually wanted to use f/1.4 for any reason.

If I had to choose one or the other, sure, but I'd rather have an f/1.2 or f/1.4 IS so that I have the stabilization with the wider DoF for 95% of the shots, and also can dial in that great subject isolation of a fast lens for the other 5%.

I'll readily admit that I've never owned or used a lens quite that fast—the closest I have is a full-manual 58mm f/2.0 lens—but I'd like to. I just can't justify spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a lens that I can't use for day-to-day shooting because of the lack of IS.

Yeah that's true both are desireable in a lens really.

I tend to get most of my subject isolation shots using a telephoto lens. Even at f/4 you can get lovely background blur at 200mm. It becomes harder to get that look I guess with the wider focal lengths so you would need f1.4 in that case. It would be awesome to have a 50 1.4 with IS but I don't think that will happen.

There is one point I also hadn't considered and that's APS-C users. I think for those users fast lenses still play an important role since high ISO stinks and the crop factor takes away the really shallow dof capability. My f/4 zooms are fairly limiting on the 7D.

The only fast I have now is the 135L which on crop really needs IS! You have to use it at at least 1/250s if you want any chance of avoiding camera shake. And with flash sync at 1/250s on the 7D options get real limited quickly.

 

[StudentOfLight]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I find the 50mm focal length quite boring. I'd rather shoot wider or longer. Canon please skip the 50mm IS and just make a 40mm F/1 IS cupcake (because f/1 wont fit into a pancake)

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I find the 50mm focal length quite boring. I'd rather shoot wider or longer. Canon please skip the 50mm IS and just make a 40mm F/1 IS cupcake (because f/1 wont fit into a pancake)

I think a hypothetical 40mm F1.0 Image Stabilizer would be more like a jar of juice.

 

[Zv]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I find the 50mm focal length quite boring. I'd rather shoot wider or longer. Canon please skip the 50mm IS and just make a 40mm F/1 IS cupcake (because f/1 wont fit into a pancake)

See, that statement makes no sense to me - how can a focal length be "boring"? That means you must not know how to use it properly if all you get are boring shots. You can use a 50 to get some very nice close portraits with shallow dof. You can do product shots, you can shoot landscapes, street, groups of people etc. the list of subject matter is endless really. Now if all you shoot is pics of you cat then I guess that's a different story ...

 

[Marsu42]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

See, that statement makes no sense to me - how can a focal length be "boring"?

Personally, I do think it makes sense if you read it like "usual": The ~50mm is a "normal" lens which happens to replicate what you perceive with the human eye - so it's a bit harder to create an "unusual" shot based on the focal length *alone*, but of course using 85mm+ doesn't mean that all your shots will be instant classics

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/cameras-vs-human-eye.htm#angle-of-view

Last not least, with the proliferation of digital camera gadgets wide angle looks much more "normal" to me by now than the actual normal lens

 

[Sporgon]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Now if all you shoot is pics of your cat then I guess that's a different story ...

50 mil is the ultimate cat focal length ! This was shot at f3.2, ISO 800 and 1/20th. It's just luck that there's little shake, the others were all blurred. I'd really find a 50 f2/1.8 IS useful. Trouble is the cats keep dying of old age and by the time the IS version is released all ours may be dead.

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Now if all you shoot is pics of your cat then I guess that's a different story ...

50 mil is the ultimate cat focal length ! This was shot at f3.2, ISO 800 and 1/20th. It's just luck that there's little shake, the others were all blurred. I'd really find a 50 f2/1.8 IS useful. Trouble is the cats keep dying of old age and by the time the IS version is released all ours may be dead.

I must agree. When cats and children are standing in front of a 50mm lens with image stabilizer is the best thing for intimate photos. With the delay in launching the Canon 50mm IS, children grow and cats die of old age.

 

[Mr_Canuck]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

See, that statement makes no sense to me - how can a focal length be "boring"?

Personally, I do think it makes sense if you read it like "usual": The ~50mm is a "normal" lens which happens to replicate what you perceive with the human eye - so it's a bit harder to create an "unusual" shot based on the focal length *alone*, but of course using 85mm+ doesn't mean that all your shots will be instant classics

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/cameras-vs-human-eye.htm#angle-of-view

Last not least, with the proliferation of digital camera gadgets wide angle looks much more "normal" to me by now than the actual normal lens

Photographers can be boring. Lenses aren't. 50mm can be spectacular. 16mm can be crap. 400mm can be crap. Photographers can be amazing.

 

[Ruined]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I find the 50mm focal length quite boring. I'd rather shoot wider or longer.

Not to pile on, but if I had to pick just one focal length to use, it would be 50mm.

50mm is the most versatile focal length to me, because it has little distortion and can be used as a wide, normal, or tele lens depending on your positioning. It also can provide fantastic creamy bokeh with a fast lens that wider lenses struggle to do, and can do so without being locked into a 85mm+ telephoto shot.

I have gotten some of the most interesting shots with my 50mm f/1.2L... I think it depends more on your style if your photographs come out interesting or not.

 

[AudioGlenn]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I sold my 50mm f/1.4 a while ago because I didn't like what I saw between f/1.4-f/2.5. I was always shooting at f/2.8 anyway so I figured my 24-70 f/2.8 will do. With the new Sigma Art 50mm and these rumors, It'll be an exciting year. I'll be waiting for reviews and for prices to settle before I buy but I definitely want a "large aperture" 50 back in my arsenal.

 

[Chosenbydestiny]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Finally a 50mm with a decent AF system?
The 135mm f/2 L IS would be lovely for weddings!

I agree but if their recent offerings are any guide it would be an f2.8.

I agree... It's a trend for them now to swap bigger apertures for IS and increasing the price. I'm happy with the current 135L and super high ISO capable bodies

 

[ahsanford]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

Finally a 50mm with a decent AF system?
The 135mm f/2 L IS would be lovely for weddings!

I agree but if their recent offerings are any guide it would be an f2.8.

I agree... It's a trend for them now to swap bigger apertures for IS and increasing the price. I'm happy with the current 135L and super high ISO capable bodies

Let's try your math again:

"It's a trend for them now to swap bigger apertures for IS + increased sharpness + much higher build quality + internal focusing + faster/more-modern USM and increasing the price."

The non-L IS refreshes have been massive upgrades for what they replaced, and they often stack up well against their slightly quicker L-series counterparts.

From all the threads I've read on this, I'd peg the CR forum readers (by any measure an enthusiast/pro community) would be about 50/50 split on the new Sigma 50 F/1.4 Art (assuming it's as good as their 35 Art) vs. a new Canon 50 F/2 IS (assuming it's as good as the 24/28/35 refreshes). There are willing buyers for both who see the value of a lens somewhat differently. Neither is right, neither is wrong.

- A

 

[Caps18]

Re: IS Versions of the 50mm, 85mm & 135mm Coming? [CR1]

I would still buy the 50mm f/1.2 compared to a 50mm f/1.8 IS or f/2 IS. 50mm f/1.4 IS might be a hard choice. 50mm f/1.2 IS L would be the best, but I might have to save my money for a few months to be able to afford it (if it is possible).

The tricky part is that I have started to shoot some video. Most of the time I use my tripod, but IS comes in very handy when hand holding video. I would use f/1.2 for night time photography more however.