50mm 1.2

[Axilrod]

What Filter should I purchase for the 50mm 1.2?

If you're asking questions like this you may want to reconsider your purchase. Recently there has been a slew of people that seem very new to photography buying 5D3's and asking about the most expensive lenses like the gear is the most important aspect of learning photography. Get the 50mm f/1.4, if you really like the 50mm focal length get the 1.2.

My neighbor is the highest-paid photographer I've ever met and he uses the 50mm 1.4. Actually the majority of his favorite shots are from the 24-70mm.

 

[bdunbar79]

I personally wouldn't get the 50mm f/1.2L because I do not shoot in low light and I never use apertures wider than 2.0 at 50mm. If you want better, all around coverage at 50mm, the 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.8 are nearly as sharp or sharper at 2.8 and above. Also, in my experience, the 24-70L zoom lense performed just as well as the 50mm f/1.2L at f/2.8. So if you don't really really need that narrow use of a 50mm lens, there are better lenses. Unfortunately Canon does not make a 50mm lens that is super sharp across all apertures. I wish they would make one comparable to the 35L and 85L. You almost have to buy both the 50mm f/1.2L and the 50 f/1.4 or 24-70mm L to get full aperture coverage from Canon at 50mm. Good luck!

 

[drjlo]

Also, in my experience, the 24-70L zoom lense performed just as well as the 50mm f/1.2L at f/2.8.

While I do agree Canon needs to do better at 50mm compared to their 35 and 85, two things are still true:
1. Canon 24-70L cannot shoot at f/1.2.
2. There is NO other 50mm prime available from any company that is sharper at f/1.2 than 50L.

 

[niccyboy]

My 50 is permanently mounted to one of my 5ds. My absolute favourite lens.

If budget isn't an issue. Hire both, the feel, picture quality and bokeh will sell it to you then

The 1.4 and 1.8 are both fantastic lenses and very well priced also, but the 1.2 is brilliant.

 

[Michael_pfh]

I would strongly consider this Zeiss 50: http://amzn.to/JvlU7I

I love it. It is an excellent lens, very well built, very high IQ. It's MF, which I find to be something that slows me down - in a good way - and forces me to think about my images before I make them.

Give it a look. It's awesome.

-MS

I eventually also settled for the Zeiss 50 f2.0 MP, was hesitant to get the 50 1.2L since I already got the 85 1.2L II. The ZE 50 is definitely great and I got used to the MF in no time, it's quite easy compared to some EF lenses.

 

[RLPhoto]

The 50mm 1.2L is the sharpest 50mm lens I've ever used from f1.2-2.8. (and I've used alot of 50mm's)

The AF is faster than the 1.4, but not by much but it is alot more accurate.

The OOF is the best I've ever seen on a 50mm.

Then again, there is always the Leica 50mm's but I don't consider those in the same league.

If you love the 50mm focal length, there is no better on a SLR system.

 

[Marsu42]

The 1.4 and 1.8 are both fantastic lenses and very well priced also, but the 1.2 is brilliant.

Oh, time for my 50/1.8 rant: I have it and don't use it anymore because the af is terrible and the build quality is horrible. If you can ignore this, it certainly has the best "bang for the buck" if you don't shoot @f1.8, but the real killer is the so-called bokeh - anyone who gets this is well-advised to look at sample pictures with bokeh before a decision.

 

[Ricku]

I would love to rebuy the 50L if it wasn't such a "mixed feelings-lens".

I love the creamy bokeh and special rendering of this lens, but the focus shift issues and the somewhat soft results at wide open, just cant be overlooked.

The 35L, 135L and 85L are all very sharp wide open. So why can't the 50L be?

 

[bdunbar79]

I would love to rebuy the 50L if it wasn't such a "mixed feelings-lens".

I love the creamy bokeh and special rendering of this lens, but the focus shift issues and the somewhat soft results at wide open, just cant be overlooked.

The 35L, 135L and 85L are all very sharp wide open. So why can't the 50L be?

My feelings exactly. The IQ on the 1.8 is good, but not as good as the 1.4 and 1.2. My friend was shooting a lot of 50mm and his AF on the 1.4 stopped working. The 50L is super, razor sharp from 1.2 to about 2.... something, but from 2.8 up there are other 50's sharper. I tried out the 50L and it produced stunning images in low light, at wide apertures. I was actually sorry to part with it. But, photo to photo, I just didn't shoot enough low light at 50mm, so I suggest using the 1.8 and having a good photo editing program

 

[drjlo]

I would love to rebuy the 50L if it wasn't such a "mixed feelings-lens".

I love the creamy bokeh and special rendering of this lens, but the focus shift issues and the somewhat soft results at wide open, just cant be overlooked.

The 35L, 135L and 85L are all very sharp wide open. So why can't the 50L be?

The 50L is super, razor sharp from 1.2 to about 2

I wouldn't call it "razor" sharp. It's decently sharp at 1.2 to pretty sharp at 2 IME, going on to quite sharp at 2.8.
One thing I've discovered, however, is Canon's "Digital Lens Optimizer" in DPP, and it does a surprisingly good job of bringing out 50L's sharpness without as much artifact as simpling bumping up the sharpness bar.

I used DLO setting 50 (out of 100) for this 50L shot at f/1.8, which really helped with clarity.


DZ3C2665Velv by drjlo1, on Flickr

 

[Bosman]

some say once you go black theres no goin back. I say once you go 50L theres no goin 1.4 or 1.8.

 

[Matthew19]

I've owned the 1.8, 1.4, 1.2 and zeiss 1.4. As others have said, the 1.2 has great rendering and bokeh, the 1.4 build quality and focus ring are a bit cheap feeling. I hated the bokeh on the zeiss 50mm. It also had some weird distortion on portraits. Thats was the deal breaker for me on the zeiss, I really wanted to like it.

If you shoot wide open and do video (manual focus), the 1.2 is the way to go.
If you are just shooting pictures and stop down often, I'd grab a 50mm 1.4 and a 100mm macro for the same price!

 

[Dylan777]

I wanted to purchase a 50mm 1.2 but wanted to know if a new 50mm will be coming out soon. Putting budget aside, would you get a 50mm 1.2 or a 1.4?

This lens is 3-4yrs old. You might not see mrk II anytimes soon here. If you already decided to go for L, I think should should go for it, since Canon is offering $120 rebate end June 2nd.

I was in this situation many times; the L or 1.4??? I tested both lenses side by side. At the end I decided to stay with 1.4 --- this is the only lens left in my bag that doesn't have a red ring

My reason is simple, the IQ on L is not 3-times better than 1.4. I was hoping 2 times better, not even. I say 1.35 to 1.5 better. The ONLY thing I like MOST about the L is build quality. Very solid.

 

[sandymandy]

some say once you go black theres no goin back. I say once you go 50L theres no goin 1.4 or 1.8.

And once you go asian you never go caucasian

I always wanted to get the 50mm 1.2L for my crop body but i think thats a bad decision
Using the 50mm 1.8II at the moment. Thinking if i should get the 1.4...

 

[Viggo]

I am on my third copy of the 50 L and as much I love parts of this lens I have SERIOUS AF problems....

If I aim at 30 meters the lens is dead on with midpoints and 10 meters in front on the outer points. I adjust to make the outer work, and then it's waaay behind when I use midpoints.

It was the same with the two others, this one is production code UA03, so it's brand new. It's much better than the two others for stabillity, the two others were all over and damn near impossible to MA, never got them to be consistent at one setting.

But it still is the same issue. try the second to last row to the right/left, which are crosstypes (5d3) and it misses both in Ai and One Shot, with spot, single, expanded by four or 9, I can try 40 times, and just doesn't hit. use points closer to the middle and it's sharper than any of the two others, by far.

Anyone else experiencing this ? As I said, three copies used on three different bodies, 1d4, 5d2 and 5d3.

And for the record, neither copies of my 85 L II and 35 had or have this issue.

 

[K3nt]

I love my 50mm f/1.4... great bang for the buck and once I had my 7D and the lenses all calibrated it has never missed a shot. If it does, I can most certainly look in the mirror to confirm that I missed the shot and not the lens/camera combo.

 

[melbournite]

Always wanted to have a 1.2 lens in the kit for that creamy bokeh. I've found the need for a 50mm in a studio environment but specifically for F8 usage. So from what I understand, the 1.4 is sharper at F8 than the 1.2? That would be a shame because I'd be prepared to the pay the money for the 1.2 otherwise?

 

[ontarian]

Get the FD 55mm 1.2 Aspherical for a grand for equivalent IQ performance as the 50L or the FD 55mm 1.2 SSC or chrome nose (or FL 55mm 1.2) for a 300 dollar budget option that is nearly as nice. Obviously you'd need one of my adapters to make them work but I would go for this over the zeiss if you can handle the manual focus.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180855493584?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1255wt_1385

 

[jasonsim]

I guess I should chime in on this discussion, since I started on on FredMiranda.com a month or so ago. There I discussed the bokeh quality of the 50mm 1.2L vs the Sigma 50mm 1.4. I still have both and kinda prefer the Sigma's bokeh. Note that at 1.4 both appear to be equally sharp..at least to my eyes.

I had to try two Canon 50mm L's before finding a keeper and 3 Sigma's before finding a keeper. I strongly recommend that, if you decide to get either that you go to a store where you can try them out on your body before buying. Previous copies of both the Canon and Sigma had AF issues.

Also note that the Canon will suffer more CA at 1.2 and 1.4 than the Sigma.

Link to my discussion:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1107121/0

 

[drjlo]

One reason to stick with Canon EF fast primes is Canon's Digital Lens Optimizer (DLO), which was rolled out without much hoopla with DPP but carries a wallop!

For example, the venerable 85L II has tons of color fringing at f/1.2, and even stopped down to f/2.8 there is substantial amount. Similar observations occur with 50L. First photo is 85L f/2.8 shot with sharpening set to 0 in DPP, no DLO applied. These are ~400% crops.


C2.8S0 by drjlo1, on Flickr

Second shot is same settings, sharpness 0, with DLO applied at 60 (out of 100).


C2.8DLO60S0 by drjlo1, on Flickr