Buy 50mm f1.2L now or wait for the II?

[Cannon Man]

the 50L is a great lens but it is not the best performer at a lab test like DXO or photozone.de.
but who cares as it performs really well in real world.
so if you get a great deal on it , then go for it but other wise wait mk2 version.

My experience was completely opposite to yours?? Do you own a copy?? What i found was that the reviews are generally positive but in the real world it performs really bad! It back focuses, the sharpness is CRAP at all apertures and it has a weird glow/softness that i can't stand.

If i had a lot of money i would buy every existing copy of the 50 1.2 and blow them to pieces with dynamite and send the video to Canon asking to make a real world L series 50mm.

 

[Eldar]

I have owned 3 copies of this lens over the years. They have all performed consistently and in general I have been very happy with them. The only reason I don´t have it at the moment is because I use the 85mm f1.2L II and the Sigma f1.4 instead. There are in my view three main reasons to buy this lens. 1: It is in general the best available 50mm with a canon mount. 2: It has a build quality second to no other 50mm and 3: It gives you very good results at f1.2.

If your problems with this lens is that it does not outperform other lenses at f4, don´t buy it. It is supposed to be used at f1.2. If the only IQ quality you care about is sharpness, don´t buy it, because that is not where it shines. If you have problems with focus shift at MFD, don´t buy it, because it is not a macro lens (focus shift has never been a problem for me, because I always used it wide open and seldom closer than 1.5m). But if you are looking for short DOF, good colors and great bokeh and 50mm is the focal length you are looking for, this is it!

Reading some of the posts here, I feel the same way as I do reading audiophile posts (hifi and music is my other addiction), where the quality of a setup is judged by how heart stopping the punch from the big drum is. Not much music in the frequencies down there. Yes I like sharpness, but I like good color, 3D pop from shallow DOF and beautiful bokeh more. For those of you with serious problems with this lens, and I am assuming that you don´t have bad copies, should probably look for faults else where.

 

[mrjgx]

I have owned 3 copies of this lens over the years. They have all performed consistently and in general I have been very happy with them. The only reason I don´t have it at the moment is because I use the 85mm f1.2L II and the Sigma f1.4 instead. There are in my view three main reasons to buy this lens. 1: It is in general the best available 50mm with a canon mount. 2: It has a build quality second to no other 50mm and 3: It gives you very good results at f1.2.

If your problems with this lens is that it does not outperform other lenses at f4, don´t buy it. It is supposed to be used at f1.2. If the only IQ quality you care about is sharpness, don´t buy it, because that is not where it shines. If you have problems with focus shift at MFD, don´t buy it, because it is not a macro lens (focus shift has never been a problem for me, because I always used it wide open and seldom closer than 1.5m). But if you are looking for short DOF, good colors and great bokeh and 50mm is the focal length you are looking for, this is it!

Reading some of the posts here, I feel the same way as I do reading audiophile posts (hifi and music is my other addiction), where the quality of a setup is judged by how heart stopping the punch from the big drum is. Not much music in the frequencies down there. Yes I like sharpness, but I like good color, 3D pop from shallow DOF and beautiful bokeh more. For those of you with serious problems with this lens, and I am assuming that you don´t have bad copies, should probably look for faults else where.

Sounds like the conclusion of this thread! No issue for me since I plan to use it at 1.2 anyway..I'm after the bokehliciousness of the lens and that's all that matter in my pursuit of the lens. If I'm looking for sharpness I'll be getting the 135L straight away.

Anyway just to note that since I'm not going for a full frame body in the upcoming months, I'll buy the 35L first for traveling purposes

Thanks all for all the replies!

 

[BrettS]

My experience was completely opposite to yours?? Do you own a copy?? What i found was that the reviews are generally positive but in the real world it performs really bad! It back focuses, the sharpness is CRAP at all apertures and it has a weird glow/softness that i can't stand.

If i had a lot of money i would buy every existing copy of the 50 1.2 and blow them to pieces with dynamite and send the video to Canon asking to make a real world L series 50mm.

My experience was completely opposite to yours?? Do you own a Ford Fiesta?? What i found was that the reviews are generally positive but in the real world it performs really bad! It has poor acceleration, the horsepower is CRAP at all RPM and it has a weird glow/softness in the headlights that i can't stand.

If i had a lot of money i would buy every existing copy of the Ford Fiesta and blow them to pieces with dynamite and send the video to Ford asking to make a real world sports car.