Canon EF 50 f/1.2L Goes Missing at Canon Germany

[Canon Rumors Guy]

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<p><strong>*UPDATE #2*

</strong>Both fine countries have found their 50 f/1.2L lenses!</p>
<p><strong>*UPDATE*

</strong><a href="http://www.canon.dk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Fixed_Focal_Length/index.aspx%20" target="_blank">Denmark too!</a> (Thanks Jan)<strong>

</strong></p>
<p><strong>Original Story</strong>

The Canon EF 50 f/1.2L USM has gone missing from the Canon Germany  prime lens page.</p>
<p>Introduced in 2007, the EF 50 f/1.2L has seen its share of controversy due to a design that can lead to focus shifting in certain situations for a lot of photographers. We do believe this lens is due for replacement in the next year or so.</p>
<p>In this case? It’s probably just a mistake on the Canon Germany web site, though stranger things have happened.</p>
<p>Source: [<a href="http://www.canon.de/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Fixed_Focal_Length/index.aspx" target="_blank">CG</a>] via [<a href="http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/Canon_new_lenses.html" target="_blank">NL</a>]</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[vscd]

As the old link is really not only broken, but deleted, I think there will be a new 50mm 1.4L IS @Photokina this year Maybe Canon could even do a 50mm L 1.2 II IS, which would be the only real answer to the OTUS or Sigma. They're able to do so...

...I would consider buying one if the price is below 1500€.

 

[ajperk]

Just thinking out loud, but what do people think of the likelihood that Canon will condense the current 50L and 50 f/1.4 into one L option with a f/1.4 aperture? I could imagine that an updated 50 f/1.8 similar to the other recent non-L primes could supplant the current 50 1.4. That would lower production costs (in theory, depending on the design of the lenses). Though, I guess the nifty-fifty is such a good seller, maybe they wouldn't want to part with it yet. Thoughts?

 

[vscd]

Just thinking out loud, but what do people think of the likelihood that Canon will condense the current 50L and 50 f/1.4 into one L option with a f/1.4 aperture?

Why do you think that a new 50mm 1.4L IS would replace the "normal" 50mm 1.4? Did the 100 2.8L Makro replace the "normal" 100mm 2.8? The L-Version will be weathersealed, with IS, red line, 9 Blades, ETTL-II and sharp wide open.

There are a lot of coexisting focal lenghts with L or Non-L. A further example would be the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6L IS USM vs. the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6 IS USM.

 

[Sporgon]

I do know that in the UK at least a lot of well respected photographers jumped on the 50L in 2007 expecting it to be an L version of the 50/1.4 and were horrified ! I know that Canon took a stream of complaints from those guys !

Since then the lens has been better understood for what it is, but it still disappoints many.

It wouldn't surprise me if we saw a new 50L 1.4 that is reasonably priced. Personally I wouldn't want the size of the Otus / Sigma in a short prime.

The rumoured 50/1.8 IS may then become a bottom of the range lens to replace the current 50/1.8.

 

[TrabimanUK]

It's still on the UK site...

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Standard_and_Medium_Telephoto/EF_50mm_f1.2L_USM/

probably just a glitch on the German site

 

[vscd]

UK has an other timezone Literally.

 

[ajperk]

Just thinking out loud, but what do people think of the likelihood that Canon will condense the current 50L and 50 f/1.4 into one L option with a f/1.4 aperture?

Why do you think that a new 50mm 1.4L IS would replace the "normal" 50mm 1.4? Did the 100 2.8L Makro replace the "normal" 100mm 2.8? The L-Version will be weathersealed, with IS, red line, 9 Blades, ETTL-II and sharp wide open.

There are a lot of coexisting focal lenghts with L or Non-L. A further example would be the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6L IS USM vs. the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6 IS USM.

There definitely are co-existing L and non-L lenses. But in this case, there are four co-existing 50mm lenses (though, obviously the 50mm f/2.5 is designed for a different purpose).
My thoughts were:
1.) In general, DSLR and lens sales are not growing like they have in the past and one way to increase profit is to lower costs, such as production costs. This could be done lowering the number of production lines over time.
2.) While a 50mm f/1.4 can definitely give you a depth of field that a 50 f/1.8 or f/2.0 IS can't (presuming that one is coming in the relatively near future similar to the new 35, 28, 24mm primes) given the price increase that we've seen on those lenses, it will be much closer to, though likely over, the price of the current 50mm f/1.4 than the nifty-fifty it would be replacing. Unless it's going to be in the $800 to $1000 range (which seems awfully high, especially given the price cuts they did on the non-L primes) it wouldn't have a lot of price differentiation from the 50mm f/1.4. And given (presumably) 4-stop IS and sharp-from-max-aperture image quality that we would likely see in a new non-L 50mm lens, I could see many people shrugging off the older 50mm f/1.4 anyway in favor of the newer lens.

I suppose the other possibility would be that they keep the nifty-fifty because of its sales, and swap out the current 50mm f/1.4 for a narrower, image stabilized version and only bump the price up a couple hundred dollars.

So, in summary, yes I agree that Canon offers identical focal length lenses of various levels, but we're talking about four 50mm primes in their lineup. Given the need to lower costs over time to realize greater profit, as well as the need to price-differentiate there products efficiently, I could see the 50mm f/1.4 disappearing in favor of a f/1.4 L, and a f/1.8 or 2.0 with IS, keeping the high-volume nifty-fifty in the lineup for longer. Of course, I could easily be wrong, just speculation.

 

[Eagle Eye]

I highly doubt the 50 f/1.8 is going anywhere. It is a top seller, yielding dependable profit margins. I'm confident we'll a 50mm f/1.4 IS this year in the $600 range. Most pros I know love the 50mm f/1.2. It is not designed to be a sharp lens. The copy I sold last month produced gorgeous portraits. If you want a sharp lens, try something designed for sports, not something designed for portraits.

 

[privatebydesign]

I highly doubt the 50 f/1.8 is going anywhere. It is a top seller, yielding dependable profit margins. I'm confident we'll a 50mm f/1.4 IS this year in the $600 range. Most pros I know love the 50mm f/1.2. It is not designed to be a sharp lens. The copy I sold last month produced gorgeous portraits. If you want a sharp lens, try something designed for sports, not something designed for portraits.

So you don't use the 85 f1.2 then.

 

[dstppy]

So Canon lost an expensive lens in Germany? Pickpocket?

Why is this news, people frequently lose expensive equipment vacationing in Europe and abroad.

*ducks*

 

[Haydn1971]

As I've said elsewhere

- The 40mm 2.8 is the new 50 1.8 as the "first prime" for many
- I'm firmly of the opinion that the next 50mm will be a 1.8/2.0 IS in the same mould as the 35 2.0 IS, selling for around the £500-600 mark initially, stabilising at about £450, closely followed by a 85 2.0 IS of a similar style
- I also believe that a £1000+ 50 f1.4 with stunning performance in the mould of a 24 1.4 will follow soon afterwards, along with a new 35 & 85 1.4 for similar prices
- I suspect the 50/85 1.2 will become a collectible
- I suspect the 50 2.5 Macro and 85 1.8/100 2.0 will silently disappear

Leaving 40 2.8, 50 1.8/2.0 IS & 50 1.4 - the new default lens is the 18-55, Canon practically give it away free, the prime is a specialised bit of kit, one most of us on here have (we are the 1% of users), but even so, very few of us use to anywhere near the same degree as the 18-55/15-85/24-70/24-105 standard zooms

The market is changing, 20 year old lenses start to become uneconomic to build, new techniques in plastics and electronics yield a better product with a great profit margin, equals happy photographers and happy shareholders

 

[mackguyver]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

 

[Dylan777]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

+1...without focus shift. Sharp from wide open to f2.8

 

[Dylan777]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

+1...without focus shift. Sharp from wide open to f2.8

Sharp ... you mean like how the Sigma 50/1.4 Art is sharp? Or sharp as in how the 50/1.2L is sharp?

Sharper than 85L II @ f1.2 and no AF issues like ART

 

[bereninga]

IMO, if Canon releases a new 50mm, it won't be an L version. I think it'll be either equal or slower than f/1.4, have IS, and be around the $600-$800 USD, so it fits right between the 1.4 and 1.2 L. A 50mm L II won't happen for a while and a 50mm w/ IS will just be good enough until Canon can come up w/ an answer to Sigma.

 

[zlatko]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

+1...without focus shift. Sharp from wide open to f2.8

Sharp ... you mean like how the Sigma 50/1.4 Art is sharp? Or sharp as in how the 50/1.2L is sharp?

Sharper than 85L II @ f1.2 and no AF issues like ART

And with amazing bokeh like the 50/1.0L, not like the Sigma 50/1.4 Art.

 

[Viggo]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

+1...without focus shift. Sharp from wide open to f2.8

Sharp ... you mean like how the Sigma 50/1.4 Art is sharp? Or sharp as in how the 50/1.2L is sharp?

Sharper than 85L II @ f1.2 and no AF issues like ART

And with amazing bokeh like the 50/1.0L, not like the Sigma 50/1.4 Art.

I'll take the bokeh of the 50 Art over the 1.0 L any day..

 

[Sporgon]

I highly doubt the 50 f/1.8 is going anywhere. It is a top seller, yielding dependable profit margins.

I believe that the current 50/1.8 is the most chosen lens to purchase after the 'kit' zoom lens. Those people have grown up with IS. Therefore I think it is quite likely that Canon might feel that to maintain this momentum 'my first prime lens' should have IS.

Regarding your 50L, it was so gorgeous you sold it ?

 

[scyrene]

I hope they bring back the f/1.0 - just sharper!

Me too!