Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 & Others Listed as Production Ended by Canon UK

[PureClassA]

IF they keep the 50 in a 1.2 flavor (and I'm not totally convinced they will yet) They aren't going to release it unless it's a knockout punch. Again, this is why i have some doubts about a new 1.2. A 1.4 which yields tack sharp results and quality bokeh is already on the books with the new 35 Mk II. Making a new 1.2 that can yield the same levels is a taller order. That's not to say they aren't trying. I'm fairly certain they are. Time will tell. Either way, a new 50mm L would be a fine co-release with a 1DX2 and I'd guess we see it sometime around then or slightly before.

 

[crashpc]

50mm f/1.8 STM
50mm f/1.6 IS USM
50mm f/1.2 L USM

That would be very nice differentiation....

 

[ahsanford]

50mm f/1.8 STM
50mm f/1.6 IS USM
50mm f/1.2 L USM

That would be very nice differentiation....

I largely agree. I see a three price point market, possibly four if the ancient 50mm f/2.5 1:2 macro is updated (I really consider that a different animal, though):

• 50 f/1.8 STM --> inexpensive, sharp and light, but basically lacking any notable lens 'creature comfort' features -- it's only manual focus by wire, there's no distance scale, slower AF, non-sharpness metrics are not terribly well controlled (distortion, chromatic aberrations), etc.
  
  
• 50 f/nooneknows IS USM --> which takes everything from the line above but adds:
  • A comprehensively better IQ
  • IS
  • Full time manual focusing instead of focus by wire with the shutter button half-pressed
  • Proper/modern/consistent/fast USM focusing
  • Internal focusing -- no externally sliding bits that can serve as a conduit for moisture or dust.
  • Much better build quality like the 24/28/35 IS refresh lenses
  • Still relatively small and light
  
  
• 50 f/1.2L II --> has everything the 50 f/nooneknows IS USM has, but is that extra bit faster, can be as big as needed for maximum IQ, and adds a red ring, a weathersealing gasket, and probably that BR gunk in the 35L II. With a Mk II version, Canon needs to decide if that lens can get by on reputation, 'magic', and that odd plane of focus meant for small DOF (i.e. some believe it's an f/1.2 - f/2 only sort of lens and general 50 use is wasted with it) -- or if they want to modernize the lens to compete from a corner to corner sharpness perspective.

- A

 

[martti]

Today it was the first time I tried to shoot with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 anywhere near wide open.
It is not very good shot like that. In fact, it has multiple issues and the end result is not even artistic.
There are two reasons to that, the first one that I am not an artist and the second one has to do with the quality of the lens. Shooting people in low light in parties, I prefer the old 35mm f/1.4. Shooting portraits it is either the 85mm or the 100mm. Or the Tamron zoom, if ever it comes back from the repair.

I have a hard time understanding people who make a big noise about the 50mm lenses of Canon...there are four of them. Each one has its limitations. Sigma and Zeiss make better 50mm lenses than the Canons currently available. So many people are having fits because Canon is not giving them a sharp 50mm lense. Or Sony sensors. No partridge in a pear tree, non plus. Canon, bad, Canon disappear!

Something bizarre going on there...it is true that for instance this little flower shows CA and ghosting and busy bokeh but people do not care about that, they think that the flower is not blue enough...poor flower, doing its best.

I put it through PerfectlyClear2.0 because Ken said it makes all pictures better.
He knows.

 

[nc0b]

I have two of the 50mm f/2.5, one at each house. They do what I need for macro work, the cost was low (one purchased new many years ago, and one used a few years ago). Yes focus is slow and noisy, but optically I have no complaints. They are my only 50mm prime, and will be part of my kit forever.

 

[JoFT]

To quit the EF 50mm f1.4 makes totally sense. If I compare my copies of

• EF 50mm f1.4 US
• EF 50mm f1.8STM

I could not find any reason to shoot with the f1.4... (except the 2/3 extra f-stop)


I hope the will release a new version being competitive to the 50mm f1.4 Art having IS build in...
For me f2.0 would be ok, but I would prefer f1.4 and an 800€ price tag...

 

[George D.]

Today it was the first time I tried to shoot with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 anywhere near wide open.
It is not very good shot like that. In fact, it has multiple issues and the end result is not even artistic.
There are two reasons to that, the first one that I am not an artist and the second one has to do with the quality of the lens. Shooting people in low light in parties, I prefer the old 35mm f/1.4. Shooting portraits it is either the 85mm or the 100mm. Or the Tamron zoom, if ever it comes back from the repair.

I have a hard time understanding people who make a big noise about the 50mm lenses of Canon...there are four of them. Each one has its limitations. Sigma and Zeiss make better 50mm lenses than the Canons currently available. So many people are having fits because Canon is not giving them a sharp 50mm lense. Or Sony sensors. No partridge in a pear tree, non plus. Canon, bad, Canon disappear!

Something bizarre going on there...it is true that for instance this little flower shows CA and ghosting and busy bokeh but people do not care about that, they think that the flower is not blue enough...poor flower, doing its best.

I put it through PerfectlyClear2.0 because Ken said it makes all pictures better.
He knows.

Here's a similar shot from my 50/1.2L wide open herebelow for direct comparison. I don't know what they intend to improve on the (rumored) MkII but the bokeh of this lens is phenomenal.

 

[George D.]

What I'm curious about is if Canon will make a departure from the 50mm towards the 55mm trend. This will justify a completely different design (hopefully not price-tag) from the 50/1.4 and not be in direct competition with the 50/1.2L. And will be a sales booster as such focal length is relatively new. Highly interesting times.

 

[ahsanford]

What I'm curious about is if Canon will make a departure from the 50mm towards the 55mm trend. This will justify a completely different design (hopefully not price-tag) from the 50/1.4 and not be in direct competition with the 50/1.2L. And will be a sales booster as such focal length is relatively new. Highly interesting times.

I hear you on the 55mm, but I have yet to have explained to me 55mm that drives a radically different design -- do double gauss lens gods smite a lens designer with a lightning bolt if they try that?

I am a novice at deciphering lens formulas and such, but Canon's future 50L seems less about "Will Canon go 50 vs. 55" than it does "Will Canon stick with double gauss or blow it out like the Arts and Otuses?" or "Will Canon prioritize sharpness, bokeh or simply to offer a smaller lens than a pickle jar?"

- A

 

[George D.]

Marketing rather than design is the main driver to me. A better 50mm sounds commonplace than a new 55mm with the same potential. And they avoid price-tag comparisons between new vs. old 50/1.4...

 

[Antono Refa]

I think there are five categories of 50mm lenses:

1. The f/1.8 is in the cheap category, as in kit prime lens cheap.

2. The macro lens.

3. The f/1.4 is in the mid level category.

4. The f/1.2 is in the L category, geared for portraits and technology show off.

5. The uber 50+ f/1.4 lenses made by Sigma, Zeiss, and Nikon.

Now, the last lens has the max aperture of the mid level 50mm, but is in the wrong price bracket, and is in the price bracket of the L lens, but has a different purpose (sharpness vs bokeh).

I don't see Canon stop making a mid-level 50mm lens because it started making a lens with a similar spec that costs about twice as much.

As for the f/1.2L, I think it serves a different niche market than the ubers, and doubt the manufacturing of the two lenses is mutually exclusive.

IMHO, Canon will upgrade the 50mm f/1.4 (maybe a bit slower) with IS & full ring USM, and price it around $550. Then they'll make an uber 50mm (maybe a bit longer) f/1.4L with sharpness to match the new 50MP sensors.

As for having too many choices in a specific focal length (range), which might be confusing, Canon makes four 70-200mm lenses, four 50mm lenses, and five 70/75-300mm lenses. It's only a question of whether there's money in it or not, and my impression is there is.

 

[hmatthes]

Of all the fifties I've owned, my favorite for perspectives was a Konica 57mm f1.4 back in the film days...

My vote would be a 57~58mm f1.4 USM or STM​

My grandfather, a view camera guy, always thought that 30% longer than mathematically ideal was the finest perspective... (I never understood)
So if 43+mm is ideal for full frame (Suggestions?) then 57mm would be great.
If the medium format cameras ideal is 75~80mm, it is no wonder that I loved the 105mm Mamiya

But the fifty seems burned into our culture...

 

[jedy]

I could see Canon wanting to compete with Sigma and producing a new 50mm L but Canon sell a lot more consumer kit than their top of the line stuff. A new 50mm 1.4, if it's the same price, would make sense as I'm sure it would be a popular seller. After all, the new 50mm 1.8 is actually better in many ways than the old 50mm 1.4 and a new 50mm 1.4 might just make people opt for it over the cheaper lens.