Excellent Lens for portrait.

[Jacky Liu]

Overview

Recently bought a brand new 50mm F1.2 L for portrait photography, and is extremely happy about it.

Before you buy

This lens is nearly 8 years old since Canon announced it, that makes a large group of people want to wait for version 2 of it. As of Oct 2014, there is no real ETA for next version release date. So, is it a real consideration?

Main purpose

For day to day life photography, I found 50 mm closest to vision (with one eye), you can almost think what you see is what you get. It is easier for composition, that's assuming you have a full frame body.

Alternatives

There are numbers of reviews comparing this lens to the Canon 35mm F1.4 L and also to the 85mm F1.2 L II. Image quality is about the same (excellent), the only different is which focal length suit you more.

For smaller budget, 50mm F1.4 is always mentioned, and also the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens. They both substantially cheaper than any of the above L lenses and the image output quality is considered very good.

Criticism

Somebody belief this 50mm F1.2 L has focus issue. Reviews were either suggesting it focus slightly closer or slightly backward. However, I have not yet encounter any of those behaviour. I believe the focusing issue is dealing with settings of AF points or AF type supported by the body.

Either way, this 50mm F1.2 L focus perfectly and very fast on my 5D Mark III. Also tested it on my old 50D body, still very fast and accurate.

 

[Hibiscusbloom]

Overview

Recently bought a brand new 50mm F1.2 L for portrait photography, and is extremely happy about it.

Before you buy

This lens is nearly 8 years old since Canon announced it, that makes a large group of people want to wait for version 2 of it. As of Oct 2014, there is no real ETA for next version release date. So, is it a real consideration?

Main purpose

For day to day life photography, I found 50 mm closest to vision (with one eye), you can almost think what you see is what you get. It is easier for composition, that's assuming you have a full frame body.

Alternatives

There are numbers of reviews comparing this lens to the Canon 35mm F1.4 L and also to the 85mm F1.2 L II. Image quality is about the same (excellent), the only different is which focal length suit you more.

For smaller budget, 50mm F1.4 is always mentioned, and also the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens. They both substantially cheaper than any of the above L lenses and the image output quality is considered very good.

Criticism

Somebody belief this 50mm F1.2 L has focus issue. Reviews were either suggesting it focus slightly closer or slightly backward. However, I have not yet encounter any of those behaviour. I believe the focusing issue is dealing with settings of AF points or AF type supported by the body.

Either way, this 50mm F1.2 L focus perfectly and very fast on my 5D Mark III. Also tested it on my old 50D body, still very fast and accurate.

I find the Canon 50mm/ 1.2 very soft wide open. Also CA is an issue. I tested it in my 5d3 and the 7d2. It is good for night use though.

 

[zalle]

my 50L is not soft wide open.

 

[irmao1]

Overview

Recently bought a brand new 50mm F1.2 L for portrait photography, and is extremely happy about it.

Before you buy

This lens is nearly 8 years old since Canon announced it, that makes a large group of people want to wait for version 2 of it. As of Oct 2014, there is no real ETA for next version release date. So, is it a real consideration?

Main purpose

For day to day life photography, I found 50 mm closest to vision (with one eye), you can almost think what you see is what you get. It is easier for composition, that's assuming you have a full frame body.

Alternatives

There are numbers of reviews comparing this lens to the Canon 35mm F1.4 L and also to the 85mm F1.2 L II. Image quality is about the same (excellent), the only different is which focal length suit you more.

For smaller budget, 50mm F1.4 is always mentioned, and also the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens. They both substantially cheaper than any of the above L lenses and the image output quality is considered very good.

Criticism

Somebody belief this 50mm F1.2 L has focus issue. Reviews were either suggesting it focus slightly closer or slightly backward. However, I have not yet encounter any of those behaviour. I believe the focusing issue is dealing with settings of AF points or AF type supported by the body.

Either way, this 50mm F1.2 L focus perfectly and very fast on my 5D Mark III. Also tested it on my old 50D body, still very fast and accurate.

Hi jacky!!

May you show us some pictures taken with the 50??I'm thinking in getting one but there's not much photos on the net to see how it performs.

I'm a canon fan and also fan of bokeh lolo so i'm just thinking in canon lens and not third party ones!!

Do you use it with a FF camera or an APS-C? I own a 7D so .....

I would be very pleased if you could share with us some pictures....

Thanks!!

______________________

www.fotokri.com

 

[Al Downie]

Hibiscusbloom wrote: "I find the Canon 50mm/ 1.2 very soft wide open. Also CA is an issue."

So.. many people have been surprised when I've shown images that have been taken with the 50L wide open - even other 50L owners. I don't think mine is an unusually good copy, because I also see the apparent softness when I can't resist the temptation to chimp. BUT... most of those apparently soft images tart-up *really* well - if you're careful with the settings in Photoshop, they take a lot more unsharp mask than 'truly' soft images. I think the softness that people report is more about diffusion caused by aberration (as opposed to simple lack of resolving power), and is therefore, to a certain extent, fixable in processing where normal 'soft' images are not.

The chromatic aberration is a real problem though, in contrasty highlight areas, and contrary to what most folk say, i don't find it at all straightforward to fix. I do quite a lot of black & white conversions!

 

[cpkuntz]

Here are some images taken with this lens. This is the Flickr group for the 50mm f/1.2L:

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

 

[irmao1]

Here are some images taken with this lens. This is the Flickr group for the 50mm f/1.2L:

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Thank you very much for those photos. Lovely lens for sure! I think I will get one ... For my 7d!!!! Humm Does anyone have more photos with this lens to share with us? Thanks all ___________________ www.fotokri.com

 

[carnac]

I really like my 50L. The pictures have a great quality to them that goes beyond just sharpness, micro IQ, etc,






My daughter's wedding, 50L on my old 30D.



--
Jim 'Carnac' Carnahan

 

[Jacky Liu]

Hi there,

Sorry for my late reply. I was out to the country for a few days. Few shots from the trip.

Regarding the AF or sharpness discussion, I have not yet have a very solid conclusion on other people experience.

I mainly shoot with AI servo and central 9 AF points, or central single AF point. I haven't yet find focus issue so far.

Personally, the 1.2 aperture took me few hours to get used to it. To completely master 1.2, it probably going to take another few days or weeks, because the depth of field is so short.

We assumed anybody moved into prime lens know there favorite "mm", it still work very well on crop frame body. It has an EF mount so it probably will be your future proof investment.

Regards,

Jacky

<a href="

https://flic.kr/p/pEirqv

" title="IMG_2688 by Jack Liu, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7551/15529634937_af7cf0300f_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="IMG_2688"></a>

<a href="

https://flic.kr/p/pWuNGe

" title="IMG_2690 by Jack Liu, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7497/15712916661_29f8f9779c_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="IMG_2690"></a>

<a href="

https://flic.kr/p/oZW71V

" title="IMG_2695 by Jack Liu, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3943/15095445453_1f5bc6281f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_2695"></a>

<a href="

https://flic.kr/p/pUESay

" title="IMG_2709 by Jack Liu, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7480/15692246466_c1c69e8373_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_2709"></a>