Canon 50mm 1.4

FEChariot wrote in post #17366380
Typically when we hear the lens is too sharp, macro lenses are the first to come to mind at least for me they are. Yet the 50/1.4 and even as you mentioned the 28/1.8 score an absolute higher value than any of the macro lenses on FF over at photozone. Yet both lenses are weak wide open and in the corners and I wouldn't concider either too sharp. However, in a studio where one is stopped down to max sharpness with a subject in the center of the frame, both perform brilliantly.

Agreed. I have both, and both are quite good.

I agree with this. My EF 50mm f/1.4 is very sharp. It's acceptable wide open, and actually quite sharp in the centre at f/1.6. Stopped down from f/2 it's the sharpest lens I've ever owned. Maybe I just got lucky.

Dillan_K wrote in post #17374577
I agree with this. My EF 50mm f/1.4 is very sharp. It's acceptable wide open, and actually quite sharp in the centre at f/1.6. Stopped down from f/2 it's the sharpest lens I've ever owned. Maybe I just got lucky.

Not lucky Dillan, about right. My EF 50mm f/1.4 is also sharp wide open and by f/4 you can shave with it. The sharpest lens I've got is a toss up between my 135L and Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Macro. My EF 85mm f/1.8 is also very sharp.

If I'm doing portraits I always reach for my EF 50mm first.

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If you get a good one, as I have, put a hood on it and never take it off.

can we get some pics to these sharp photos?

Wide open..

yogestee wrote in post #17376331
Wide open..

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forum: Canon Lenses

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This really makes me want to get one!

I've always seen results very soft wide open with this lens. I've never seen or heard anyone come to the consensus that this is a "sharp" lens by any means. Sure stop it down to its "sweet spot" and it will perform well....just like almost any quality lens. The shot by yogestee is a really sharp shot and probably one of the sharper shots I've seen wide open with this lens. However my personal experience with the lens is that its soft as a pillow.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=0​&APIComp=0

http://www.dxomark.com …ark-II___196_436_1306_483

http://www.photozone.d​e …/564-canon50f14ff?start=1

vs

http://www.photozone.d​e …876-sigma50f14art?start=1

I can get shots as sharp as yogestee's as well, but then again I have a very sharp copy as well.

I took some photos with my 7D and 50 1.4 and had the same problem. They were supposed to be simple 4X6 prints to be displayed to help a group of people get to know each other. Instead the photos came out so sharp I could actually tell who had been to a dentist or not!! I literally could count cavities in the teeth! Not to mention pimples and blackheads on the skin - they REALLY stood out and the project wasn't worth post processing 50 photos or more.

This was just a casual handheld in door shoot more for fun than anything else so image quality was not important. I found I was too close to the subject and my settings were too tight when taking the shot (I believe I took the shots at f2.8 but not sure). Basically I was taking a VERY close close up. I resolved the issue by moving back a bit and using my 15-85 zoom lens. If IQ is not important I'm sure an 18-55 kit lens would do just as well, or to get better photos perhaps an 85 or 100 mm at a greater distance from the subject and higher aperture may do better.

I have an old Cokin soft focus filter left over from my film days. That does the job if you really have to do it in camera. Adding a bit of softness in post is so easy though that using the filter in the digital age is pointless. Certainly in LR it's really easy, just add a little negative clarity. I think the clarity looks better than playing with the sharpening, as clarity in LR/ACR acts more on the finer detail than the larger features. It can be really easy to add it to a large number of images at once too.

Alan

GregoryF wrote in post #17390801
I can get shots as sharp as yogestee's as well, but then again I have a very sharp copy as well.

Most of my stuff I buy online. I buy from a seller in Hong Kong. My EF 50mm f/1.4 and 135L were bought from Hong Kong and both lenses are sharp as a tack. My EF 85mm f/1.8 I bought at a bricks and mortar store in Kuala Lumpur also sharp as a tack. In over 35 years in photography I've never had a lens that's 'less than a sharp copy'.

Another shot taken with the 50mm f/1.4 and once again wide open.

I've had a tough time with my 50mm 1.4 and ever since purchasing a 35mm f2 IS, I've wanted to sell it, but I can't bring myself to. I think I finally have the kinks worked out by micro-adjusting the lens to ~+10. Here's a shot I took the other day at f1.4. Below it is another at f2, where it is razor sharp already. It's a hate/love relationship.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pUA3​eu

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qjQB​Va

yogestee wrote in post #17391074
Most of my stuff I buy online. I buy from a seller in Hong Kong. My EF 50mm f/1.4 and 135L were bought from Hong Kong and both lenses are sharp as a tack. My EF 85mm f/1.8 I bought at a bricks and mortar store in Kuala Lumpur also sharp as a tack. In over 35 years in photography I've never had a lens that's 'less than a sharp copy'.

Another shot taken with the 50mm f/1.4 and once again wide open.

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forum: Canon Lenses

yogestee wrote in post #17391074
Most of my stuff I buy online. I buy from a seller in Hong Kong. My EF 50mm f/1.4 and 135L were bought from Hong Kong and both lenses are sharp as a tack. My EF 85mm f/1.8 I bought at a bricks and mortar store in Kuala Lumpur also sharp as a tack. In over 35 years in photography I've never had a lens that's 'less than a sharp copy'.

Another shot taken with the 50mm f/1.4 and once again wide open.

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What does a 100% crop look like on your focus point? Seems like you got lucky as I can't get my 50mm 1.4 to focus for anything. I used Focal to test and calibrate it on my 7D, wouldn't focus for anything. Sent it in to canon they sent it back saying they replaced two missing screws. Roughly same results. I just chalked it up to the lens itself as all the reviews, test shots, analysis etc of the lens was the same results as mine.

chexjc wrote in post #17391161
I've had a tough time with my 50mm 1.4 and ever since purchasing a 35mm f2 IS, I've wanted to sell it, but I can't bring myself to. I think I finally have the kinks worked out by micro-adjusting the lens to ~+10. Here's a shot I took the other day at f1.4. Below it is another at f2, where it is razor sharp already. It's a hate/love relationship.

You also said you did some sharpening too on your flickr page .