50mm f/1.2L

I just picked up this lens a few weeks ago and have been loving it! I know there are some design issues with this lens and people say once you learn how to use it you will get great results. Most of my pictures taken below f4 are soft. I just sent my camera and lens to canon to have calibrated together.

What do I need to know about this lens to get the best results?

There's no trick, it's just a very shallow depth of field. Be careful not to reposition/recompose, lean or use one shot AF on a moving subject when below f/1.8.

Do you have any examples of the soft shots? I have owned two copies and neither was soft...

Full:
http://www.mishawakawe​ddingphotography.com/p​891632038/e69192f30

Crop:
http://www.mishawakawe​ddingphotography.com/p​891632038/e607129de

Focus shift is an inherent reality derived from the design of the lens (lack of a floating element). As such, its not the lens I reach for when I want consistently tack sharp images. Canon asserts that a floating element was left out of the design in order to allow for more uncorrected spherical aberration, allowing for extremely smooth bokeh, and the overall dreamy quality of the 50 1.2 (these are the reasons I reach for the lens).

There are some 'tricks' to more consistently nailing focus with this lens though:

Try not to frame your subjects at or near to the minimum focus distance.

Don't focus and re-compose. In fact, try to snap the shot immediately after the AF locks.

The lens' AF is most accurate wide open, and focus shift is more prevalent as you stop down. If you're shooting at a large aperture, opt to shoot at f1.2, if possible.

So basically just some autofocus issues. If I use manual focus I shouldn't have any problems considering I get focus correct? I do get very sharp video with this lens.

The 50 1.2 is by far the trickiest lens I've had to learn, it can be a head-scratcher focus-wise until you understand it. Mystik sums it up well though, if you do what he says the lens becomes a champion.

entrefoto wrote in post #16079701
So basically just some autofocus issues. If I use manual focus I shouldn't have any problems considering I get focus correct? I do get very sharp video with this lens.

Yup. It's mostly an autofocus issue.

I don't think there is anything wrong with your lens - this lens is soft at close focus distances until f/4 or so (MFD to about 1.5m or so)

Try using Live view + manual focus at focus on something 3m away - it should be sharp even at f/1.2

This entire set was shot with AF at 1.2:

http://www.flickr.com …t/sets/72157634​042378388/

Normal portrait distances, full servo, 0 MA. These are the keepers out of 140 shots, but the rejects were mostly compositional, not focus issues. If your subject is not sitting/posing, the time between focus lock and trigger is arbitrary and capricious. Pretend you're shooting macro, handheld.

Set your camera to use only the cross point focus sensors. This will help on kids and other moving subjects.

It looks like good decision to send it for calibration.

Was reading here and where how soft it is wide open, focus shift...

Switched from 50 1.4 ZE to 50L.

Sharp at 1.2, no AF issues with 5Dc and EOS3.
Seems like straightforward lens to me.

ahh man Im scared now!! I was planning on getting one tomorrow

Mr_Smith4852 wrote in post #16095101
ahh man Im scared now!! I was planning on getting one tomorrow

Every purchase is a risk. I bought the three lenses in my sig, all in the same month (went a little crazy buying and selling my entire setup).

All were new, all came from the same shop. 50 was perfect out of the box. TSE aperture was so stuck out of the box, I had to exchange it for a new one. Couldn't even take a picture above 3.5!

Replacement is amazing.

Buy from a good place and exchange/return if it doesn't work out.

mystik610 wrote in post #16079116
Focus shift is an inherent reality derived from the design of the lens (lack of a floating element). As such, its not the lens I reach for when I want consistently tack sharp images. Canon asserts that a floating element was left out of the design in order to allow for more uncorrected spherical aberration, allowing for extremely smooth bokeh, and the overall dreamy quality of the 50 1.2 (these are the reasons I reach for the lens).

There are some 'tricks' to more consistently nailing focus with this lens though:

Try not to frame your subjects at or near to the minimum focus distance.

Don't focus and re-compose. In fact, try to snap the shot immediately after the AF locks.

The lens' AF is most accurate wide open, and focus shift is more prevalent as you stop down. If you're shooting at a large aperture, opt to shoot at f1.2, if possible.

I didn't know that about the min focus distance with the 1.2 but found it to be true with a recent test with the 50 1.2 vs 50 1.4 vs Rokonin 35 T1.5 http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=0KbO0R3xWqk