50mm f/1.2L

ElectronGuru wrote in post #16090977
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.

ElectronGuru, thanks for posting these pictures. I love looking at them. I have been in the process of trying to make a decision on a new lens. I have been considering the 50 1.2 and the 24-70 2.8 mark II. I do love the shots from the 50. I am just not sure the shallow depth of field is for me. Great pictures though...thanks for posting.

All of my photography is taking pictures of my grandchildren and family. I do some posed shots but mostly candid.

Sure thing, happy to help. Here's a larger set of a larger event:

http://www.flickr.com …t/sets/72157634​663242332/

Didn't notice for to long that many were hitting 1/40th with fast moving subjects


Your options are basically between wow and oh wow, hard to go wrong.

How important is the shallow DOF look to you?

How much work are you willing to put in to get it?

Do you generally prefer primes or zooms?

Do you just want to take social images with this lens?

If you think you know but don't quite know, try this: asign each lens to a side of a coin, toss the coin. Which option did you hope for?

If none of that helps, better rent one for a weekend.

mystik610 wrote in post #16080069
Yup. It's mostly an autofocus issue.

Uh, nope. Focus shift occurs when the lens diaphragm is stopped down to take the photo, not during autofocus. That's why there's no focus shift when the lens is used wide open, although the image may still be soft because of the optics at f/1.2.

But don't take my word for it:
http://photographylife​.com/what-is-focus-shift

Snafoo wrote in post #16140682
Uh, nope. Front focus occurs when the lens diaphragm is stopped down to take the photo, not during autofocus. That's why there's no focus shift when the lens is used wide open, although the image may still be soft because of the optics at f/1.2.

But don't take my word for it:
http://photographylife​.com/what-is-focus-shift

Exactly. It has nothing to do with autofocus, and everything to do with changing apertures between focusing (at 1.2) and taking the picture.

vengence wrote in post #16140919
Exactly. It has nothing to do with autofocus, and everything to do with changing apertures between focusing (at 1.2) and taking the picture.

?????? WTF ???

Lucy Brown wrote in post #16140971
?????? WTF ???

Sorry, Lucy - I didn't use the proper terminology in my post, in which I said that front focus isn't caused by AF. What I meant to say was that FOCUS SHIFT isn't caused by AF. Two different phenomena. Read the link I attached in my post and it should be clear. Also, I changed my earlier post to the correct term.

BTW, Part of this statement is wrong, too.

mystik610 wrote in post #16079116
...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.

Focus shift does get worse as you stop down, but the effect is negligible by about f/4 because the DOF at higher apertures becomes wider than the focus shift itself.

Lucy Brown wrote in post #16140971
?????? WTF ???

I'm talking about focus shift, read snafoo's link, it gives a decent explanation of it.

I had my first robust session with the 50L this past weekend, taking several hundred shots on a backpacking trip. I found that I was either shooting at f/1.2 or f/5.6 or higher, so the focus shift issue really didn't matter to me. The overall color rendition and the quality of the 1.2 shots have me giddy to shoot more with it.