Canon 50mm f1.2 Owners - Would You Recommend?

andym172 wrote in post #2580165
It's quite easy for me:

Easily my most used lens is my 35L, but there are times when I wish it was a touch longer.

I love my 85L, but sometimes I wish it was just a touch wider.

Where does that take you? The 50L I had thought

Canon MP-E 65mm?

chancellor wrote in post #2580186
Well, well, Mr. Malone himself... The 28-300L cannot be boring due to the possibilities of it's range. It can be boring because it's not f/1.4, but focal length-wise - nah.

Cheers.

I suppose if owning one zoom to cover a wide range is your cup of tea, then you're right. Your satisfaction and happines is most important after all. And I'm not mad at you about the 16-35L. I just like giving you sh!t.

*Thread jacking complete*

andym172 wrote in post #2579542
It's currently 5 vs 2 in favour of waiting for Canon to sort the quality issues out, so I think I shall wait.

What a shame!

[/smartass mode on]
350D_noob, Ogrt48, I'm not sure whether your experiences with your 50/1.8 are 100% relevant for this question.
[/smartass mode off]

... so it might be closer to 3 vs 3 ...

not a conclusive sample still.

Best regards,
Andy

If the 35L were $1700 USD, would it be getting the same kind of scrutiny the 50L is getting? AF speed aside, the 50L produces images every bit as good as my 35L and in some shots I've taken, better.

FWIW

ayotnoms wrote in post #2581161
If the 35L were $1700 USD, would it be getting the same kind of scrutiny the 50L is getting? AF speed aside, the 50L produces images every bit as good as my 35L and in some shots I've taken, better.

FWIW

Absolutely! And the back-focusing issue does seem to be overblown by the few who have reported the problem. But the fact remains that there does appear to be a problem to some degree. I would normally dismiss it as "user error" on their part, but now I'm really starting to wonder. I've checked, double check and re-checked again to see if I notice a BF problem, but I just can't get myself to trust the results of a lens chart. I know it works just fine in the real world and that's what really matters at the end of the day. We didn't buy our glass to take countless photos of lens charts while simutaneously wasting shutter actuations.

AF issues or non-issues aside, the 50L IQ is simply amazing. It displays all the same optical qualities of the *holy trinity*, which I think should now be re-named The Four Horsemen to include the new 50L. I shot some mundane stuff outside and the results continue to exceed my expectations. This is a damn fine lens.

Lord, I'm sure the f/1.2 is a one fine lens. In all fairness (to ayotnoms post) 85L II had even worse scrutiny when came out. I think it has to do with the popularity of the lens, which in return translates to price.

It seems that any (non-200mm f/1.8L) prime that comes in on the north side of $1500 USD, better produce flawless image quality across all apertures, sharp enough to notice the different shade of brown on a little girls freckles, and even increase the users self esteem by 15%.

I'm with LM on this. For my non-back/front focus, non-lens box, non-focus chart test shots, this lens delivers the goods.

"...And one focal length to bind them"

50's are awesome for what they are: Jacks of all trades. Wanna pretend it's a wide angle? Get in close! Long-ish? Shoot broader subjects with flattish backgrounds. The 50 is magic.

I'm getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger on this lens. I have the 135/2L and it doesn't get much use to be honest, whereas my 50/1.4 gets a huge amount of use. I'm therefore considering losing both in favour of the 50/1.2.

There is a huge discussion on FM about this lens. The current topic is back-focusing issues which seem to be more common on 1-series bodies. I cant get mine to back-focus on my 5D (fortunately). The FM thread is here if anyone is interested. http://www.fredmiranda​.com/forum/topic/46782​8/156

I have included some focus tests I did to evaluate the lens on my camera. The first is at f1.2 then a 50% crop.

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Here is the focus test at f2.8 with a 50% crop. There are definately many good copies of this lens out there. Just purchase from a good vendor and do some testing of your own.

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I think the focusing issue on the 1 series bodies may have something to do with the number of active AF points selected. People are starting to see accurate results when the AF points are reduced from 45 to 11 or 9. So it may not be the lens. I'm continuing to monitor the situation closely.

Lord_Malone wrote in post #2583978
I think the focusing issue on the 1 series bodies may have something to do with the number of active AF points selected. People are starting to see accurate results when the AF points are reduced from 45 to 11 or 9. So it may not be the lens. I'm continuing to monitor the situation closely.

Someday I want a 1-series but I dont think I could keep track of 45 AF points. I keep my 5D reduced to center point only for almost all situations.

mebailey wrote in post #2584023
Someday I want a 1-series but I dont think I could keep track of 45 AF points. I keep my 5D reduced to center point only for almost all situations.

Check your PM, dude. I have an idea.

Here is a pretty definitive answer to back-focusing/Canon QC issues with the 50L.
http://www.wlcastleman​.com …L/backfocus/bac​kfocus.htm