50 1.4 vs 1.2 and 80 1.8 vs 1.2

please your serious opinions 50 1.4 vs the 1.2 and 80 1.8 vs 1.2

money is always a factor but not defining, i know the 1.4 and 1.8 have better value, but are the 1.2 and 1.8 BETTER - regardless of money, i.e. autofocus better, sharpness, CA, etc...

What are YOUR experiences?

Thanks you so very much!

I have the 50 1.2, and went straight to it without another 50mm before. For me, the focal length is my landscape, it's my walk around, and it's absolutely my portrait lens. (I shoot FF) The colours are beautiful, and contrast is excellent as well as the build obviously. I get a lot out of the f/1.2 because I love walk around shoots at night. It just works for me, and I have no regrets or doubts about spending the money.
Ultimately, I believe you need to make the decision for yourself by knowing who are as a photographer, and what your needs will be.

I only have 50 1.4 by canon. I would look into sigma 50 1.4.
own both 85 1.8 and 1.2. in the overlapping f stop image quality is very similar. 1.8 is faster focusing and much smaller and lighter. that much said, the 1.2 is just magical. worth 1300 more? well, if you got money, yes.

have you had any slowness with af the 50 1.2?

I did some tests last year when I borrowed the 50L and compared it to my very good copy 50/1.4.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=361006

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=361266

I also had both 85mm primes and have since sold the 85L. Don't get me wrong, the 85L is one stop faster and produces better image quality and bokeh but slow focusing and the large size/weight which caused me always to leave this lens at home. The 85/1.8 is certainly a fantastic lens and a real bargain IMO.

nicolasonline wrote in post #6349576
have you had any slowness with af the 50 1.2?

Honestly, I don't use it loads. I prefer manual focus, but the AF has been great to me. Dead on, all distances, any aperture and quick indeed.

sootyvrs wrote in post #6349761
I did some tests last year when I borrowed the 50L and compared it to my very good copy 50/1.4.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=361006

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=361266

I also had both 85mm primes and have since sold the 85L. Don't get me wrong, the 85L is one stop faster and produces better image quality and bokeh but slow focusing and the large size/weight which caused me always to leave this lens at home. The 85/1.8 is certainly a fantastic lens and a real bargain IMO.

This is giving me..... ahhh..... non-L fever!

Owned all 4

50f1.4 is a great lens. I got the 50F1.2 to use between F1.2 - F2
85 F1.8 is no slouch and much faster focusing than F1.2 version.

Money out of the question the "L" are better but not in the value jump you will pay compred to the next models down.

I own and have used the 85 1.8, 85 1.2L, 50 1.4, and the 50 1.2L, and consider them all great lenses.

From my real world picture taking experience with all four lenses, the Ls have better bokeh, color/contrast at all apertures, and better build quality than the non Ls. All four lenses are sharp. The Ls are noticeably sharper wider than f2, somewhere between f2 and f2.8 they become the same, and I can’t see a difference smaller than f2.8.The auto focus accuracy or “keeper rate” for the 50L is much better than the 50 1.4 wider than f2.8, and they are about the same smaller than f2.8. The “keeper rate” for the 85L is much better than the 85 1.8 wider than f2.2, and they are about the same smaller than f2.2. The focus speed is about the same for the 50s, while the 85L is slower than the 85 1.8.

If you mainly shoot smaller than f2.8, the Ls are a waste of money. If you mainly shoot wider than f2 they are definitely worth every penny. If you shoot somewhere in between or at a wide range of apertures, then it depends on how much of a defining factor money is.

My 50 1.2L is my favorite portrait lens on my crop, and walk around prime lens on my full frame camera. The 85L is my favorite portrait lens on my full frame camera. I haven’t used the non Ls since I got the 85L over two years ago and the 50L 21 months ago.

Good luck with whichever lenses you choose.

I started to get into party and low light photography about 2 years ago, and since I really like to catch the atmosphere and prefer to use available light as a result, I found I needed a body that could handle high isos well, and lenses that could handle low light well.

My first setup was 28 F/1.8, 50 F/1.8 Mk I, and 85 F/1.8. I got the 28 and 85 first. 28 needed only a single try for an excellent specimen, the 85 required 3 (fist one had decentering problems, the second one was soft, the third one was fine). By the time I got the 50 F/1.8, I had tried and tested 4 50 F/1.8 Mk IIs, 3 50 F/1.4s, and 3 50Ls, and a 50 F/2.5 CM for comparison. The 50Ls I tried showed the focus shift issue in the problem range, which was exactly the range I was going to use that lens in, so unfortunately it was out at the time. The 50 F/1.4s all had problems with focusing accurately in that range, and the 50 F/1.8 Mk IIs, although maybe a little slow, did work well. However, I didn't like the build of the Mk II, so I got a Mk I instead, and could get a deal for an 85L II, for which I used the rest of the 50L budget (and a little more ).

Anyway, the 28 was (very) sharp from F/2, the 85 from F/2.2 - F/2.5, and the 50 Mk I from F/1.8 - F/2. During the testing I did, I did notice that the 50L, outside of the problem zone (apertures F/1.4 to F/2.8, from MFD to about 1.5 m) was incredibly sharp, spot on, and had great colour, contrast and bokeh. So I knew I had ot get one eventually, once the problem was solved.

In the process, body wise I went from 350D to 400D X 2 to 40D, and added a 5D later.

This for a little background.

Now, the 85L was very sharp from F/1.4 and up, IMO way better than anything the 85 F/1.8 could produce, from F/2, and only maybe not seemingly very sharp at F/1.2 because of the shallow DoF. Bokeh, colour, contrast and sharpness of the 85L straight out of the cam are better than the 85 F/1.8 produces straight out of the cam.

The result was, even though the 85 F/1.8 focused much faster, I left it at home all the time, so I eventually sold it. It did not get camera time anymore.

Considering the results with the 85L, I had to try a 24L, and I was immediately sold and got one. And sold the 28 F/1.8 off a while later, with a little pain in my heart - excellent lens, but it did not get any camera time anymore, just like the 85 F/1.8 before. BTW, I did not get a 35L, because to me it is a weird lens. On FF it is neither fish nor meat (neither WA, neither standard), and on crop I just don't like the result either, for similar reasons I realize now - neither standard, nor tele.

So, the 50 F/1.8 was now the odd one out, and the difference was obvious. Time to try another 50L, especially as "reports from the field" seemed to indicate that the focus shift problem was under control by now. I tested another two, newer 50Ls, and indeed, no longer any significant or noticeable focus shift. However, both had backfocus problems, about 2 and 4 cm. And the third and last copy of the 50L went to another customer while I was testing the first two. Ok, I figured I could live with about 2 cm back focus, by adjusting after AF, and got that one. It was fine for a while, of course, until I had to use Ai Servo for a specific condition, and did not have time to adjust manually after AF. Off the 50L went, to Canon, for the first time. It did not really come back a lot better, just a little. About 1 cm backfocus or so, at my favourite distances. This is a pain when trying to focus on an eye from fairly nearby, I can assure you.

I ended up paying a personal visit to Canon (last Friday), and they recalibrated. It looks like it is better than before, and considering the difficulties in calibrating this lens, it is probably as perfect as it can get for now. Still need to do some real life shooting, but it will probably perform. One thing I noticed is that it seems sharper now at F/1.2 than it was before, but I still need to do a few comparisons to be sure.

To make a long story short: personally, I think the 85L is quite a bit better than the 85 F/1.8, and the 50L quite a bit better than the 50 F/1.4. This comes at a price, however. With the 85L it is mainly money, with the 50L you have to be prepared not only to fork out substantially more, but also to walk a long and difficult path, at least, that is how it seems to me, at least for my personal uses of this lens. Is this all worth it? To me, a wholehearted yes. To you, I can't say, you have to decide for yourself.

Of course, an option may be to get specimens of both sets of lenses, keep the one you prefer and sell the other. If you buy used, you will likely not lose any money doing so. You could also try renting these lenses, preferably the same FLs simultaneously, and buy what you like most or best.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

billppw and wim thank you so much that was amazing information!