Canon Primes: 35L vs. 50L ??

Hoping for some input.

I'm not so concerend with focal length being they are so close to eachother. I'm planning to use this for (indoor/outdoor portraits), I feel I can make either work on my 1.6x crop, just a few steps forward or back.

I'm wondering about general IQ differences and lens characteristic, and importantly AF accuracy!

I've done little research and found these comments, but not sure how true they are:

35L - sharper lens overall all but doesnt have 50mm bokeh

vs.

50L - not as sharp, even at 1.4 - I've even read people call it outright soft.
50L - focus shift issues

Is this accurate?

Question - Does the 35L have focus shift issues like reported with the 50L ?

Thanks, and any other comments/input would be great!

EDIT: - my desire is to get the best bokeh, but not at the expense of tact sharpness and AF reliability.

For covering both indoor and outdoor portraits, 35L on a crop is a good choice. 50mm on crop is a little too long for indoor. My 35mm has no focus shift on my 7D. A microadjustment of +2 is needed to yield the sharpest results, and it's auto focus on 7D is extremely fast and very consistant/reliable.

I can use the lens as a workaround lens on 7D whole day without too much of problem...very versatile indeed.

It's bokeh is the best for this focal legth range. Don't compare it's bokeh to those produced by longer FL L lenses.... that's apple to orange. If you intend to blur the backgrounds, you should be looking at something long and fast, not a 35mm lens. For that, I would suggest to consider 70-200/2.8L's

35L is one of the best lenses I have ever owned. Good luck.

On the 7D, I'd say the 35 would be the typical. Although, if you're looking for something like a portraiture lens, the 50 would be akin to the 85L on FF.

mdgrwl wrote in post #11656078
Does the 35L have focus shift issues like reported with the 50L?

No, it has a floating element. I imagine Canon assumed those buying the 50mm f/1.2 at the price they charge would have been formally trained in photography and know that focus shift was likely without that feature.

I like the bokeh on my 35mm f/1.4. There are few practical situations where you want to open up wider than f/2 at these focal lengths, so you shouldn't be influenced by the (slight) difference between f/1.4 and f/1.2.

Thanks for the input so far guys.

Like I said, I can work with either 35mm or 50m FL. I'll be using this outdoors (85% and indoors 15%), so if I had to choose on FL alone, I would say I'm leaning towards te 50mm. Luckily they are so close, its only a few steps forward or back.

But having said that -

From my brief research, there seems to be more unhappy with their 50L (reported AF issues & softness).

melcat wrote in post #11656583
No, it has a floating element. I imagine Canon assumed those buying the 50mm f/1.2 at the price they charge would have been formally trained in photography and know that focus shift was likely without that feature.

I like the bokeh on my 35mm f/1.4. There are few practical situations where you want to open up wider than f/2 at these focal lengths, so you shouldn't be influenced by the (slight) difference between f/1.4 and f/1.2.

I'm a little confused by this post.

Is this what your trying to say? - The 50L has no floating element, so focus **** is more prevelent? And the 35L does not share this design.

Correct?

mdgrwl wrote in post #11657340
Thanks for the input so far guys.

Like I said, I can work with either 35mm or 50m FL. I'll be using this outdoors (85% and indoors 15%), so if I had to choose on FL alone, I would say I'm leaning towards te 50mm. Luckily they are so close, its only a few steps forward or back.

But having said that -

From my brief research, there seems to be more unhappy with their 50L (reported AF issues & softness).

Outdoor? Try 50 f/1.4 usm, sharp, no misfocus, and the bokeh isn't bad either.

mdgrwl wrote in post #11656078
Hoping for some input.

I'm not so concerend with focal length being they are so close to eachother. I'm planning to use this for (indoor/outdoor portraits), I feel I can make either work on my 1.6x crop, just a few steps forward or back.

I'm wondering about general IQ differences and lens characteristic, and importantly AF accuracy!

I've done little research and found these comments, but not sure how true they are:

35L - sharper lens overall all but doesnt have 50mm bokeh

vs.

50L - not as sharp, even at 1.4 - I've even read people call it outright soft.
50L - focus shift issues

Is this accurate?

Question - Does the 35L have focus shift issues like reported with the 50L ?

Thanks, and any other comments/input would be great!

EDIT: - my desire is to get the best bokeh, but not at the expense of tact sharpness and AF reliability.

it should be noted that complaints about focus issues with the Canon 50mmL have trailed off, probably due to manufacturing improvements together with more information about how it works

Canon engineers have commented that all cameras have a few %age points difference in the alignment of the focus point and centre focus to where you see them on the screen.
With f1.8 and above this is not an issue but with f1.2 can make a significant difference. You can take your camera to Canon to have the centre focus point aligned more precisely if you think you have a problem.
Why is the reported less with the 85mmL ? don't know. probably a combination of the floating element and the fact that people tend to be further away from the subject when they focus.

Remember, at f1.2 you can't (i) shake, or (ii) focus and recompose

rgds

KY707 wrote in post #11657363
Outdoor? Try 50 f/1.4 usm, sharp, no misfocus, and the bokeh isn't bad either.

I've had that lens twice and returned both. Its a decent lens, but too soft for me at the aperatures I want to use them at. f2.0 and below.

mdgrwl wrote in post #11657413
I've had that lens twice and returned both. Its a decent lens, but too soft for me at the aperatures I want to use them at. f2.0 and below.

The 50/1.2L isn't really sharper than the 50/1.4, it just has a different (and by most tastes better) look to the OOF regions.

The 35L is a sharper lens than the 50L.

JeffreyG wrote in post #11657448
The 50/1.2L isn't really sharper than the 50/1.4, it just has a different (and by most tastes better) look to the OOF regions.

The 35L is a sharper lens than the 50L.

the 50L is sharper then the 50f1.4 under f2. Over f2 there is no real difference.

35L has sharper corners

remember that the reason to get the 50mm f1.2 is the georgous bokeh, coatings and f1.2. for me the focus is perfect

JeffreyG wrote in post #11657448
The 50/1.2L isn't really sharper than the 50/1.4, it just has a different (and by most tastes better) look to the OOF regions.

The 35L is a sharper lens than the 50L.

Thanks. Comments like these help my decision process.

I'm also a little worried about distortion for portrait work with the 35L... should I be?

My thoughts are no as I'm on a 1.6x crop.

colonel wrote in post #11657471
the 50L is sharper then the 50f1.4 under f2. Over f2 there is no real difference.

35L has sharper corners

remember that the reason to get the 50mm f1.2 is the georgous bokeh, coatings and f1.2. for me the focus is perfect

have you said this from first hand experience? i see a lot of comments that the 50L isn't such a sharp lens below f2.0

mdgrwl wrote in post #11657589
have you said this from first hand experience? i see a lot of comments that the 50L isn't such a sharp lens below f2.0

yes. I have a 50mm f1.2

most of those comments are from people who haven't had the lens, have it but don't know how to use it or unlucky enough (extremely few) to have a bad copy, which can happen with any lens.

The fact is that the corner sharpness from the 50mm f1.2 is lower then the 50mm f1.4 but makes no practical difference.
The 50mmL is infinitely better then the 50mmf1.4 between f1.2 and f1.4

Read some of the blogs by real photographers using it rather then bland reviews measuring MTF50 at infinity

Lastly, note that as I mentioned above, people buy the 50mmL for a range of things. Although sharp, it is not the sharpest kid on the block, for that you will need something like the Zeiss 50mm makro f2

rgds