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Others | Home » » » Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras | | | | | | | Description: | | The EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is a peerless new standard lens featuring an ultra-large aperture for a narrow depth of field and soft background blur so loved by photographers everywhere. The EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is suitable for any shooting situation; its lens coating and construction are optimized to minimize the ghosting and flare that frequently occurs when lenses are used with digital cameras. This high-performance, weather-resistant lens delivers all the superb image resolution and contrast you expect in a Canon L Series Lens. Sample Image MTF Chart | | | Features: | |
• High-performance, weather-resistant standard lens
• AF with full-time manual focus
• 50mm focal length
• f1.2 Maximum aperture; 72mm filter size
• UltraSonic Motor (USM)
• The focal length is 50mm
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.21 pounds | | Package Length:
| 6.3 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.5 inches | | Package Height:
| 5.4 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 86 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 86 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
118 of 119 found the following review helpful:
 Don't be scared. It is good lens.Oct 19, 2007
By Dong W. Kim
"evil twin"
I am not a professional photographer, or make living with taking pictures. I am just a person who loves to take pictures & enjoys good pictures. And, I know how expensive this lens is, and YES, I am very aware of "Back Focusing" issue with this lens that others worry. I have been using this lens for 3 weeks now, and have been experiencing good & bad about this lens. (I believe "back focusing" issue was way too much inflated.) I have EOS 5D, and wanted to take full advantage of FF factor, and this was why I took a plunge instead of getting acclaimed 35MM or 85MM.
Good:
Picture quality - from f1.2 thru f2.8, the lens works superbly. AF is fast & faster compared to 50mm 1.4. Above f2.8, the pictures become a touch soft, but it exceeded my expectation. In low light condition, this lens is virtually unbeatable.
Weight & Feel - Anoth factor that sold me to this lens is its overall feel. Very balanced & well weighted. And, its build quality is good.
Bad:
Back Focus - Yes, it does back focus in very (very) close distance. Within 20 inches, you may experience back focusing more than half of the time. (Others say within 30 inches or so, but I never experienced more than 20 inches far.) I asked myself how many times (in reality), I would try taking pictures within such distance.
Cost - Yes, this is expensive lens. 4 times more than very good 50mm 1.4.
I love to take portraits (especially for my new born baby) , and this was my main reason that I upgraded from 50mm 1.4 to 50mm 1.2. I would recommend this lens if you are into portraits. If you want more than what I am into, you may be disappointed. Did I make a good investment? Yes, I believe I did.
428 of 450 found the following review helpful:
Don't believe the reviews!Aug 29, 2007
By Mark J. Sebastian
The reviews of the 50mm f/1.2L are useless. All you hear is "Spend your money on the 35L or 85L instead" or "the focusing issues make this lens unuseable". But something makes me think that people are just writing reviews based on what other people have said without actually ever using the product.
If you ever want to shoot snapshots of downtown without a flash at midnight WHILE walking, this is the lens to have. I'm so in love with this lens.
Pros:
* It's completely silent. Quieter than the f/1.4
* It has no problems focusing in the dark
* It's highly useable at f1.2
* It's sharper than the f/1.4
* Colors are more saturated than the f/1.4
* Images taken with this lens have higher contrast than the f/1.4
* It makes the f/1.4 feel like a hunk of plastic
* It comes with a hood
Cons:
* It costs 4 times more than the f/1.4
* It costs 18 times more than the f/1.8
Pros:
* You can comfortably shoot under conditions that would make the f/1.4 nervous.
* Produces a much higher yield of useable photos
* Aesthetically, it's the coolest looking lens I own!
For those who are concerned about the "back focusing" issue, I will let you know that I haven't experienced any backfocusing at all. I've let others shoot with it, wide open, within low-light environments and even the non-photographers were able to focus/shoot accurately.
This is my review from my non-scientific, real-world, situational testing.
225 of 246 found the following review helpful:
 Hit or missMay 31, 2008
By MS
First off, in a previous life I worked as a portrait photographer. Nowadays it's more of a hobby, but I spend a significant amount of time involved in it, and have travelled to many countries specifically to take pictures. I know my way around a camera, but don't consider myself a pro.
I learned photography 'old school' in the film days; pick up a camera, put a 50mm lens on it, and shoot about 10000 pictures, then you can change lenses. Like a lot of photographers, the 50mm lens has a special place in my heart.
This still applies on the full frame 5D which I shoot with. I don't find the 50mm length useful on crop sensor bodies.
So in looking to fill this 50mm gap, over the last few years I have used the 50 1.8, the 1.4, and the 1.2. The 50 1.8 is actually pretty fantastic for the price. The focusing and build quality, along with the kinda crummy bokeh later led me to the 50 1.4 which I have been pretty happy with. The 1.4 has good bokeh, decent build quality.
What led me to try the 50 1.2 was that the 1.4 seemed to miss focus often enough (maybe 2/10 shots) that I ended up throwing away some photos that would have been quite good had it hit properly. Though the price is quite a bit steeper, I figured the 1.2 was probably going to be worth it, as I have been extremely impressed by most of the L lenses from canon.
I hate to say it, but I am pretty disappointed. I have tried 2 different copies now. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad lens. But I ended up returning both copies soon after getting them for a few reasons. First, there's the well-known backfocus issue that I will not go into except to say, both of my copies backfocused a bit, but not so much I couldn't live with it. It was about 2-4 mm.
The second reason I returned them is that it misses focus nearly as often as the 50 1.4. And don't mistake this for operator error in a very shallow depth-of-field. My real-world shots along with tripod test shots often were out of focus for no apparent reason. Taking 3 shots without moving the camera or subject would only yield 1/3 in focus shots. (and none of my other lenses have this issue so it can't be blamed on the camera: 17-40, 24-105, 85 1.8, 70-200/2.8, 135, 100-400).
Third, and worst of all, aside from a small improvement in bokeh at 1.2, there is very little difference in most comparison shots between the 1.4 and the 1.2. I suspect that the 1.2 would hold up better in flare situations and other times, but in my real-world shooting, my 1.4 is sharper and has the same color and contrast rendition. I'm not a photojournalist in Somalia so while the build quality is nice, I don't forsee breaking my 1.4 anytime soon and if it does I can pick up 3 more backup copies for the same price as the 1.2.
I really hope Canon comes out with a 50mm that befits the L standard someday. I'll be the first to buy it and try to hide the receipt from my wife. But for now, in my opinion, it's just not in this lens.
33 of 35 found the following review helpful:
You need to buy this lens...Dec 27, 2007
By Bogus Exception
The build quality is outstanding. The lens ends up being a bit heavier than you'd expect, as a result. The DoF is razor thin at f/1.2. The bokeh is liquid smooth, and with my 40D I can't even hear the USM focusing in AF. I included a few pics for this product.
The 72mm filter/lens size is expectedly a big step up from the 50mm f/1.4's 58mm, and matches my other lens' threading. If you are a casual photographer taking pics of your kids, the f/1.4 will do fine. You probably won't see the difference. But if you blow up and print your shots, or have occasion to sell your photos, then you will most definitely see the difference. The f/1.8 has 5 blades, the f/1.4 has 8,and the f/1.2 has 8-but those blades are curved to produce silky smooth background/foregrounds when the lens is wide open.
The damped rubber focus ring lets me change focus (even in AF) predictably as it has a good "feel" to it compared to a ring with no resistance. I have heard all the comments about back focus, but honestly I haven't seen it. I've even setup a few tests, and it looks crisp down to a subject being 13" from the lens (which is the closest the AF will work). Maybe it's the new 40D (v1.0.5) I'm using?
And the biggest surprise was how dark it can be while this thing still functions. It's now really easy to be discrete in dark rooms, now!
Anyway... find a way to buy this lens.
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Favorite LensAug 18, 2010
By E
I toyed for months over buying this lens. I was very happy with my 50 1.4, and was leery over purchasing this lens because of various focusing issues and mixed reviews I've read. One day, however, I decided to take the plunge and am so happy that I did.
Hands down, this lens is my favorite lens and is absolutely fantastic. I've now owned this lens for 8 months and it is on my camera 90% of the time (that title was perviously held by my 35 1.4L). Using this lens at 1.2 is amazing; it allows you to really hone in on a certain subject which makes the image really strong and powerful; not to mention, delicious creamy bokeh and super sharpness. I am a wedding and senior portrait photographer and when I use 1.2 for a single subject face close-up, eyes are super sharp and colorful. Most of the time I use the lens at either 2.0 or 2.2, and images at those apertures are super colorful and sharp (much more so than the 50 1.4). With this lens, images seem to come to life and look super sharp, yet creamy and smooth at the same time. It's definitely brought my portraits up to a new level, and playing with the 1.2 this lens has is really fun!
Construction is beautiful! It's solid and heavy, as every L lens should be. I once (gasp!) dropped this lens VERY hard on concrete while trying (and apparently failing) to do a quick lens change. It fell face down, without a filter, and I was devastated to pick it up and inspect the damage. I was SO happy and relieved to see it survived the fall without any damages to the external structure or internal function. Believe me, I did several focus tests to make sure the focus was still accurate and nothing was "bumped" out of place for the fall, but have not noticed any changes in focusing speed, color, or sharpness since the fall 7 months ago.
I have not experienced the infamous focusing issues reported on some other reviews. I'm not sure if it was just my luck with a good copy, but it has not had any focusing issues on my 5D or 5D MK II. Focus was tack-sharp straight out of the box, and have not experienced any focusing issues since. Focus zips into place both quickly, and quietly.
Overall, this is a fantastic lens and is worth every penny. Image quality and lens durability is more than worth the price. I only wish I would have bought this lens sooner!
See all 86 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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