I was not always a 50mm fan!
My first “good” lens was the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 – the nifty fifty. I shot everything with it and after a while got a little bored. The same perspective on every photo and I shot everything pretty much wide open. Fast forward a few years and had picked up an assortment great Canon lenses and the f/1.8 seemed a little cheap.
Introducing the EF 50mm f/1.4
Then I picked up the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. Bigger, thicked, better constructed and a 1/2 stop more light. I shot it a lot and really loved what it could do. F/1.4 was nice and stopped down a little bit to f/2 if was sharper than the f/1.8 lens. There were weeks when this lens never left my camera! And then the lens acquisition syndrome kicked in – why not buy the Cadillac of Worms the 50mm f/1.2?
The 50mm f/1.2 L – Love and Hate
When the Canon 50mm f/1.2 L came in the mail I fell in love instantly. So sturdy, so much beaufitful glass and that awesome Canon red ring! 50 test shots, a micro calibration, and 50 more test shots later I packed it up and sent it back! Most of the shots were out of focus, blurry and not really special!
Fast forward a year and bought it again. The same cycle of excitement and disappointment hit again! Sent it back! However, this time I did get some special shots that really impressed me…
Six months later I picked it up again (!) and this time I kept it!
Good copy of the lens – or I became a better photographer?
So what changed? I read about there being good copies and bad copies of lenses out there. I certainly believe that quality control has some plus and minus in it so maybe this is a possibility. However, reading around I think that the big manufacturers like Canon and Nikon have such good quality control that no way I received two bad copies of the lens. Lens Rentals would agree.
What changed was me! I became a better photographer. At f/1.2 the depth of field is about an inch! So if I want things to be in focus I need to focus on the proper place, keep the focus field flat (the people lined up and even) and not move the camera when I hit the shutter button.
The picture above shows just how magical the 50mm f/1.2 can be! Creamy backgound, acceptable sharpness for f/1.2, great separation of the couple from the background, and finally an interesting composition that only a 50mm could achieve.
This is why I love the 50mm f/1.2 and the picture above is one of my all time favorites.
Canon 50mm f/1.2 L | Canon 5D mkIV | 1/40sec at f/1.2
