Canon 50mm f1

The test is performed on a full frame EOS 5D. Special thanks to Stephen Lee (aka Hacker in Clubsnap) who has generously (and courageously) loaned me his brand new 50mm f1.2 L lens. I'm a total stranger to him and he simply knows me through my earlier review on the 50mm f1.4 vs f1.8.

My test is well illustrated with photographs, and will show your visually how the lens will perform. The test is nothing scientific but will serve its purpose well for simple minded people, like myself, who have a hard time interpreting graphs, charts and figures.

So, let's look at how the light source is being rendered by shooting directly into the light source. The L lens has a very distinct circular purple rim formed around the hotspot. The L lens flares at f1.2 and f1.4 but from f2 onwards, flare is well controlled. Considering that most who use the f1.2 are likely to use it for wedding and stage events and is common to have spot lights shinning directly at you. Having such flare may not be desirable.

Now, let's look at how the light is being reflected inside the lens element and what sort of shape is being rendered. The flare formed by the L lens is less appealing compared to the f1.4.

Finally, let's look at the colour and contrast around the hotspot. The L lens seems to be better control in this aspect and the image is less affected by the bright light source. Also, did u notice the internal reflection on the L lens around the green bar?

The bokeh produced by the f1.2 really looks much better than the f1.4. It should be the best bokeh 50mm lens. Previoulsy, I've done a comparison between the Contax Zeiss Planar and the EF 1.4 and the Zeiss wins by a hairline under close examination. Here, we have the f1.2 beating the f1.4 handsdown!

Both lenses render highlights as round circle in the centre and cat-eye at the edges. The f1.2 produces a rounder and nice circle as the aperture stops down. A point to note is some highlights on the f1.2 looks as if someone has cut away the edge. This is very apparent on the cat-eye highlights. Rico from www.fredmiranda.com commented that this type of "cut edge" in the OOF highlight test is caused by the mirror in its upward position during the exposure. This indicates that the 50L has a broad light cone (geometry of the exit pupil).

This is the most important test to most people. But I have to admit upfront that my newspaper target test is in no way scientific. To me, the sharpness test is the most tricky part. I've conducted some earlier tests with error that shows blurry images on the L lens. I can't pinpoint to what exactly causes the error but many factors may come into play such as front/back focus, filters and even the possibility of having slight condensation on the filter / lens.

I didn't bother to remove the filters in my initial test since my simple test doesn't measure the sharpness down scientifically down in numbers. Frankly, having a filter on is not going to affect the images much for my type of test, unless the filter in use is really a bad one. In the faulted test, the L lens has very blur images while the f1.4 produced super sharp that surprised many people. Many readers jump straight into the conclusion that my test if faulty since I placed a filter on the L lens, without regarding the context of my test. However, it is not surprising that none attribute the f1.4's extra-ordinary sharp images to the filter.

This spirit of this test is not meant to compare the L lens head to head with the f1.4. But rather, the f1.4 is used as a benchmark against the sharpness of the L lens.

Lights fall off aside, the colours on the f1.4 seems to be packed with more contrast. On the other hand, the L lens looks clean and fresh and looks very suitable for portrait shots. Coming soon - Portrait shots comparison.

CA at f1.2 is very obvious and improves as the L lens is stopped down. Beside the obvious purple fringe, notice that there is also green fringe on the washing machine.

Again, Rico from www.fredmiranda.com commented that this type of color fringing is of the LCA variety (longitudinal). While not ideal, this amount is fairly acceptable, and is equal to that of the Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4. Unlike TCA (lateral color), LCA is quickly eliminated by stopping down.

Here's some real-life shots with the 50mm lens, shot wide open.at f1.2. Getting the focus right on is really a challenge. My success rate can be as low as 10%, such as the backstage shots of the Chinese opera artist with white hair. Even with better lights, such as the old man sitting down at Chinatown, getting his eye sharp in focus is difficult. Unless he faces the camera directly, the camera has a hard time focusing the human eye. As for the shots of my kids with flash, success rate increases since the flash emits focus assist light.

The bokeh produced by this len, although smooth and creamy, looks pretty ordinary that lacks signature, such as those found in the EF 85mm f1.2 and, of course, the Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.0 with surreal bokeh.

	Canon EF 50mm f1.2	Canon EF 50mm F1.4
What Canon says	Thi standard lens features a super-wide maximum aperture of f/1.2. Taking advantage of shallow depth of field allows the photographer to capture subjects with impact, such as for wedding portraits. Use of an aspherical lens effectively corrects spherical aberrations and delivers sharp, high contrast images even with the aperture fully open. Another attractive aspect of the lens is its circular aperture that creates beautiful background blur. Coupled with silent, high-speed autofocusing and full-time manual focus override for subtle focusing adjustment, this lens satisfies professionals both in image quality and operability.	By optimally distributing power with a gauss type design and two high-refraction glass lenses, flare at maximum aperture is minimised and astigmatism is greatly reduced. Moreover, improvements in the quality of the focused image and the beautiful natural blur of the background are simultaneously achieved. Use of a Micro USM (Micro Ultrasonic Motor) provides fast, silent autofocusing, as well as full-time manual focus. The colour balance is virtually identical to the ISO recommended reference values.
Angle of View (horizontal, vertical, diagonal)	40º, 27º, 47º
No. of Diaphragm Blades	8
Closet Focusing Distance	45cm
Maximum Magnification	0.15x
Lens Construction (elements/groups)	8/6	7/6
Minimum Aperture	f16	f22
Filter diameter	72mm	58mm
Drive System	Ring-type USM	Micro USM
Max Diameter X Length	85.8mm X 65mm	73.8mm X 50.5mm
Water/dust resistance	Yes	No
Weight	590g	290g

	50mm f1.2	50mm f1.4
f1.2
f1.4
f2
f2.8
f4

	50mm f1.2	50mm f1.4
f1.2
f1.4
f2
f2.8
f4
f5.6

	50mm f1.2	50mm f1.4
f1.2
f1.4
f2
f2.8
f4
f5.6

Canon 50mm f1.2 vs f1.4