Canon 50mm F1.2 L V Nifty 50 test

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PapaLazarou

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Well I got myself a Canon 50mm F1.2 L the other day and just before I sell my 50mm F 1.8 (nifty 50) I thought I would do a test. Well as for build quality there is a huge difference as you can imagine. But the test is not about build but how the shots compare, the glass. I found that the 50mm F1.2 L gave me brighter sharper images all through the aperture range, but not a huge difference. It does give much better bokeh then the 50mm F1.8. But is it worth the £750 more, for me as a wedding photographer yes it is, but the nifty 50 is a class lens in it's own right.

All shots are taken under the same lighting conditions.

A single focus point is on the righ eye of Mickey.

F_1_8_L.JPG


50mm F1.2 L at F1.8

F_1_8.JPG


Nifty 50 at F1.8

F_2_5_L.JPG


50mm F1.2 L at F2.5

F_2_5.JPG


Nifty 50 at F2.5

F_5_6_L.JPG


50mm L at F5.6

F_5_6.JPG


Nifty 50 at F5.6
 
I really couldn't justify the £750 difference but if your happy I'm happy :)
 
Very interesting. I'm hiring the 1.2 at the end of the month for my hols - before deciding whether to buy the nifty - or ?
 
The L is sharper at wider apertures and the bokeh is much smoother at f/1.8 but at f/5.6 there really isn't much to tell between them. Hmm, the f/1.8 seems to have a slight green cast as well :shrug:
 
Sorry but I'm not about to take anything from some mickey mouse test. Thought you were a pro.
icon_rolleyes.gif


:coat: ;)
 
There doesn't seem to be much of a difference, as has been said by most. May be a more fair test would be to shoot with a busier background and then compare the bokeh!? :shrugs:
 
And the difference between the 50mm 1.2 L and 50mm 1.4 are even smaller, probably one of canons worst L lens's for the money.
 
Wail said:
There doesn't seem to be much of a difference, as has been said by most. May be a more fair test would be to shoot with a busier background and then compare the bokeh!? :shrugs:
Click to expand...

I thought that after I did the shots, might do it 2 moz.
 
What is the body of the nifty like, does it have the plastic mount of the cheap canon range?
 
Give the guy a break :D dude do a proper test and post the results, maybe check the test procedures on some review sites, then get back on here!!! :D

Seems excessive price, but if you can afford it, who cares :D

Gary with a stuck grin :D
 
Have to say that I had a similar quandry with an 85mm F1.8 that I bought recently. Tested it against my 50mm F1.8 and once you took into account the difference in focal length, there was virtually nothing in it.
In my case, I was just glad I'd bought the 85mm from Amazon, and took advantage of their returns system. I'll be using the funds for a better camera body.
 
Here is a real world test with the sharpness of the 50mm F 1.2 L showing.

Canon 1DMKIII Body

50mm F 1.2 L at F 4.5

Wed_1.jpg


Wed_1c.jpg


50mm F 1.8 at F 4.5

Wed_2.jpg


Wed_2c.jpg
 
Interesting test, thanks for sharing.

Question though: your real world test showed you using both at f4.5 - is this the kind of aperture size you would pick for portraits? Don't ask me - I've never even attempted any serious portraits!

I think the f1.2 is better in that last test, but hard to say when its two different subjects in two different places and dramatically different lighting...

You forgot to say, the F1.2 makes you look more like a pro worthy of the fee you are charging for their wedding pics... looking impressive has to count in this game no?
 
TBH both test shots look pretty good to me :thinking: but I doubt the downsizing for the forum helps? I have the 1.8 and think it's great value but if I could afford the 1.2 I'd have it

Steve
 
printed might be a different storey, but for me from the samples the f/1.8 looks just as good and costs £750 less (y) :)
 
Not convinced its worth the extra :shrug:

If I'm honest, I never have been. The results wide open are usually quite poor for the f/1.2 lenses in my opinion, and when stopped down the results are only marginally better than their f/1.8 counterparts. Again, in my opinion.
Each to their own, obviously, and I bet a lot of people wouldn't see the need for anything lower than 30mm, or a tilt-shift lens, for example.
 
Thats actually healpfull thanks
i was looking into this a while ago trying to see what the diferance is and there it is for me to see, the 1.2 L is giving better pics by the looks of it and i should hope so for the money.
 
From my test I would say the 50mm F 1.2 L is much sharper with better brighter pictures.
The bokeh is much smoother, and it's USM of course. Also the images from the F1.2 L seem more punch to them and more life to them.

The build of the 2 lenses is worlds apart the F1.8 feels like a kids toy, but the F1.2 L is one big chunk of solid glass and metal. But dont get me wrong the nifty 50 is a good lens for the price.
 
From test I did with both lenses I found that F4.5 was the best F Stop for portraits. I found that F1.2 through to F2.8 had a very shallow depth of field for head and shoulders shots. Using both lenses at around F4.5 gave me good sharp pictures with no out of focus parts of the face. Thats not to say that shots at around F2.8 didnt work, I just find that around F4.5 the lenses peaked for head shots.
 
Looking at the mickey mouse test, you can instantly see that the the 50mm 1.2 produces a much brighter sharper image at 1.8, when it comes to the 5.6 images its difficult to tell the difference between them. However the difference in brightness is really noticeable on this screen.

The 1.2 looks much brighter to my untrained eye :)
 
The 50mm 1.4 aperture for aperture is the best choice of the Canon standard lenses especially considering most pictures in general are shot at f3.5 or smaller, in my opinion, unless you need such an optic for a specialized purpose ( shooting black cats in coal cellars )not just to impress the natives.
The sample pictures in your test could have been taken with any Canon 50mm lens, the 1.2 L is intended for extremely low light situations, where it's the only way to get a shot.
Please don't think this is sour grapes, I have owned a Canon FD 50mm f1.2 L lens for more than twenty years and very rarely use it, I also own the 1.8, and 1.4 and honestly believe the 1.4 knocks spots off the others.
 
Well said ^^^:D:LOL::D(y)

Bang for buck the nifty is EXCELLENT!

The shifty 50 is so not worth it IMHO...AND AT THAT PROHIBITIVE PRICE!:eek:

Had it not been for appearance and all that I would happily shoot paying jobs with a nifty. The one I had was neutral where my 1.4 is rather warm...
 
Well this test has convinced me the £50 i paid for my nifty fifty is money well spent. Bargain lens.

F1.2 - would love one, couldn't justify it, and it wouldn't make much difference to me, bar make me feel good :D
 
Anton Roland said:
Had it not been for appearance and all that I would happily shoot paying jobs with a nifty.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I speculated that earlier too...
 
nice test papa, just wondering how the 1.4 version compares now.:thinking:
 
mho said:
And the difference between the 50mm 1.2 L and 50mm 1.4 are even smaller, probably one of canons worst L lens's for the money.
Click to expand...

The 1.4 is a fine lens, but fragile, I had the focusing fail on three of them before I got a 1.2, which is solid as a rock.

... and brighter, and more contrasty, and produces better colour & bokeh.
 
WeddingHack said:
The 1.4 is a fine lens, but fragile, I had the focusing fail on three of them before I got a 1.2, which is solid as a rock.

... and brighter, and more contrasty, and produces better colour & bokeh.
Click to expand...

Absolutely love your site and portfolio - wow.

Gary.
 
I had the f1.4 until a friend of mine accidentaly dropped it, trying to get it back on insurance at the moment - I loved the lens and it was the one that took up main residence on my camera!

This was taken with it in failing light (please bear in mind that this is a snapshot only, no thought just point and shot!):

1265921850_3d2ed26da3.jpg
 
Snowball said:
I had the f1.4 until a friend of mine accidentaly dropped it, trying to get it back on insurance at the moment - I loved the lens and it was the one that took up main residence on my camera!

This was taken with it in failing light (please bear in mind that this is a snapshot only, no thought just point and shot!):

1265921850_3d2ed26da3.jpg
Click to expand...

Any more from this set? :D

Gary.
 
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