html5
50mm
01/14/12 22:33
I love shooting on prime lenses. At the cost of some flexibility, I think they are truly designed to give you the best performance at that specific focal length. In addition, since primes, by design, don’t need to “breathe” as much as zoom lenses do, one could argue that this results in better performance for a longer period of time (e.g. less internal mechanical movement hence, less wear and tear, reduced chances of dust entering the lens barrel, etc.). However, I am yet to come across anything scientifically quantified on this.
That apart, among primes, I specifically like shooting at 50mm range. The perspective just feels more natural to me at 50mm than at any other focal point. This is especially true on a full frame body like my Canon 5D. As a side, 50mm on a cropped body will be more like 50 x 1.6 = 80mm. Ever since I started using an SLR in Dec 2006, the very first lens that I bought (apart from the crappy 17-55 kit lens) was a Canon 50mm f/1.8 (Amazon, B&H). It was cheap and hence, my barrier to entry was low. I figured that anything should be better than the kit lens and indeed, I was right. The “nifty-fifty” gave some reasonable control over DOF and was fun to play with. But the images would often come out soft, the lens barrel was made out of plastic, the mounts weren’t high quality, and there was no way to override the AF without changing the focus mode.
I quickly outgrew the f/1.8 and moved on to the next higher grade model - Canon 50mm f/1.4 (Amazon, B&H). This is one lens I really came to like. While the construction was solid, the metal mounts gave it a more professional look. It was about one-half stop faster than the f/1.8 and by f/2.0, it got really sharp. I loved it. It stayed on my 5D for the most amount of time and I always took it with me in my camera bag. For some of my sample images shot using the f/1.4, take a look here. But all along, I had my eyes set on Canon’s L series lens for the 50mm focal length - Canon50mm f/1.2L. As of Jan 2012, the L version cost about 4 times the f/1.4 version and a whopping 18 times its f/1.8 brother.
I am happy to say that I finally bought the Canon 50mm f/1.2L (Amazon, B&H) lens just a few days back from B&H. It is slightly larger in size than the f/1.4 copy and feels a lot heavier. It has a nice feel to it and balances out nicely when mounted on my 5D. Like Canon’s any other L series lens, the construction looks rock solid. While I have not had a chance to take it for a full-blown test drive yet, the initial test shots look extremely promising. When compared with the f/1.4, the f/1.2 fares better on saturation, contrast and color. At wide open, the bokeh that the f/1.2 gives is so “melty”. DOF at f/1.2 is razor-thin and everything in front and beyond the DOF just fades away in the frame.
I’m loving it so far. Hoping to taking it out for a spin soon.
While I wait to do that, my excitement saw me cobble together this rather amateurish HTML5 animation to reflect the change in my gear.
That apart, among primes, I specifically like shooting at 50mm range. The perspective just feels more natural to me at 50mm than at any other focal point. This is especially true on a full frame body like my Canon 5D. As a side, 50mm on a cropped body will be more like 50 x 1.6 = 80mm. Ever since I started using an SLR in Dec 2006, the very first lens that I bought (apart from the crappy 17-55 kit lens) was a Canon 50mm f/1.8 (Amazon, B&H). It was cheap and hence, my barrier to entry was low. I figured that anything should be better than the kit lens and indeed, I was right. The “nifty-fifty” gave some reasonable control over DOF and was fun to play with. But the images would often come out soft, the lens barrel was made out of plastic, the mounts weren’t high quality, and there was no way to override the AF without changing the focus mode.
I quickly outgrew the f/1.8 and moved on to the next higher grade model - Canon 50mm f/1.4 (Amazon, B&H). This is one lens I really came to like. While the construction was solid, the metal mounts gave it a more professional look. It was about one-half stop faster than the f/1.8 and by f/2.0, it got really sharp. I loved it. It stayed on my 5D for the most amount of time and I always took it with me in my camera bag. For some of my sample images shot using the f/1.4, take a look here. But all along, I had my eyes set on Canon’s L series lens for the 50mm focal length - Canon50mm f/1.2L. As of Jan 2012, the L version cost about 4 times the f/1.4 version and a whopping 18 times its f/1.8 brother.
I am happy to say that I finally bought the Canon 50mm f/1.2L (Amazon, B&H) lens just a few days back from B&H. It is slightly larger in size than the f/1.4 copy and feels a lot heavier. It has a nice feel to it and balances out nicely when mounted on my 5D. Like Canon’s any other L series lens, the construction looks rock solid. While I have not had a chance to take it for a full-blown test drive yet, the initial test shots look extremely promising. When compared with the f/1.4, the f/1.2 fares better on saturation, contrast and color. At wide open, the bokeh that the f/1.2 gives is so “melty”. DOF at f/1.2 is razor-thin and everything in front and beyond the DOF just fades away in the frame.
I’m loving it so far. Hoping to taking it out for a spin soon.
While I wait to do that, my excitement saw me cobble together this rather amateurish HTML5 animation to reflect the change in my gear.