can I see your 50mm f1.2?

[jbielikowski]

I have a few not very expensive 1.2 lenses, and I find them to be useful for pushing the bokeh a bit when you need it, although I prefer the 55-60mm range for portraiture ( somehow it works better than "pure" normal - this is why Hasselblad Planar 110 works so well too.)

I used to have a 58/1.4 Rokkor, "you used an 85?" bokeh, really good FL. Of course the bigger brother 58/1.2 is a magic lens, but you have to pay ten times more for 1/3ev.

 

[mfunnell]

If you have a Canon SLR consider the new 50/1.2. A friend rates this lens as killer on a Canon 5D.

I'd have to agree with your friend. I bought the EF 50/1.2 when I got my 5D and it's a marriage made in heaven. I've taken a lot of photos with that combination, but relatively few at full aperture. Here are a few I hunted down in my flickr stream:









...Mike

 

[Frontman]

My current 1.2 lens is the AIS Nikkor. Personally, I think it is a little soft wide open, but is quite sharp at 1.4

 

[craygc]

I can only speak for Nikons - but I would assume the problem likely exists with most SLRs - that, depending on the model, you can't see wider than f/2 ~ f2.8 through the viewfinder. That is, an f/1.2 is exactly the same brightness as an f/1.4 or f/2 lens. The other side of the problem with manual-focus lenses like the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 is that you can only accurately focus it with a split prism focus screen.

An example of the 50mm f/1.2 wide open...

 

[sc_rufctr]

WOW... Had the exact same set-up back in the early 90s. Long gone now. Sold it just after my divorce.

My current 1.2 lens is the AIS Nikkor. Personally, I think it is a little soft wide open, but is quite sharp at 1.4

 

[jwicaksana]

Nikkor 55 1.2 Pre AI

Untitled by jwicaksana, on Flickr

 

[back alley]

Here's a few from the Canon RF 50/1.2 at full aperture. Leica M6, Tri-X.

really like the bicycle shot!

 

[filmtwit]

I have or had a few 50ish 1.2 lenses, my first is an older 58mm f1.2 Minolta-Rokkor with the radiated glass altered for use on a EOS mount

I've also had Canon 50mm f1.2 ltm lens, but sold it about 9 months ago.
Teh flare from it was difficult to deal with at times.

But every now and then it really nice

 

[peterm1]

Here is a photo taken with a Canon FL mount 58mm f1.2 lens, mounted if memory serves me correctly on a Sony NEX 5. It started as an accident to be truthfu when I bumped the shutter button before I had focused. But I liked it so much I kept it. Lovely soft bokeh and this lens has more than acceptable sharpness when properly focused - even when shot full open. The later reworked 55mm version is said to be sharper but this one has nothing to feel bad about, its a jolly nice lens. In case you cant work it out this is a shot of three people in the street.


City impressions by yoyomaoz, on Flickr

 

[Rogrund]

really like the bicycle shot!

Thanks, joe!

 

[cancan7]

here are some recent shots from the 50 1.2L on the 5D mk3