Canon lens history repeats

[jlw]

Strictly speaking, this isn't RF-related, since the subject lens is for (bleah) SLRs, but I thought it was an interesting example of Canon's lens history repeating itself:

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 24 August, 2006: Canon today releases its new L-series standard prime lens: the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM. Sharing the widest aperture of any lens in Canon’s current EF range, the new model offers extremely fine control over depth of field and consummate low available light performance. It is expected to be popular amongst wedding and portrait photographers, as well as professional photojournalists.

(You can read the complete press release on Digital Photo Review at this link.)

The phrase "Sharing the widest aperture of any lens in Canon’s current EF range..." must mean that Canon's 50mm f/1.0 EF has been discontinued.

What I really like about this announcement, though, is that when Canon decided to introduce a more sensibly-sized, sensibly-priced ultraspeed lens, it turned to the same focal-length-and-aperture combination -- 50mm f/1.2 -- that's still a favorite of many Canon RF aficionados.

The new lens undoubtedly will be sharper than our RF 50/1.2 -- but it's also obviously quite a bit bigger, not nearly as good-looking, and I'll bet the results it produces won't be nearly as atmospherically pretty.

Still, this -- along with Zeiss's recent return of the 50/1.5 Sonnar -- is another fun example of how what goes around, comes around. Let's all celebrate this new product introduction by screwing our OLD 50/1.2 Canons onto a favorite LTM body, and making some commemorative pictures!


(PS -- Considering what the original Canon hood for the RF 50/1.2 fetches nowadays, it's too bad they couldn't have designed the new lens' hood to be interchangeable with it!)

 

[JeremyR]

(PS -- Considering what the original Canon hood for the RF 50/1.2 fetches nowadays, it's too bad they couldn't have designed the new lens' hood to be interchangeable with it!)

The new fifty has filter threads of 72mm, compared to the classic's 55mm. Not sure the new hood would be of much use and would certainly block many a viewfinder 😉

While I do lust for that new 50/1.2 (I shoot an EOS digital in addition to RF's), I'm not sure how much more I want to invest in SLR gear. I'm still relatively new to the RF thing, but based on my feelings (and results) so far, the SLR is on its way to becoming my secondary camera 😀

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[jlw]

The new fifty has filter threads of 72mm, compared to the classic's 55mm. Not sure the new hood would be of much use and would certainly block many a viewfinder

Well, I was just saying it would have been nice.

But wait, maybe this idea isn't as frivolous as it sounds. The new SLR lens has an external bayonet on the front rim, which (if it's like other Canon EF lenses I've handled) is specifically intended for mounting the hood. That means the hood will be larger than 72mm -- probably, to allow for the thickness of the bayonet, its inner diameter will be 77 mm or so.

Now, the old RF hood (which clamped onto the outer diameter of the 50/1.2 lens, rather than using its 55mm filter threads) was vented, meaning its outer ring was larger and had slots relieved out of the back side so it didn't block as much of the finder. I happen to have one of these hoods, and I just measured the inner diameter of the outer section, just inside the vent openings. Turns out it is... guess what?... 77.8 mm!

So, a really handy home machinist who could somehow craft a vented adapter to join an inner clamp-on ring to Canon's lens-hood bayonet would be able to fit his old lens (the 50/1.2 really benefits from a hood, BTW) with a readily-available modern Canon hood. If the adapter could fit several clamp-on rings, an RF-plus-EF-using Canonophile (like yourself) might be able to use many of his Canon SLR hoods on many otherwise-hard-to-fit RF lenses!

Think this wouldn't be worth the bother? Well consider that the the seemingly mint 50/1.2 hood (with case) pictured below -- picture borrowed from a KevinCameras listing on eBay -- has a buy-it-now price of $275 (yes, that's just for the hood and case!) and you might think again! Incidentally, if you don't mind paying that much for what looks like a really beautiful example of this hood, you can go to the KevinCameras listing by clicking here.

(Yes, this post is pretty much tongue-in-cheek. On the other hand, if I had a mini-lathe and the necessary machinist skills, I might be out in the garage right now whipping up such a device...)

 

[JeremyR]

I hadn't measured my 50/1.2 hood (I am fortunate enough to have one) and didn't realize it was quite that large. I was after all using the filter thread sizes as a proxy for the relative hood sizes, but I guess it turns out that's not a very accurate way of gauging things... 😱

Anyway, you might be on to something. Hoods for vintage rangefinder lenses, when they can be found at all, can exact a dear price. Even current production hoods can be ridiculously expensive--I'm sure you've seen prices for Leica or Zeiss hoods! 😡 Anyway, you might be on to something with the hood adapter idea. Unfortunately I'm not a home machinist either, so I guess we'll have to wait to see what someone else comes up with. 🙂

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[venchka]

A Canon 50's quest

A Canon 50's quest

Droooooooooooool...here's an interesting thought,

A trio of Canon f/1.2 lenses for my 3 canon bodies. LTM 50/1.2 for the VI-T (oops, have to have two, one for each body), FD 55/1.2 for the EF and the new EF 50/1.2L for the Elan IIE. Yummmmmmmmmy!