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Author Topic: Advice: Canon 50mm  (Read 3778 times)

billmac

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Advice: Canon 50mm
« on: October 25, 2012, 06:39:27 pm »

I am upgrading from a fairly standard zoom kit for pro sports to a set of primes. In the Canon world I have 300 f2.8, 135 f2, 100 f2.8 and 85 f1.2. Now I want to add a 50 and then a 24, neither of which would be used for sports, more general street, travel, and portrait work. Any suggestions among Canon's two 50s and the Zeiss f1.4 and f2 Planar? Edge to edge sharpness down to max aperture is top of the criteria, color next. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Ready to pull the trigger.

Bill McClure
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kaelaria

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2012, 07:05:50 pm »

The only Canon 50mm that's good wide open is the 1.2.
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scooby70

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2012, 07:22:05 pm »

Do they still make the 50mm f2.5 "macro"?

It's not a true macro without the life size converter but I'm sure I've read that it's Canon's sharpest 50mm. I had one and it was a lovely thing. For a general use non macro 50mm I'd go for the Sigma f1.4, in fact I did, and it's an excellent lens and I found it to be a match for the Canon f2.5 at every aperture that the Canon could match, the Sigma however has faster focus and should really be considered IMVHO.
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kaelaria

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2012, 08:18:04 pm »

I have the 2.5 and the converter (tube).  Yes it is VERY nice and sharp - but useless for normal shooting, the focus system is non USM, very, very slow.  Great for studio work or controlled portraiture only.
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Jim Pascoe

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2012, 01:38:11 am »

The Zeiss 50mm f2 macro is fantastic.  Even at max aperture it is pin sharp an lovely to use.  It is manual focus, but in good light I have no problems (aged 51). 

Jim
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hasselbladfan

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2012, 11:49:24 am »

if you can wait till 2013, ... you should go for the upcoming Zeiss 55mm 1.4.

The pictures I have seen had corner to corner sharpness I have not seen before.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=2985
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Rajan Parrikar

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2012, 12:00:25 pm »

The ZE 50 f/2 MP is optically outstanding and the most versatile of the lot. Macro, portraiture, street, landscape (including infinity focus) - it is equal to the task at hand.

TMARK

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2012, 03:52:23 pm »

The Zeiss or the Canon 50 1.2.  The Zeiss is very sharp wide open, has a different color rendering than the Canon lenses.  The Canon 50 1.2 is not as sharp, but sure has a special look to it.  Once AF is fine tuned the AF is great.
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JeanMichel

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2012, 06:11:28 pm »

Hi,
Not a 50, but I find the 40 f/2 Voiglander/Cosina lens quite nice to use. I originally purchased it together with their 20 mm in order to make my Canon 5d2 be a bit smaller. The VC lens is of course manual focus and does not have any IS, but it does give me 'better' results than my 24-105 when set to 40 mm. The manual focus is not an issue as I use the AF centre point to confirm focus.
Jean-Michel
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2012, 07:38:42 pm »

The Zeiss f2 Macro Planner is very good. Very good for landscapes.

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Ellis Vener

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2012, 09:51:51 pm »

For general work and casual shooting I generally use an EF 50mm f/1.4. The results with the Zeiss 50mm lenses  are lovely but for street work fast accurate focusing can be tough.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2012, 01:46:53 pm by Ellis Vener »
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stever

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2012, 06:00:09 pm »

i also use the 50 1.4 - great performance stopped down to f2.8 + in a light relatively inexpensive package. But.

very poor edges wide open and un-reliable autofocus at less than f2.8.  sample variation can result in asymetrical performance making large aperture perfomance even worse (i recently replaced the original lens i bought before higher resolution full frame).

if you don't really need f1.4, then it's a fine lens with great resolution from f4 to f8.

if you need f1.4, dpreview found the Sigma a better choice (with poorer performance stopped down) - or the Canon f1.2.  i'd recommend investing in diglloyd.com Guide to Zeiss Lenses before considering the Zeiss f1.4, as i recall, it has some issues also - unlike f2 makro which is probably the sharpest 50mm available for SLR - but MF, only f2, and expensive.
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billmac

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2012, 09:24:25 pm »

Guys, many thanks for all the advice. I clearly need to do some more research, but I am leaning towards Zeiss. The issue is can I return to MF and be happy?! Many thanks.

Bill McClure
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degrub

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2012, 10:46:03 pm »

Bill,

One of the easiest ways to do that is find a cheap MF 50mm Canon lens and work with it. KEH has this one-

http://www.keh.com/camera/Canon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-CA060104000200?r=FE

Frank
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Advice: Canon 50mm
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2012, 03:13:46 am »

If you are willing to wait  and have the budget of course, the new Zeiss 55mm f1.4 maybe an interesting option. The MTF looks superb.

http://diglloyd.com/blog/2012/20121008_7-Zeiss-ultra-performance-lenses.html

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