Friday, September 18, 2009

Canon 50mm f/1.2 EF USM Prime Lens: Initial thoughts

I decided to jump on the Prime bandwagon after much debate with myself. I have a number of other Zoom lenses, "L" series lenses in fact, that take amazing pictures. My most recent purchase before this was a 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens, which almost was a 24mm prime in the shopping cart while trying to decide. The 16-35 takes amazing wide shots, and I don't regret making that purchase. Now a few weeks go by, and I've still got this itch to get a real prime lens with a super wide aperture in my quiver, so I break down while browsing the B&H site one day and order the 50mm f/1.2. I haven't had that much time to play with this yet, and have a wedding that I'm shooting tomorrow, but can't contain my excitement on how I'm going to use this. My dog Max was one of my first models, as he's always willing to pose for a treat or two. I set the focus on his eyes, with an aperture of 1.2, and Voila! Look at how buttery soft the background is on this handsome Weimaraner. I'm thinking that I'll need to be careful not to get to crazy this weekend with creating background blur, but doesn't everyone like to shoot wide-open? This will also be nice if there is low light. The 50mm is very beefy and the construction is compressive, if not a bit on the heavy side. I tested a few shots from a Tripod to see the different levels of Bokeh created from this mighty lens. It looks great on my 5D Mark II with the grip, and I have a feeling that this will remain on this camera a majority of the time from now on. I also have a bad feeling that prime lenses are like Lay's potato chips. No one can have just one...

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