{"id":10285,"date":"2021-01-04T09:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=10285"},"modified":"2021-01-03T20:01:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T01:01:53","slug":"review-canon-rf-50mm-f-1-2l-usm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-canon-rf-50mm-f-1-2l-usm\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Canon launched the RF mount mirrorless line of cameras and lenses, they released the system with an initial slate of four lenses. In a somewhat bold move, three of the lenses were core upper-end L-series professional lenses, including the RF 28-70mm f\/2L, the RF 24-105mm f\/4L, and this lens: the RF 50mm f\/1.2L. Instead of beginning the series with the ‘nifty fifty’ 50mm f\/1.8, which would come out two years later, or a more general purpose 50mm f\/1.4, Canon went straight to the high end 50mm f\/1.2L lens, and wanted to make a statement with the lens: this was to be the ultimate 50mm lens. Have they succeeded? Let’s find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM on the Canon EOS R6<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Construction and Handling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM is a fair bit larger than the 50mm lenses that Canon has produced in the past 30 years, and weighs in at a quite hefty 950g, just a hair lighter than the original EF 50mm L lens, the ultra-rare 50mm f\/1.0L, which weighed 985g. The RF 50mm f\/1.2L is a fairly long 50mm lens, at 4.25″ in length. It’s a very dense, heavy and chunky lens, though to be honest, this has been the trend with high-end 50mm lenses from other manufacturers over the past decade as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L is a little longer than Sigma’s 50mm f\/1.4 Art and the same length as Sony’s 50mm f\/1.4 ZA, though the Canon is a bit heavier than both. Nikon’s recent 50mm f\/1.2 for Z mount is the largest and heaviest of them all at a whopping 1.09kg and a massive 6″ in length – bigger and heavier than Canon’s RF 70-200mm f\/2.8L. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the large size and weight of the lens, the 50mm f\/1.2L handles rather well on my EOS R6, as well as the EOS RP when used with the extension grip, though that camera without the grip feels rather front-heavy with the lens mounted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lens is constructed with a metal mounting plate and high-grade polycarbonate exterior, much like all of Canon’s RF mount glass. The 50mm f\/1.2 feels quite solid in the hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The RF 50mm f\/1.2L’s focus group when focused to infinity<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the RF 50mm f\/1.2L maintains a constant length throughout the focus range, this is due to the barrel design, as the lens is not a true internally focusing lens. The focus group is the outer lens group, and this moves internally to the lens barrel, creating a recessed void in the lens barrel when focusing near infinity, as can be seen in the shot above. This is the resting state of the lens when powered off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lens, like all L-series lenses, includes a lens hood. The hood for the RF 50mm f\/1.2L is a deep petal shaped hood made of plastic. Like all of Canon’s recent bayonet mount hoods, it has a locking button to keep it securely on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The RF 50mm f\/1.2L with included lens hood<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Autofocus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM features a ring-type ultrasonic motor, similar to what has been used for years on Canon’s EF mount lenses. Due to the large amount of glass that moves, focus speed is moderate, but very quiet. That large heavy focus group can also be felt, as you can feel a soft kick from the focus group coming to a stop at the end of focusing. It’s one more subtle reminder that this lens is a bit of a beast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found autofocus to be very accurate, especially with the Eye-AF of the EOS R6, and the camera and lens were able to place focus directly on the subject’s eyes consistently, even at f\/1.2. This is an area where the more accurate focus abilities and eye tracking technologies of mirrorless make a huge difference to shooting with ultra-fast lenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L does not feature an image stabilizer, though it is one of the lenses that is rated for up to 8 stops of stabilization with the in-body IS of the R5 and R6. In my testing on the R6, I found that to be rather optimistic, with the body capable of around 5 stops of stabilization with the RF 50mm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Designing 50mm lenses is often an effort in compromise. Lens designers often have to decide whether to go all in on wide open image quality, and sacrifice absolute quality stopped down, or focus on sharpness at the expense of bokeh. However, when shelling out $2,300 for a 50mm lens, you have to expect stunning image quality with few compromises, even at the maximum aperture of f\/1.2. Thankfully, Canon has delivered that with this lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you buy the RF 50mm f\/1.2L, most people will want to be able to use the lens often at f\/1.2. Previous Canon ultra-fast 50mm lenses have had OK sharpness at f\/1.2, but lacked any sort of high resolution and biting contrast at that wide aperture. With the RF 50mm f\/1.2L, Canon has delivered a lens that produces extremely sharp images right out of the gate. Lens sharpness is outstanding at f\/1.2 over about 90% of the frame, with a bit of softening towards the edges and corners, where they ‘only’ reach very good levels. Stopping down to f\/2.8 or f\/4 brings those corners up to excellent sharpness for situations where fine detail is needed across the frame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was also surprised to see that the lens loses very little sharpness even when focused near its minimum focus distance, which is a very respectable 0.4m. The same is true at infinity. I’ve not seen an ultra-fast 50mm produce this level of resolution wide open throughout its focus range. Ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image below showcases what the lens can do. It’s just a casual snap, but it’s taken at somewhat close distance, at f\/1.2. You can see the excellent sharpness, the high contrast at the focal plane, wonderful smooth transition to the blurred background and absolutely dead accurate autofocus on the eyes. Click here<\/a> for a 100% crop of the focus point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pokemon – Canon EOS R6 with Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM @ f\/1.2, 1\/200s, ISO 400<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Of course, an f\/1.2 normal lens is often used to blur out the background and focus your subject, and so bokeh is of prime importance. Overall, the bokeh on the RF 50mm f\/1.2L is excellent, but it isn’t without a few issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most shooting, what will stand out to you is the beautiful soft transition to a creamy background, and that’s really where a lens like the 50mm f\/1.2L excels. The lens produces soft, creamy blur in most situations. The one caveat is that specular highlights with point light sources can sometimes display concentric rings as a result of the aspheric elements in the lens, and like most ultra-fast lenses, there is mechanical vignetting that results in a cats-eye shape as you move away from the center. With the RF 50mm f\/1.2L, that cat’s eye begins rather close to the center of the frame. The Christmas lights in the background below showcase this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media Consumption at Christmas – Canon EOS R6 with Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM @ f\/1.2, 1\/80s, ISO 640<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lens has a 10-bladed aperture and maintains a rather round shape when stopping down, though the straight edge of the blades can be slightly visible, and mechanical vignetting is gone by around f\/2.8, producing even circles across the frame at this aperture and smaller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite less than perfect specular highlights, the overall rendering of the blur is gorgeous. Combined with the high sharpness wide open, it produces outstanding isolation of your subject and a very pleasing look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As I’ve already mentioned in passing, the RF 50mm f\/1.2L shows excellent contrast right from f\/1.2, and this continues throughout the aperture range. Color is rich and vibrant and has the typical Canon L signature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An area where the RF 50mm f\/1.2L really excels is in control of chromatic aberration. Lateral CA is not field relevant, and longitudinal CA is also exceptionally well controlled, with just a very slight green tint behind the focus point and a bit of purple in front, but I even found this to only show itself in rare situations when zooming to 100%. Stop down a bit and any residual CA disappears. This is really a stunning performance for an f\/1.2 optic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Columbus, OH – Canon EOS R6 with Canon RF 50mm f\/1.2L USM @ f\/8, 15s, ISO 100<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L does not rely on software corrections for distortion, displaying an essentially distortion-free image optically. It’s hard to ask for anything more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RF 50mm f\/1.2L, like a lot of fast mirrorless lenses, does display considerable vignetting wide open, that eases when stopping down to f\/2.8 and beyond. If you care about darkened corners at wide apertures, you’ll want to employ digital correction of the vignetting, but note that it will increase noise in the corners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to test the lens for flare against the sun, as it was overcast during the time I had the lens for review. I did not see any obviously flaring issues when shooting against bright artificial light at night, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, the RF 50mm f\/1.2L is a marvel of optical engineering. It’s got a super-fast f\/1.2 aperture, but it impresses by not only being good wide open, but rather exceptional, with biting sharpness, gorgeous bokeh, and excellent control of chromatic aberration and distortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pros<\/h4>\n\n\n\n