Is my new Canon 50 1.2L a bad copy?

TheDrift-

TheDrift-

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I have always been slightly sceptical about this and have never had any issues with any other of my canon lenses.

However i have just upgraded to the canon 50 1.2L I have AFMA'd it using focal and get consistent results over 6/7 tests to be -1/-2. So I am confident the focus is set correctly.

Focal also compares your lens to other users results. It consistently notifies me the astigmatism is in the 7/8% range with most other users it's in the 1-2% range...I have never worried about this in a lens before...but I do worry it's very soft wide open, I know I should expect some softness but this seems well over and above.


50 1.2L wide open. Focus on the orange square on the snow speeder, on cannon 5d4 100% crop



Stopped down it does sharpen up. I also notice it seems to have a lot of CA, even under normal lighting.

Also on my mind is how I bought the lens, most retailers have it around £1300 but amazon had it for just over 1K (thats amazon amazon, not amazon market place) buying direct from Amazon put my mind at rest about the cheap price. However Amazon prime took an extra day to deliver and the lens came from France, which is something I have never known before with a direct purchase from Amazon?


Am i expecting too much from the 50 1.2L, or is it a Bad Copy? I am not normally one to shout bad copy, this would be my first time ever...but....This is the first lens I have ever been disappointed in out of the box.

Had anyone else got this lens? If so how does yours perform?
 
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If I were testing a lens it would be in good light - a 100% crop of a challenging situation is unlikely to show the lens in a good light (pardon the pun).
 
Nawty said:
If I were testing a lens it would be in good light - a 100% crop of a challenging situation is unlikely to show the lens in a good light (pardon the pun).
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The lens tests were done under well lit continuous lighting, (and on a tripod) gave similar results.

Using some google-fu I think this high astigmatism result maybe down to a de-centering issue.

Certainly I would expect the lens to be sharper
 
It's a bright day this morning. Repeat with some bright natural light.

What distance were you taking from. If up close the depth of field at f1.2 is minimal and you have to get it spot on.
What camera are you using? What happens if you try live view?
 
Byker28i said:
It's a bright day this morning. Repeat with some bright natural light.

What distance were you taking from. If up close the depth of field at f1.2 is minimal and you have to get it spot on.
What camera are you using? What happens if you try live view?
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I formatted the card but the test shots were just as bad if not worse, to test it was set up 2.5m (optimal testing distance), solid tripod and head (RRS) , illuminated with strong continuos light (via soft box) and shot on a 5d4. AFMA results and QOF (quality of focus results) were very good...so it was def hitting focus...just the results are very poor...I am becoming convinced its a de-centering issue..maybe due to the long trip over from France (or maybe that was why it was on the cheap side)

Its going back...the only prob I think it has slightly put me off the canon 50 :(
 
I can highly recommend the Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART lens, it is unbelievably sharp but I think I would try another Canon 50mm first. Although new is nice, I'd try and find a used version from a reputable dealer who will accept returns.
 
If it is due to a decentred element or group then there's a quick and easy check (for the amount of error in your example).

Set yourself on a secure tripod and fix a decent target with a known point to centre the viewfinder on. Swap to a different lens and see if the point is now off-centre.

Bob
 
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minnnt said:
I can highly recommend the Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART lens, it is unbelievably sharp but I think I would try another Canon 50mm first. Although new is nice, I'd try and find a used version from a reputable dealer who will accept returns.
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TBF I have never had an issue with any other new lens, but yeah I hear great things about the sigma Art's (I had the old sigma 50mm before that (which was the lens i was upgrading) and that was/is a great lens for the money). One of the things that attracted me to the canon was it was lighter than the sigma, and I wanted a slightly lighter walk around option than a 2.8 zoom.....
 
TheDrift- said:
I formatted the card but the test shots were just as bad if not worse, to test it was set up 2.5m (optimal testing distance), solid tripod and head (RRS) , illuminated with strong continuos light (via soft box) and shot on a 5d4. AFMA results and QOF (quality of focus results) were very good...so it was def hitting focus...just the results are very poor...I am becoming convinced its a de-centering issue..maybe due to the long trip over from France (or maybe that was why it was on the cheap side)

Its going back...the only prob I think it has slightly put me off the canon 50 :(
Click to expand...

Hum, it's not looking good :(
Shame - love my 1.4
 
Canon Bob said:
If it is due to a decentred element or group then there's a quick and easy check (for the amount of error in your example).

Set yourself on a secure tripod and fix a decent target with a known point to centre the viewfinder on. Swap to a different lens and see if the point is now off-centre.

Bob
Click to expand...

Great to know thanks :) The lens is boxed up ready to go back...but this is good advice for anyone else having the same issues
 
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