Canon FD 50/1.2 and FD 50/1.2 L -- Differences?

gmikol · Feb 3, 2012

Hey all...

I'm feeling a G.A.S. attack coming on, and I've been eyeing one of the Canon FD 50/1.2 lenses. I see that there is an "L" version, and a non-L version. As a practical matter, is there much of a difference, in terms of sharpness, flare, vignetting? How would they both compare to, say, a good-old FD 50/1.4, especially in the 1.4-2.2 range? How about compared to my EF 50/1.4?

And more importantly, what's a fair price for these two 1.2 versions? KEH doesn't have any listed. There are a couple on the 'bay, but without a reference, how do I know how much is too much? (I'm in the US, by the way...)

Thanks for any help--

Greg

benjiboy · Feb 3, 2012

The best "bang for your buck" in Canon FD standard lenses is the 50mm f1.4 (which is optically the same as the 1.4 EF), as an all round optic aperture for aperture, so unless you spend most of your time shooting black cats in coal cellars IMHO that's the best buy.

tony lockerbie · Feb 3, 2012

I actually have both. The FD 1.2L that I have is very compact, not any bigger than the 1.4, and takes the same 52mm filters. Build quality is great as is the image quality, you can shoot it wide open and expect nice results. The 1.2L is obviously much better at 1.4 than the 1.4, if you get my drift! However the 1.4 is certainly a good all round performer, and unless you shoot wide open a lot, then this is the best buy, far, far cheaper than the 1.2.
Incidentally, I have three versions of the 1.4, and apart from the size, the image performance seems the same.

Mainecoonmaniac · Feb 3, 2012

With Canon FD lenses, I think the "L" indicates it has florite glass and it's apochromatic which means it gets all 3 colors in focus on a plane. I've seen chromes taken with a Canon L lens on a light box and the colors pop. Just gorgeous.

gmikol · Feb 4, 2012

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have an EF 50/1.4, and I've never been quite happy with it, especially wide-open. I've been trying to do a little wide-field astrophotography (i.e. no telescope), and I've gotten far better results with my EF 24-70 L @ 50 than I did with the EF 50. I also know that going up to the EF 50/1.2 L doesn't buy me a whole lot wide open, either, from what I've read.

So the question is, ruling out the FD 50/1.4, are either of the FD 50/1.2's appreciably better? If so, which one? And what should I pay for one?

--Greg

Jeff Kubach · Feb 4, 2012

The 50 1.2L is 'better' of the three. But for the money you can't beat the 1.4.

Jeff

tony lockerbie · Feb 4, 2012

The L series lens will be a little better than the earlier 1.2, which I believe is quite soft wide open. The 50mm 1.2L is not an apo lens but is built (like other) L series lenses, to more stringent tolerances.
This should gaurantee that the lens will be as good as it can be. The problem is the price, as a good 1.2L can sell from $500.00 or thereabouts.
You have to decide whether the extra $400.00 or so is worth it to you. However, like Leica lenses, the L series Canon glass will hold it's value well.

Mackinaw · Feb 4, 2012

The 50mm F1.2 L contains an aspherical lens element, it doesn't contain Fluorite glass. All high-speed lenses are afflicted with spheric aberration, making pictures look a bit blurry when shot wide-open (low in contrast too). An aspherical element greatly reduces spherical aberration giving you a much sharper and more contrasty pic when taken at F1.2.

If you're into taking pics in low light, or like very shallow depth of field, the 50/1.2L is the lens for you. If most of your shots are at F 4.0 or so, save yourself the money and buy a 50/1.4 or even an 50/1.8.

Jim B.

Jim B.

darinwc · Feb 4, 2012

The Canon FD 50mm f1.2 (non-L) version is soft wide-open and not as sharp as the f1.4 closed down.
The 50mm f1.4 in EF mount is the same lens optically as the FD mount. However the build quality may be better with the FD lens.

i dont have any L lenses, but they have an excellent reputation.

David A. Goldfarb · Feb 4, 2012

I used to have the FD 50/1.2L, but not the earlier one, so I can't compare, but it was an outstanding lens, and the build quality was particularly nice, in addition to having that extra half stop, which made for very accurate focusing as well as being useful in low light.

I did make some tests to compare it to the 50/1.4 and 1.8, and unsurprisingly, it was sharper (I've probably posted this somewhere around here or maybe over on photo.net some years ago), but interestingly, if you use reversed lenses for macro, the 50/1.8 was the clear winner of the three when reversed.

jonmon6691 · Sep 22, 2023

Resurrecting this thread from the grave...

Just picked up an FD 50mm f/1.2 L from Blue Moon here in Portland. Compared to my 1.4 the build quality is far superior, aperture ring is more precise, focus is a bit lighter but has none of the backlash that my 1.4 suffers from. I'm only half way through my first roll with it (Ektar 100) so I can't speak to the quality of the negatives yet but I'll update here for any future lurkers finding this 11 years from now like I just did.

Edit: Shooting this first roll on my T90. It seems like there's some severe ghosting on the edges of bright objects in the frame that always smear from center of frame to the nearest edge outward. I think this is something to do with the optics in the T90 viewfinder because there's no hint of this when the lens is mounted on my Old F-1.

blee1996 · Sep 22, 2023

Since you already have EF 50/1.4 I guess you already have EOS AF film camera, then I would recommend the EF 50/1.2 L instead. I have used FD 50/1.4, and Nikon's 50/1.2 Ai-S, but neither have that special glow of the EF 50/1.2 L wide open. I did quite a few environmental portraits both in artificial lighting indoors and shaded outdoors, and they are easily the best portraits I have taken.

It would be a bit more expensive than the FD version, but hopefully not too much and you get AF as well. I personally think it is worth it. Even though I'm mostly a Nikon person, this Canon EF 50/1.2 L will be one of the last lenses that I will ever sell.

jonmon6691 · Sep 23, 2023

I don't have any EF lenses/bodies, I'm trying to limit my collection to FD for 35mm format shooting, I can barely justify splurging on even just one system

srtviper15 · Oct 28, 2023

jonmon6691 said:
Resurrecting this thread from the grave...

Just picked up an FD 50mm f/1.2 L from Blue Moon here in Portland. Compared to my 1.4 the build quality is far superior, aperture ring is more precise, focus is a bit lighter but has none of the backlash that my 1.4 suffers from. I'm only half way through my first roll with it (Ektar 100) so I can't speak to the quality of the negatives yet but I'll update here for any future lurkers finding this 11 years from now like I just did.

Edit: Shooting this first roll on my T90. It seems like there's some severe ghosting on the edges of bright objects in the frame that always smear from center of frame to the nearest edge outward. I think this is something to do with the optics in the T90 viewfinder because there's no hint of this when the lens is mounted on my Old F-1.

I’m definitely interested to hear your results! I just picked up a 50mm f/1.4 but haven’t shot with it yet!

jonmon6691 · Oct 29, 2023

To be honest, I'm not as blown away with it as I was hoping for. The photos have a nice dreamy quality, but I seem to get a lot more softness in certain conditions than I was expecting. It seems to have more dust inside than what was advertised... I thought I was getting a good deal from Blue Moon, but I should have known better, no free lunches at that shop.

It's nice to use, but I'm not sure I have the best copy of the 50 1.2 that's out there so maybe other folks have had results with better technical quality. But I'm learning to like it nonetheless

dave olson · Nov 2, 2023

I have two Canon F1s, new style. I also have several Canon EOS bodies. For the Canon F1s I have only non-L series lenses. For the EOS system I have primarily L series. I don't worry about the quality of the FD lenses versus EOS L. I sold many images to clients with either system.

benjiboy · Nov 3, 2023

I think the main thing to consider is are you prepared at the current second hand prices to pay about twice as much for an FDn 50mm f1.2 L lens than a FDn 50 mm f1.2 lens ?.

Canon FD 50/1.2 and FD 50/1.2 L -- Differences?

gmikol

benjiboy

tony lockerbie

Mainecoonmaniac

gmikol

Jeff Kubach

tony lockerbie

Mackinaw

darinwc

David A. Goldfarb

Moderator

jonmon6691

blee1996

jonmon6691

srtviper15

jonmon6691

Attachments

dave olson

benjiboy

Canon FD 50/1.2 and FD 50/1.2 L -- Differences?

Moderator

Attachments

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency