Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L Review (a seriously good lens)

Here is a Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L review. This lens for the EOS R system is an optical masterpiece, heavy, bulky, and pricey. Never the less, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L is a remarkable lens, made to showcase the capabilities of the RF mount.

Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography discusses all the goods and amazing features of the super fast Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L. The lens is also pretty unique, as Ted Forbes lines out.

Canon started big with their first round of RF mount lenses for their mirrorless system. The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L is a seriously good lens. Its versatile enough to be very sharp, but can also shoot wide open for some gorgeous and often abstract bokeh rendering. Building on the EF 50mm f/1.2, Canon corrected many of the aberrations and give us a sharper, high resolving lens. This does come with some tradeoffs – this lens is big. Its also very heavy and the price is not cheap. But if you’re willing to sacrifice some of the conveniences of portability for image quality – this lens is well worth the entry price.

Its also worth noting at the time I’m filming this – there is no equivalent to this lens in any mirrorless system. Nikon only have a 50mm f/1.8 and Sony have several options – but only at f/1.8 and f/1.4. This is a unique lens with a beautiful rendering and performance.

Enjoy the video, and thanks for being here and reading.

More Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L review stuff is listed here.

Canon RF lenses: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

key features and description:

• RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
• Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/16
• One UD Element, One Aspherical Element
• Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor AF System

Distinguished by its speed, the RF 50mm f/1.2L USM from Canon is a desirable normal-length prime due to its versatile focal length and bright f/1.2 maximum aperture. This fast design excels in difficult lighting conditions and also benefits working with shallow depth of field and selective focus techniques. The optical layout incorporates one UD element and one aspherical element, which help to reduce both chromatic and spherical aberrations in order to produce greater clarity and sharpness. A rounded 10-blade diaphragm also benefits bokeh quality to suit isolating subjects with depth of field. Complementing the imaging capabilities is an apt ring-type Ultrasonic Motor, which delivers fast, near-silent autofocus and full-time manual focus override. Additionally, a unique Control Ring is integrated into the lens design for intuitive control over exposure settings from the lens itself.