Meike announced a 50mm f/1.7 manual focus lens for Canon EOS R and Nikon Z systems.
The Meike 50mm f/1.7 has a minimum focusing distance of 0.5m and is comprised of 6 elements in 5 groups.
Meike lenses are sold on Amazon.
The folks at Mirrorless Comparisons compared the new Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L lens for the EOS R system with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lenses.
Needless to say it again, likely, but Canon made a highly regarded optical masterpiece with the RF 50mm f/1.2L. A lens that has a serious price but might even been underpriced for what it delivers.
It’ impressing to see how weak the EF 50mm f/1.2L performance is when compared to the RF 50mm f/1.2L (and also to the Sigma). The image below tells a long story about the optical performance of the RF 50mm f/1.2L. At f/1.8 the RF 50mm f/1.2L s already tack sharp.
The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L is the sharpest lens wide open (Image © mirrorlesscomparison.com)
From the reviewer’s conclusion:
[…] it should be quite clear which of the three 50mm primes reigns supreme. With its extraordinary sharpness across the frame at all apertures and beautiful bokeh, the new Canon RF 50mm 1.2 is the kind of lens for which portrait or wedding photographers would literally switch camera systems.
[…] A good example is the Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art, which is a third of the price of the RF lens. Although it is 1/3 of a stop slower and doesn’t offer quite the same level of edge-to-edge sharpness, it can still produce very satisfying results even at the fastest apertures.
Personally I believe the RF lens only makes sense if you feel you’ll get a significant “return” on the investment, be that the intangible satisfaction with the images you create (an emotional return) or the money you make as a result of professional work (a tangible financial return). Otherwise you might as well go with something less expensive and use your remaining budget to invest in additional equipment.
Mirrorless Comparison’s review comes with a lot of optical tests and sample photos, and you’ll see that the RF 50mm f/1.2L beats the other lenses in all tests. Except for the price. More information, reviews and more about the RF 50mm f/1.2L is listed here.
Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L: Amazon, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay, Adorama, KEH Camera, Canon USA
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L: Amazon, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay, Adorama, KEH Camera, Canon USA
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art: Amazon, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay, Adorama, KEH Camera, Canon USA
Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L at a glance:
Photography Blog reviewed the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L, a spectacular lens Canon made to show what you can achieve with the RF mount.
From the conclusion:
The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM is an incredible lens with a pretty incredible price-tag. It’s easily one of the best 50mm lenses that we’ve ever reviewed, from any brand, but it’s also one of the biggest and most expensive too. If you really love the combination of the 50mm focal length and f/1.2 aperture (and who wouldn’t), then you need this lens in your life, but more casual users may prefer to use an adapted Canon EF 50mm lens instead
Image quality is simply incredible, as you’d expect for a lens of this caliber. Sharpness is simply superb throughout the aperture range and at both the centre and edges of the frame, distortion is negligible, and chromatic aberrations very hard to find. The only blot on the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM’s copybook is obvious vignetting at f/1.2, requiring you to stop down to f/4 to completely remove it. Otherwise, the ability to shoot wide-open at f/1.2 and create some wonderful bokeh effects thanks to the 10-bladed aperture quickly becomes intoxicating, especially as you can successfully shoot in near darkness with the EOS R camera. Read the review here…
The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L sets you back $2,299 and most likely it isn’t in every EOS R shooter’s bag.
More information, reviews and more about the RF 50mm f/1.2L is listed here.
Lensbaby 50mm f/2.5 Sweet Spot Spark at a glance:
Only for today (12/14/18) B&H Photo has the Lensbaby 50mm f/2.5 Sweet Spot Spark lens for Canon mount on sale at $99.95. Compare at $199.95. Free shipping.
More selected and exclusive deals…
Roger Cicala and Aaron Closz of Lens Rentals tore down the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L, the showcase lens for the new Canon EOS R system.
It seems that for once they were a bit overwhelmed by Canon’s latest optical masterpiece. From the conclusion:
[…] the R lenses are not only entirely new optics, they are also largely new electrical and mechanical systems. There are a lot of different things in here that we haven’t seen in any Canon EF lenses. Some of them we should have expected, like the increased electronics going to the control ring. Others we don’t really understand yet, like the tension spring in the ring USM motor or the increased electrical shielding.
[…] We also saw lots of new stuff we don’t completely understand yet and a level of complexity we weren’t expecting.
[…] the RF lenses contain some new technology they [Canon, editor’s note] haven’t used before. There’s a lot of engineering that’s gone into these. Things are different inside here. As we’ll see in the next teardown we do, some of that is carrying over to at least some EF lenses. What does this mean? It means Canon has invested very heavily into developing the lenses of the R system. This level of engineering didn’t all happen in the last year, they’ve been working on this for quite a while.
You can see a few images of the teardown below, though I recommend you head over to Lens Rentals for the many pictures and the step by step description of the teardown. Just don’t do it a home yourself.
The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L is a highly regarded lens, universally seen as one of the two lenses Canon made to showcase the possibilities of their new RF mount (the other one being the RF 28-70mm f/2L.
Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L:
Australia: Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay Australia, Alibaba
Canada: Amazon Canada, DigitalRev, Adorama, B&H Photo, eBay Canada, Canon Canada, KEH Camera
France: Amazon FR, DigitalRev, eBay FR, Canon France
Germany/Austria/Switzerland: Amazon DE, DigitalRev, eBay DE, Wex Photo Video, Canon Deutschland
United Kingdom/Ireland: Amazon UK, Park Cameras, Wex Photo Video, DigitalRev, eBay.uk, Canon UK
USA: Amazon, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay, Adorama, KEH Camera, Canon USA
Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L at a glance:
Optical Limits (formerly known as photozone.de) reviewed the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L lens for the EOS R system.
From the conclusion:
[…[ it is quite obvious that the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 USM L is an awesome lens … with a similar awe-inspiring price tag. In relation to other lenses in this class, the performance is already superb at f/1.2. Yes, the outer image region is not truly stellar but it’s impressive nonetheless. The image quality is extreme at medium aperture settings – across the image frame that is. Low lateral CAs contribute to the very high image quality perception. Image distortions are generally no issue. Vignetting is though – at least in its uncorrected state. There is some heavy light-falloff at f/1.2 and f/1.6 but to be fair – that’s to be expected. Most users will not (should not?) buy the lens for its sharpness but for its shallow depth-of-field capabilities. While not truly exceptional, the bokeh is very good with a smooth rendition in the focus transition zone. Out-of-focus highlights are nicely rendered in the image center, less so towards the image corners. However, that’s a physical limitation really. We were also very impressed by the very low bokeh fringing. Yes, you may spot some traces at f/1.2 but it’s not really relevant anymore from f/1.6 onward – and that’s a very rare characteristic. Read the review…
Optical Limits gives it a “highly recommended” rating.
Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L:
Australia: Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay Australia, Alibaba
Canada: Amazon Canada, DigitalRev, Adorama, B&H Photo, eBay Canada, Canon Canada, KEH Camera
France: Amazon FR, DigitalRev, eBay FR, Canon France
Germany/Austria/Switzerland: Amazon DE, DigitalRev, eBay DE, Wex Photo Video, Canon Deutschland
United Kingdom/Ireland: Amazon UK, Park Cameras, Wex Photo Video, DigitalRev, eBay.uk, Canon UK
USA: Amazon, B&H Photo, Digitalrev, eBay, Adorama, KEH Camera, Canon USA
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