Gary,
I've now evaluated two UU1000 lenses. Both focus perfectly on my 1ds MkII. Minor CA in far corners is identical and probably fundamental to the properties of this wide aperture lens.
- Bill
Received 12-18-06 from Roberts in Indy. ( $1399.00 ) , ordered mid October.
Could not be more pleased.
Tested for several days under all conditions----tried/wanted to not like it after reading all the internet BS here and everywhere while waiting but I new I would have to see for myself !!
Well I sold my 35-1.4 and as much as I like my 85-1.2 It has one foot out the door.
Bottom line you buy this lens --IF-- you know how to use a Great fast prime and for using @ f/1.2 to maybe f/2.8----That's what it's FOR.
In my opinion Canons quality control SUCK's and a year from now they'll still be cranking out good and some bad.
Mine's a UU11 ordered and received from Pro Photo in late December. I'm happy with it although I have not evaluated it "critically." I mentioned my first HS basketball results with it a couple of pages upthread.
for those interested i did a very unscientific test between my 85L v2 which is my favorite lens and my new 50L...I used my 5D with the 85L and my 30D with the 50L in order to keep a similar focal length/crop look...yes i know the 5D is the superior camera and as such it made the hurdle for the 50L that much higher......I shot several mundane things around the house in good and bad lighting and all wide open...
my findings are,again very unscientific:...the 50L is a very good lens...it AF's faster than the 85L but i think the 85L may be a bit more consistent in achieving spot on focus but of course since i only shot wide open errors will occur either from me or the focus....In several cases i can honestly say that the 50L was better or at least as good as the 85L ,in a few the 85L seemed marginally sharper...in all cases with both lenses the performance wide open was excellent.....the truth is i never trusted my 50 1.4 wide open as it was very much hit or miss....the one thing i can say with certainty is that the 50L is head and shoulders better than the 50 1.4 wide open...as good as the 85L?i wont go that far but then again i was using a 5D with the 85L and the 30D with the 50L....I cannot comment in any depth about the performance stopped down as i haven't made any comparisons.I can however say from my point of view that the 50L is far and away better than i was led to believe by early reports and perhaps this has to do with my lens being a uu1200 datecode and others being uu1000,who knows?....I wish i could post these tests for all to see but for whatever reason im having trouble uploading pictures,if i get it fixed shortly i will try...
matsuib wrote:
To people that are happy, are you saying that you don't have the "fog" CMOS has posted on page 134, or that it's a minor inconvenience.
I'm happy with mine, haven't looked for fog (but perhaps will), but acknowledge that wide open it's less sharp than my 35L or 85L mkI.
I cant find any fog whatsoever wide open (even in distant shots). The CA is much better controlled than in my 85L (mkI) wide open. The sharpness of my 50L looks equivalent to the 85L on my 100% crops.
I was able to duplicate the foggy appearance when overexposing while shooting an almost all white object (old white painted kitchen cabinet with a rusty hinge) at 1.2, 1.4.
Histogram was almost all to the right 2/3 of display, peaking just before right limit on camera display, but barely not clipped. The cabinet was not "white" enough to drive the histo that far right. Caused probably by my default + 1/2 stop exposure comp.
When I dialed the exposure in correctly, "foggy" condition disappeared.
At f1.2 image was only slightly less sharp than 1.4 & up, sharpness peaked at 1.6 and the improvement after that was dof related.
Did this in both auto and manual focus, and af beat my tired old eyes significantly. Time to see the optometrist again.
After reading this thread, I checked my new 50mm f1.2 and found that it was the UU1000 batch. I did sent it to Canon in Irvine for adjustment because it did not focus correctly or it seemed to be back focusing. It just wasn't near as sharp as my 50mm f1/4. They turned the lens around and got it back to me in three days.
I have just starting testing it. It does seem to be better but I won't be finished testing until sometime over the weekend.
I did more testing on my 50f1.2 and it appears at F1.2 the focus seems ok but as I increase the f stop to 2, 2.8, 4 and 5.6 the backfocusing increses. Pretty wierd. Does anyone have this problem?
pcho wrote:
I did more testing on my 50f1.2 and it appears at F1.2 the focus seems ok but as I increase the f stop to 2, 2.8, 4 and 5.6 the backfocusing increses. Pretty wierd. Does anyone have this problem?
Perry
On my 50/1.2L, at f/1.2, the whole scene was so darn foggy that you couldn't tell where the focus point was on a focus test chart. There was no DOF, nothing appeared to be in focus. If you wanted to see whether or not there was backfocusing, you had to stop down. (and the wasn't any)
CMOS wrote:
On my 50/1.2L, at f/1.2, the whole scene was so darn foggy that you couldn't tell where the focus point was on a focus test chart. There was no DOF, nothing appeared to be in focus. If you wanted to see whether or not there was backfocusing, you had to stop down. (and the wasn't any)
CMOS wrote:
Here's an example the fog I experienced handheld at ISO400, 1/100, f/1.2 on the 50/1.2L.
X
was there any part of that photo that was sharp?
pcho wrote:
I did more testing on my 50f1.2 and it appears at F1.2 the focus seems ok but as I increase the f stop to 2, 2.8, 4 and 5.6 the backfocusing increses. Pretty wierd. Does anyone have this problem?
Perry
Yes, I experienced that with my first copy. I tested my lens with a back/front focus chart and it seemed a bit soft wide open. When i stopped it down a bit(f/2.8-f4), it got really sharp but back focusing became really apparent.
joecirca79 wrote:
was there any part of that photo that was sharp?
Nope. I was using the center point for the AF. The center point was directly on that center cropped portion of the image I posted. So that was the sharpest part.
I returned the lens for a refund.
I'm now putting my money on Canon doing a recall on this lens, too many people with too many problems.
again.