Equipment Review | Canon 50mm f/1.2

Canon 50mm f/1.2

This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a piece of my gear, but sometimes you come across something so good you just have to share it. I would never put myself in a position where I only had one lens to shoot an entire wedding day (you just never know what might happen!), BUT if I had to choose one lens to shoot a whole wedding with, it would be this one hands-down. At $1349 retail it’s definitely the most expensive lens I own at the moment, but it was absolutely worth it. It’s what’s called a prime lens, meaning it doesn’t zoom in or out; it just has one focal length: 50mm. When I explain that to people who are not photographers, they are usually shocked. They assume a really good lens means really good zoom, but that’s actually not the case. The more I shoot the more I love prime lenses, and ALL of the reasons are tied to their lower aperture.

1. There’s a quality of light difference. I love backlit, glowey photos and zoom lenses just don’t deliver that the same way prime lenses do. That’s partly because of the lower aperture of prime lenses (and the 1.2 on the 50mm) and partly due to other factors I’m sure, but I love it!
2. They are capable of extremely shallow depths-of-field. Again because of the super wide-open aperture you can get very shallow depths-of-field in photos taken with this lens. And that also creates gorgeous bokeh (out of focus light circles in the background). The shallow depth-of-field is perfect for portraits when I want only someone’s eye in focus or for busy receptions when I try to minimize the distraction of the background and focus only on the subject.
3. They work much better in low light. Have you ever walked into a bridal prep room or a reception and thought, “wow, it’s so dark in here.” Having a lens with the capability of opening up to f/1.2 to let in as much light as possible is crucial in these situations for me. In the below example, there was only one small window letting light into the bridal prep room, and when I turned all the lamps off (to avoid having two different colors of light), it was pretty dark. 50mm 1.2 to the rescue! I LOVE the prep photos because the light is directional and soft and all one color and there’s no way I could have done that without my 50mm.

All those things are true about prime lenses in general, so why is it the 50mm that I love so much? I just find it’s the perfect focal length for me. I can move in closer to my subjects and get some tighter shots or I can back up a lot and get a really wide shot with lots of the landscape. And of course everything in between! I shoot the most of every portrait session with this lens, and I don’t feel like the variety of images suffers because I move my feet so much, which changes my distance to my subject and provides visual variety.

As you can see, I shoot EVERYTHING with this lens. If you feel like you have to have this lens, but can’t get over the sticker price, there are some options for you. Adorama has an excellent used department and even sells some items at a discount that haven’t been used at all, but the box has been opened. If you get nervous about used equipment, check out Greentoe (I know it sounds weird). You won’t get as big of a discount, but you can name a price you’re willing to pay for something and they haggle with authorized retailers to try to get you that item for that price. No strings attached! I got my 50mm f/1.2 for almost $100 off retail price (from anywhere!) when I bought it through Greentoe.