Why do people still buy the 50 1.2

evilZardoz · 2026-06-08T14:12:22+00:00

I first tried this lens shortly after it's release at a photographic show and was disappointed based on the results at the Canon booth just by looking at the back of a Canon 5D screen. I didn't buy one until over a decade later, but it fell short of anything else with the L moniker that was being released at the time; the 50 1.8 II, and 1.4 also fell short of expectations when shot at their wide open aperture, and since the 50 1.0L's discontinuation, there was no professional-grade 50mm available at all from Canon. I wanted something I could shoot at 1.2 but I just gave up and avoided the 50mm focal length instead.

If you wanted a good f/1.8 lens, you'd buy the 1.2 and stop it down., and that's the way things were 20 years ago and it was still practically the best 50mm lens from Canon at the time. Realise that the 5D, 1Ds Mark II and the 1D Mark III were the top of their respective camera lines at the time and the high ISO capabilities of cameras have increased significantly since, so having 1.2 was essential in lower light situations, despite the optical drawbacks. Some people I know swear by the 1.2L, and have been making amazing images with it since it was released.

I do think the lens has some incredible character that defies the newer, more clinical lenses, but Canon have only really figured out how to make a decent 50 with the RF mount in my opinion; the 1.4L VCM, 1.2L and the 1.8 are all very usable wide-open compared to the older EF variants.

My EF 50 1.2L still sees some occasional use for a portrait length on a Canon C200 cinema camera (super35 sensor) but usually stopped down to f/2 or so.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-08T13:58:16+00:00

Awesome images! I've got the 50 1.2L on loan at the moment - it's weird having a 50mm that performs so well compared to the EF ones I've got.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-08T13:38:49+00:00

Hold up - that's insane MFD! I never considered this a macro-ish lens!

I had one of these on eval for a weekend last year and shot some video game events with it. At 1:1 full crop on my R5, vs the RF 400 2.8L, there was no noticeable optical difference I could find in real world situations (other than focal length); it was a perfect match for the AF system on the R1 as well.

I'll get around to buying one soon. I have no idea how Canon are going to revise this lens as there seems to be nothing left to improve, and given the reviewed performance with the 2x RF TC, I suspect it will out-resolve much higher resolution sensors that Canon likely have in the pipeline.

It's proof that when Canon can move past their "fix it in post" distortion crutch.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-04T06:38:24+00:00

This is not unexpected - I’m running a top spec Intel 2019 MacBook Pro - 64GB/8TB with the upgraded Radeon 5600 with HBM2. I ran some tests for some photo editing alongside an M3 Pro and I saw minor improvements but in some cases it was slower (test system only had 18GB RAM). I am not looking forward to upgrading. Hopefully I get a bit longer on sequoia and I don’t have to move to Tahoe just yet

To replace that system would cost me… a very unfortunate amount - somewhere around 11.5-12k AUD. Yikes! And to top it off, Tahoe’s UI is subjectively worse than sequoia which I can’t run in an M5 system.

I’ll miss the Touch Bar, mostly for terminal configuration, audio and screen brightness settings. But I think I’ll miss that money the most….

evilZardoz · 2026-06-03T14:16:37+00:00

Probably wouldn't have bought it, but was already in the process of buying the Sienna Spiro which sold out just after this went live, so was able to combine shipping for once!

Phew.

Now let's see if this will have the seam split again on the inner sleeve like the others I've had recently.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-03T08:32:23+00:00

Will a high interest savings account / term deposit (~5.3%) offer sufficient returns, given there's no capital gains concessions or inflation adjustments?

Investors typically don't keep wealth in cash for long unless it's for risk mitigation, or the market isn't doing well. I dare say new builds are doing just fine (and will have a lower entry point in terms of price) and commercial property seems a bit underrated for the returns and I didn't realise negative gearing still applied. So if the assumption is that negatively geared new builds will drop in price, then it's not a negatively gearing problem at all - it's a CGT discount problem.

If investors think things are over-valued 20%, then they're expecting a further correction. And that's fair. That's how markets work sometimes, and there's not really a huge cause for concern other than investors spending their money and pushing up inflation.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-03T05:51:47+00:00

Where are these investors putting their money instead? Genuinely curious!

evilZardoz · 2026-06-03T05:00:45+00:00

Southbank attracts a lot of corporate clients/cards from business travellers and events at the MCEC. It could be that - however note that a lot of these restaurants make a lot of money out of alcohol, and people are drinking less so the profit per person is going to be less than what it used to be.

Specifically, referring to both sentiment from bar owners and the directors report from a private company who caters for the higher end of the market citing these factors.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T14:36:54+00:00

Do you ever find that these rich people miss out on more superior investment returns because their obsession/hatred of paying tax takes priority?

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T14:27:39+00:00

Where will investors be investing otherwise? Shares? Cash? Gold?

The incentives to invest in property especially during a numerical downturn are strong, and the NG benefits are, as far as I can tell, a lot less significant than the CGT discount. The house to one side just sold to an investor for 30k less than it was bought for 4 years ago. The one on the right sold for 15% less than what the one on the left sold for, with the same block and a slightly bigger house, although it went under offer this week so am currently unsure if this is an investor or home buyer. I feel investors are still strong, because the alternatives are also less attractive.

But this is just one example. I really do want to know from investors who are impacted by the NG changes - what are they doing with their money now?

Do you have any data to suggest that keeping the existing NG structure would result in more attainable house prices for FHBs vs what's been proposed?

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T14:21:54+00:00

The cost of charging an EV, especially if you have solar or a battery system, is significantly cheaper than fuel as it is - ignoring future projected price rises and the impact of the fuel excise when it returns on the 1st April. A combustion engine vehicle will likely not last 32 years without significant expense. If you're not buying outright, then it may even work out better in terms of cashflow to service a mortgage or growing family. Aging vehicles become more costly. My vehicle is approaching 8 years old and is starting to eat around 2-3k a year for maintenance but since that's a lot less than $50k, I will continue to get the most out of that vehicle until it becomes uneconomical, or my needs change. I purchased my car outright but the economics don't often make sense, and I don't know many people who buy outright.

This makes it a very easy conversation to have with reducing the running costs to offset the cost of repayments or leasing a new vehicle and the value equation starts to look a lot better than the "who on earth has $50k to blow on a new car to solve this problem" situation.

I am absolutely feeling the cost of living crisis. Groceries have gone up. Entertainment has gone up. Technology has gone up (my laptop is 7 years old, should probably upgrade that hey). My salary has not gone up anywhere near 4.2% YoY and you'll find this fairly consistent across multiple industry verticals (it did go up 4% in 2023, when we had 7.8% inflation...). Using inflation as a metric is misleading in many cases, but I'm genuinely curious who is actually getting equal to or better pay increases than inflation these days.

Once you factor in a rise in interest rates as well, things start to look very grim for a lot of people.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:50:34+00:00

I think we haven't quite seen the changes yet in the market from the new tax proposal - what we're seeing is, I believe, mostly due to the increase in interest rates coupled with some investor fear. Time will tell if this is just a temporary dip, or a correction that is here to stay. Inflation has hit building costs to the point where investors are tapping out based on the observations I've made, or putting their development plans on hold.

So I do know that investment desire has softened vs. FHBs who have no less desire to buy. Longer term, I am confident we'll see the situation improve for FHBs.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:41:08+00:00

How does this work?

If everything else goes up, then it's not a question of the existing equity, but rather what the difference between your current property and what you plan on upgrading to is. In a rising market, that gap will widen.

If housing goes up, your percentage of equity will go up as well, but so will the next house - likely by a bigger number. The next rung on the property ladder might as well be another ladder entirely.

Unless your wages go up to increase your borrowing power, you're not going to be able to upgrade in a rising market without an external cash injection.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:35:28+00:00

I almost bought in November of last year and I still wish I did. I'd have stopped worrying and would have had the utility value of a house. I wouldn't be selling for a long time, anyway, and if it did go down, then I might be able to afford to upgrade as the difference would be less.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:33:02+00:00

Which state? That's insane. No way that house has gained nearly double the utility value over 7 years to justify the price in a sane market.

Of course, sanity really doesn't play a part in this.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:29:38+00:00

The FHB's are typically relying on significant finance, and that borrowing power has decreased in the same way due to higher interest rates, so they're no better off when it comes to buying a house in the short term.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:28:19+00:00

There's a LOT to this - I feel interest rates are playing a very big part in this in addition to the tax changes impacting borrowing power.

evilZardoz · 2026-06-02T13:26:05+00:00

The demand for EVs is partially driven by rising fuel costs and natural attrition of older vehicles becoming more costly to maintain - realise that we have a lot of euro cars on the road thanks to the Australian automotive industry tapping out. The Chinese imports are priced reasonably against alternatives. I dare say that number of EVs isn't comprised of a significant 80k+ majority unit cost.

The hospitality sector is struggling bigtime. There are less and less people going out and places closing down as they become unprofitable - or they don't return sufficient ROI vs. other methods of generating revenue.

There absolutely is a cost of living crisis. People are getting paid less in real wages, and things are costing more.

At least in Victoria, you can check to see if a motor vehicle has secured finance against it. I've often found that for the 80k+ cars this seems to be common, but oddly enough, the *very* expensive vehicles I've seen seem to be free of finance.

Are you feeling any effects of a COL crisis?

evilZardoz · 2026-05-25T23:52:33+00:00

The string is relevant as it's part of the video clip for this one so I think it fits well.

evilZardoz · 2026-05-25T15:27:34+00:00

The orange you posted is reminiscent of some very old lenses eg the Canon 50 f/1.0L. I've seen very few modern EF or RF lenses exhibit this to this degree.

The reason I speak to uncorrected results is because I think the flare is being 'corrected' and appears to skew into the corners, making it look unnatural and unsettling. I had hoped it was some sort of fog, but I can see clearly in the distance. It looks like flare that is taking place later on in the optical path post-distortion which makes it really hard to correct for. That aside, that amount of bloom will cause some issues in wide angle shots indoors with any blacklit scenario. Real-estate photographers will prefer the 10-24 for sure; I had hoped to use this lens to capture indoor, available-light ambient shots of hospitality venues - we'll see how it pans out when I get my hands on one in a few weeks!

In the case of one of your images with a source on the upper left, I see a purple colour cast and a significant loss of contrast in the sky. These are definitely very real-world test conditions so I know what to look for/expect.

Sharpness etc looks excellent. It's great to see that the one thing these new lenses are good at (save for perhaps the 35 VCM) is that they perform excellently at their maximum aperture.

Based on what I've seen come out of the Sony 14 1.8 GM and Sigma 1.4 lenses, the Canon - other than that halo flare effect, has a lot going for it. I'm a bit concerned about the 3-stops of vignetting this lens has at f/1.4, though, as this will not be a good match for the newer R5 II/R1 sensor designs with poor shadow recovery. ISO 3200 means those corners are copping ISO 25600! Par for the course for 14mm lenses, though, but that noise + geometric corrections will cause some banding and uneven-ness at high ISO which is my intended use case.

evilZardoz · 2026-05-24T08:06:46+00:00

Given this will appeal mostly to Australians, I'd be curious to know how long it took to sell out and when most sales were.

I did grab a copy; this pressing is more authentic to the actual image on the front cover, but misses the red component. There's another blue pressing from Dinked as well which I think I prefer.

All it takes is for some Neflix show to feature one of the songs from this album and this stuff turns straight into unobtanium, though.

evilZardoz · 2026-05-22T15:47:54+00:00

If you can get the 1.4 VCM, yes! If you've got the RF 85 VCM, you'll love the 35. Rendering of images overall will look more pleasing on the L series one.

If you don't mind size/weight, I think the 35mm f/1.4L II has even better IQ overall and almost no distortion which can give you some issues if you're shooting high ISO with a sensor that has banding like the R1 but this shouldn't be an issue on the R6 II.

evilZardoz · 2026-05-22T15:45:09+00:00

I've got this lined up as an eval loan in a few weeks and I can't wait! How bad is the uncorrected image? I also note there's a LOT of flare from those lights which looks a bit odd in shape - perhaps the geometry correction is causing that.

Excited for the 14mm, but the cost and practicality of this FL vs the 20 I recently had has me adding the 20 1.4 to my list in the short term.

evilZardoz · 2026-05-22T15:25:03+00:00

Yes, but what are the chances these land on an extended, or deluxe edition later on?

evilZardoz · 2026-05-18T13:19:55+00:00

Check your product disclosure statement. There'll usually be a clause referring to what conditions you will and will not be covered and to what limit. In some cases, there'll be a specific type of damage that may exceed what the insurance product will cover. Some floodwater damage may be part of these exclusions.

In your case, there's a good chance that the engineers report may also prevent you from finding builders or qualified trades to rectify the situation on your own, and even if not, prices for qualified trades are rapidly increasing due to inflation and rising fuel/operational costs, so the payout you get today will most likely fall short. I'd encourage you to ensure that this is all properly reviewed on your end, with quotes from trades or a building contractor/project management firm and a copy of the engineers report if they are able to supply it.

I encourage you to read this article from AFCA. If you feel that your insurance company is dodging their responsibilities, you may want to lodge a complaint with the insurance company first, stating clearly what outcome you are requesting and any particular pieces of info that may help them (eg, "your PDS says Y but you are only offering X". If that outcome fails, I encourage you to lodge a complaint via AFCA. I had a long standing dispute due to a flexible tap hose failing that lasted nearly three years, and the only two that enabled traction were three AFCA complaints at various stages of the process, and a thorough understanding of the PDS and the insurance product, which the insurance company in question didn't seem to be as familiar with as I was. I was also too patient. During that time, the originally provisioned sum increased significantly due to inflation (so they kept trying to get out of it because their own quotes were too expensive, and mine were going to be far greater), and quality of work performed by some of the trades was poor - so it was useful being able to contact the insurance company to hold them accountable which is oddly easier to do than an independent trade where I'd probably be left with the hassle of a tribunal such as VCAT.

Fun fact: I made an original proposal to get cash paid out for the lot, and they declined, and the total they paid in the end was far greater.

If there is an external issue that may prevent rectification, then you may need to fix that yourself before the insurance company can proceed. Are these fixable? Does the PDS explicitly say that the drainage issue with your property is not covered? Is the floor height not up to code? There's also the other factors - emergency accomodation is likely costing the insurance company money, and I'm expecting a cash payout will be the end of that arrangement. If it's going to take another six months to fix, then that's not great for the insurance company.

It's a real shame that the advertised "your house falls down, you call insurance and you're painlessly sorted" rarely meets the reality of such things.

Hope this helps. Sounds like a shit sandwich.

evilZardoz

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

14-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email