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Canon FL 58mm F/1.2
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:00 am    Post subject: Canon FL 58mm F/1.2 Reply with quote

The search page seems to be MIA here returning only a 405 error so I'll start a new thread. It might not be posted yet anyway as it seems to be fairly rare. When I posted these on other sites with knowledgable user bases no one knew of it and several expressed their surprise at it's existence. <shrug>

I'm on a M4/3 camera so I can't assess corner performance but the centers and bokeh are exceptionally nice with this lens. Wide open it's sharp, little to no CA, great color and contrast (pop - unusual for older canon lenses I think), and the bokeh is smooooth and creamy - just how I like it.

Here's some samples:




@ f/2.0







@ f/1.2 85% crop







@ f/2.0







@ f/1.2







@ ~f/1.8







@ f/1.2








@ f/2.0







@ f/I forget. Smile







@ f/1.2




!-Enjoy


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow!

tf


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Outstanding pictures ! YES WOW!


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Superb. Your lens is a cracker!

I have an FL 55mm f/1.2 which I've recently had converted to EOS mount and the more I play with it, the more I like it. Wink Wink Laughing

And the more I use it with live view to get my focus spot on, the closer I get to thinking that I might dare to let go of my EF 50mm f/1.4 AF lens.

I say might because for candid portraiture/street photography, AF is a pretty convincing comfort blanket!


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lovely photos.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the nice comments people! It's appreciated!


tikkathree wrote:
Superb. Your lens is a cracker!

I have an FL 55mm f/1.2 which I've recently had converted to EOS mount and the more I play with it, the more I like it. Wink Wink Laughing

And the more I use it with live view to get my focus spot on, the closer I get to thinking that I might dare to let go of my EF 50mm f/1.4 AF lens.

I say might because for candid portraiture/street photography, AF is a pretty convincing comfort blanket!


Yep, the 55/1.2 is another good one although the 58/1.2 seems to be a very different renderer. From what I can tell the 58/1.2 has nearly identical characteristics to the Rokkor 58/1.2 : Soft & creamy yet sharp enough to impress wide open and Sharp enough to cut yourself with yet with a very likable bokeh when stopped down at all.

For AF I wouldn't know. For the past 12 or 13 months I'v not owned even one lens that could AF on my GH1. I could see wanting AF for important sports events, or catching criminals in the act, or even sneaking the camera into an art show of someone like Dali... but besides that I'd miss the challenge too much - even for candid street shots. Of course I'm using a camera that is full-time live-view too. So focusing in EVF or 15x magnified EVF is just /right there/. If my camera were OVF I'd probably feel very different.

Hey that's an idea... Why don't you get a GH1? They're only like $280 to $300 (new in box - body only) - that way you wouldn't have to murder err, I mean convert, the lens either!

Smile


PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a lot sharper than my 55/1.2 Nikkor, but maybe it's the added depth of field, as you're further away from your subjects.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damn you, now I want yet another lens. Wink

Super nice photos.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hate you people! Wink

Last edited by jjphoto on Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:20 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tesselator wrote:


Hey that's an idea... Why don't you get a GH1? They're only like $280 to $300 (new in box - body only) - that way you wouldn't have to murder err, I mean convert, the lens either!

Smile


Hey, just you stop that!
No! PAck it in!


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote




canon fl 58mm f1.2 @1.2 on Sony NEX




@f2[/img]

quite difficult to really focus even at f2


Last edited by jun on Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:03 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jun wrote:

...
quite difficult to really focus even at f2


Maybe there is considerable sample variation with this lens. Who knows?

Difficulty focusing is normally due to softness so the image doesn't have a distinct sharp point where it's easy to tell that it is or isn't in focus. I've had the same problem with other fast lenses, which are a bit soft wide open. As soon as they are stopped down to F2 their sharpness improves quite a lot so focusing becomes much easier.

JJ


Last edited by jjphoto on Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:21 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

damn good, I tested this lens, but not that sharp. No PP?


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, the 1.2 samples looks almost unbelievable to me Shocked


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shocked Shocked Oh I wish I could capture roses like that lens.. Very Happy


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

great color and detail on that red rose, light must,ve been perfect, no bleeding at all. these are some of the best nex photos i've seen as they have depth and very good highlight handling.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the great comments guys! It's really appreciated!


rbelyell wrote:
great color and detail on that red rose, light must,ve been perfect, no bleeding at all. these are some of the best nex photos i've seen as they have depth and very good highlight handling.


Mine were shot on the Panasonic GH1. I can't have a camera that doesn't come with a superb EVF. I'm old and can not see those dang LCDs without a loupe or something. Plus I'm a cheap biotch and will likely never pay more then $500 for a camera body. Smile The GH1 14 months ago cost $375 new body only - here in Japan. Today it goes for $290. Smile

mo wrote:
Shocked Shocked Oh I wish I could capture roses like that lens.. Very Happy


You have the Mamiya 85/1.8 so you can! Wink

IAZA wrote:
damn good, I tested this lens, but not that sharp. No PP?


There was some PP. I forget what I did to the pigeons... For the others I scaled them and then added a USM of 0.4 pixels at 50%. When I brought the files into ACR it's default sharpening was also added as well. I think it's default is 1.0 pixels at 25%. Neither one one of these are enough to alter anything much at all. My scaling I use "Best For Smooth Gradients" so the sharpening I add is actually less than if I sharpened using the "Best For Reduction" - which (I think) sharpens at a percentage of width and by a hefty amount. Again, I forget what I did to the pigeons tho.

jjphoto wrote:
jun wrote:

...
quite difficult to really focus even at f2


Maybe there is considerable sample variation with this lens. Who knows?

Difficulty focusing is normally due to softness so the image doesn't have a distinct sharp point where it's easy to tell that it is or isn't in focus. I've had the same problem with Leica R 35/1.4 and 80/1.4 lenses, amongst many other fast lenses, which are a bit soft wide open. As soon as they are stopped down to F2 their sharpness improves quite a lot so focusing becomes much easier.

JJ


I don't think it's sample variation. I just think it's someone without a loupe trying to focus that lens at it's MFD on an LCD. Sad Remember the GH1 has a very good EVF Smile and even at that I almost always release the shutter while viewing the subject in 15x MF assist. It varies with the subject somewhat but I frame (compose), zoom in (15x MF assist), focus, and then press the shutter. In that order. I even do that with slower BIFs. Wink

tikkathree wrote:
Tesselator wrote:


Hey that's an idea... Why don't you get a GH1? They're only like $280 to $300 (new in box - body only) - that way you wouldn't have to murder err, I mean convert, the lens either!

Smile


Hey, just you stop that!
No! PAck it in!


Hehe, never! I will defend my island whatever the costs may be.

Oops, wrong speech. Razz


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

using the panny--that explains the depth and highlight handling! Laughing

didnt notice you were in japan--hope all is well with you and your family in wake of recent problems.

also, was wondering how the price of the new fuji medium format gf 670 fold out cam compares to here in u.s. where it sells for about $1600 usd...ive read its much less expensive there.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rbelyell wrote:
using the panny--that explains the depth and highlight handling! Laughing


Smile

Quote:
didnt notice you were in japan--hope all is well with you and your family in wake of recent problems.


Thanks, so far so good... Time will tell. Chernobyl took some years to kill the approximately one million it took. While Fukushima is quantitatively now approximately 8 times worse not many will meet the reaper for awhile yet. I hope as everyone that myself and my kids are not among those affected.

Quote:
also, was wondering how the price of the new fuji medium format gf 670 fold out cam compares to here in u.s. where it sells for about $1600 usd...ive read its much less expensive there.


They best way to find out is to get on Yahoo auctions and type the model number. If nothing but used ones comes up then it's the same or more here than there. If new (in box) ones appear in the search results just use an exchange rate site to compare.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have the FL 55/1.2, which I've grown quite fond of, and I've wondered about the 58/1.2. My thinking has been that the 55/1.2 must have been an improvement, else why would Canon have discontinued the 58 in favor for the 55. Well, lemme tell ya, after seeing these images I can throw that bit of reasoning out the window. These images are superb!

About a week ago, I bid on an outfit -- the camera was an FT and it came with a couple of FL lenses, including the 58 -- and I got outbid, dang it! Now I really regret being outbid!


PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The FL 58mm f/1.2 is radioactive so maybe part of the quality is enabled by thorium glass. The non-radioactive FL 55mm f/1.2 may have been substituted with design improvements that removed the need for thorium…


PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
You have the Mamiya 85/1.8 so you can!

I wish I did... Laughing


PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some shots (wide-open @f1.2) taken with a nex-5, must say not as sharp as the ones in the 1st post, much softer but I think it's still useable wide-open, what would you say? Smile

Canon FL 58/1.2:


Canon FL 58/1.2:


Canon FL 58/1.2:


Canon FL 58/1.2:


PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

WOW, I am stunned. Your copy seems to be outstanding!! Shocked Shocked
Mine is no where near as sharp as yours. Mind you your shots are stopped down.
http://forum.mflenses.com/canon-fl-58mm-f1-2-and-panny-g1-t35277,highlight,%2Bfl+%2B58mm+%2Bf1+%2B2.html


PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stingOM wrote:
WOW, I am stunned. Your copy seems to be outstanding!! Shocked Shocked
Mine is no where near as sharp as yours. Mind you your shots are stopped down.
http://forum.mflenses.com/canon-fl-58mm-f1-2-and-panny-g1-t35277,highlight,%2Bfl+%2B58mm+%2Bf1+%2B2.html


Thank You. To be totally sincere, I thought I got a lemon, since I was stunned by the clarity of the photos in the first posts of this topic.

Quote:
Mind you your shots are stopped down.


the photos are wide open@f1.2