![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_9460.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This photo of a street performer in New York\u00a0was shot with a 50mm lens. That should be fairly obvious from a quick scrutiny – the perspective (which is not wide, and neither tight); and the shallow depth of field. That sort of gives away that a 50mm lens was most likely used for this loosely composed candid portrait.<\/p>\n
Now, I have to admit that I have this strange love-disinterest relationship with the 50mm focal length. Not quite love-hate, but more a frustration at times with the 50mm as the main lens to use. It feels like it is either not wide enough (to get more of the environment in, or to get an interesting perspective), or that it isn’t tight enough (for a tighter\u00a0portrait that includes less.) With most of my photography work, I rely on the 24-70mm and 70-200mm zoom lenses.<\/p>\n
Yet, for all that, the 50mm lens is an essential lens that deserves a spot in your camera bag. Their optical performance are usually of the highest order because there are less demands on correcting for various optical aberrations. Also, the budget 50mm lenses are very affordable, and a superb entry into the super-shallow depth-of-field look that give some photos such visual appeal.<\/p>\n
When I posted the\u00a0review\u00a0of the\u00a0Sigma 50mm f\/1.4 ART lens<\/a>, there were questions about when I would post the review of the Canon mount lens. As if the change in the mount would make the Sigma ART lens less or more spectacular. But, fair enough, we should have a comparative review of the Canon-mount Sigma 50mm ART lens against the other 50mm offerings. A direct comparison might tell us how this lens performs in relation to its price to other Canon mount 50mm lenses.<\/p>\n With that in mind, let\u2019s compare these 50mm lenses for Canon:<\/p>\n With such a wide range in price (and build quality), it might seem slightly ridiculous in a way to compare these lenses. Yet, it might also be a good way to see what each lens offers in each price bracket. What would the\u00a0Canon EF 50mm f\/1.2L USM lens<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) offer that the f\/1.8 lenses don’t? And would the f\/1.8 lenses still appear good value when compared to the more pricey lenses?<\/p>\n Hopefully, some of\u00a0these mysteries will\u00a0unfold in this review which concentrates on bokeh<\/strong>, and the follow-up review in which we will look at the sharpness<\/strong> of these lenses. (Comparing various optical aberrations and such, is outside of the scope of this particular review.)<\/p>\n For those who are the kind of people who flip to the last page of a book to read the ending first, here’s the final summary …<\/p>\n Considering both the sharpness and the bokeh, for me, the Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART\u00a0lens<\/a> (affiliate<\/em>)\u00a0has that perfect intersection between price and quality. Next in line, the\u00a0Canon EF 50mm f\/1.4<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), is surprisingly good. It really holds its own, and is the best value for money for those wanting\u00a0to buy a 50mm lens. The\u00a0Canon EF 50mm f\/1.2L<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), as you might expect, is a somewhat of an outlier – it gives a unique,\u00a0if sometimes\u00a0subtly different result\u00a0than the other lenses.<\/p>\n So, no real spoilers there,\u00a0but let’s take\u00a0a closer look at these lenses. As mentioned, in this,\u00a0the first of a two-part review, we’ll specifically be considering\u00a0the bokeh<\/strong> of these\u00a0lenses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking again at this\u00a0photo –\u00a0even though it shows shallow depth-of-field, the bokeh can be described as\u00a0jittery or harsh. Look at the railings in the background – there is an intrusiveness to how they appear in the photo – as if there is a “double edge” to the blur. Same for the building in the \u00a0right-hand background.<\/p>\n All of this makes the image appear “busier” compared to how it would’ve looked if we had used a lens which gives us a smoother background bokeh<\/strong>. If you don’t quite recognize it here, it will become more apparent in the next section where we will directly compare similar images. \u00a0We will specifically look at the bokeh of each lens in the next section, as long as we are okay with the idea that\u00a0‘bokeh’ and ‘shallow DoF’\u00a0aren’t interchangeable phrases!<\/p>\n Whether this – the bokeh of a lens – is important to you, is something you’ll have to decide for yourself. For example, both\u00a0the Canon and Nikon 70-200mm f\/2.8 lenses have fairly busy\u00a0bokeh. Not really harsh, but definitely not smooth. However, their versatility and usefulness far outweigh their bokeh as a consideration. For many photographers though, the bokeh is an important deciding factor in choosing a lens – it can definitely become part of the artistic palette you use.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A note about these tests –\u00a0I tried to keep things as similar as possible between photos. However, since these were shot on location, light can change between photos.\u00a0For the most part, I worked with a tripod to help keep the framing exact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I shot several sequences with each lens, at various apertures. For this comparison, I chose just the apertures at f\/1.8 so that we have some kind of equivalency.<\/p>\n Cropping at 50% from the left-hand corner, the differences should be immediately obvious. The Canon 50mm f\/1.8 STM has that jittery, busy look to the background. The Canon 50mm f\/1.4 improves slightly. Then with a big jump in improvement of the background bokeh, both the Sigma 50mmm f\/1.4 ART and the Canon 50mm f\/1.2L lenses are about on par here.\u00a0But with further comparisons, the 1.2L has the advantage over the Sigma in having a slightly smoother rendition of the background.<\/p>\n (I messed up entirely on the sequence with the\u00a0Yongnuo 50mm f\/1.8\u00a0lens. Don’t ask!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As another test to compare the bokeh of these lenses, I photographed Melanie in front of this shrub. The thinner leaves are ideal to show how the bokeh would appear – smooth or busy. Again, for this comparison, I chose just the apertures at f\/1.8 for\u00a0some kind of equivalency.<\/p>\n Cropping at 50% from the left-hand corner, the differences should still\u00a0be obvious. The Canon 50mm f\/1.2 and the Sigma 50mm f\/1.4 ART lenses are about the same to my eye. The Canon 50mm f\/1.4 looks busier than those two lenses, but not too horrible. Then,\u00a0the Canon 50mm f\/1.8 STM predictably has that harsh bokeh, giving a type of double edge to the lines. To my eye, this looks intrusive, especially compared to the f\/1.2 lens.\u00a0The Yongnuo 50mm lens has approximately the same look – a distractingly busy feel to the background.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you can see, looking at the bokeh of these two lenses – the\u00a0Canon EF 50mm f\/1.2L USM<\/a>\u00a0($1350), and the\u00a0Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART\u00a0lens<\/a>\u00a0($850) – there isn’t much to separate them. The bokeh looks different under closer scrutiny, but not in a way that I would say is better or superior. They just look slightly different. But the bokeh for both lenses appear smooth. I’d be happy with either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Where the Sigma does fall down, as mentioned in my\u00a0review\u00a0of the\u00a0Sigma 50mm f\/1.4 ART lens<\/a>, the Sigma is consistently under-exposed by\u00a0a third of a stop, for the same camera settings.\u00a0An aperture of\u00a0f\/1.2 optic is half\u00a0a stop<\/strong>\u00a0faster than an aperture of\u00a0f\/1.4\u00a0… so if you have correct exposure with the Canon f\/1.2\u00a0then for a similar exposure with the Sigma ART lens, you’d have to have a shutter speed nearly a stop slower. (Or, the ISO nearly a stop higher.) That could be crucial if you shoot in low light, and need that extra bit of shutter speed to reduce camera shake, or help freeze movement.<\/p>\n In terms of the bokeh alone, I would say the\u00a0the\u00a0Canon 50mm f\/1.2L\u00a0and the\u00a0Sigma 50mm f\/1.4 ART are about on the same level.<\/p>\n The \u00a0Canon EF 50mm f\/1.4 USM, which sells for $330, has a fairly decent bokeh. Not as smooth as the other top-end optics, but much better than the bokeh of the f\/1.8 optics.<\/p>\n The two budget optics have disappointingly distracting background bokeh … but they are so affordable, that they would appeal on price alone if the bokeh isn’t of any importance to you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This photo above of Olga, was taken at f\/1.8 with the\u00a0Yongnuo 50mm f\/1.8<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>). Even without being told that, if we look\u00a0at the busy-ness\u00a0of the background in the bottom right,\u00a0a good guess would be that either the Yongnuo or the Canon 50mm f\/1.8 STM was used. The bokeh is a big clue here\u00a0as to which lens out of the fives tested here, might’ve been used.<\/p>\n As a little bit of homework, let’s look at the 50% crop of a similar image to the one above. Let’s\u00a0see if you can accurately place which Canon 50mm lens was used for these –\u00a0 the f\/1.8 STM, or the f\/1.4 or the f\/1.2L lenses. The neon lights in the background did change their display – but look at the overall smoothness, or the lack thereof. All three these images where shot at f\/2.0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" review: Canon 50mm lenses – bokeh This photo of a street performer in New York\u00a0was shot with a 50mm lens. That should be fairly obvious from a quick scrutiny – the perspective (which is not wide, and neither tight); and the shallow depth of field. That sort of gives away that a 50mm lens was Read more inside…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,13,700,972],"tags":[866,915,916,255],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bokeh","8":"category-canon","9":"category-equipment-review","10":"category-equipment-reviews-canon","11":"category-equipment-reviews-sigma","12":"tag-bokeh","13":"tag-canon-50mm-lens","14":"tag-canon-lens-bokeh","15":"tag-canon-lens-review","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31786"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35848,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31786\/revisions\/35848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31786"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=31786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Before we go any further, a few\u00a0notes about ‘bokeh’:<\/h2>\n
\n
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_9460_crop1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_9460_crop2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f12_IMG_8937.jpg\")
<\/p>\nComparing the bokeh of the Canon 50mm lenses – Example 1<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_8913_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f14_IMG_8925_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Sigma_50mm-f14_IMG_8951_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f12_IMG_8937_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f12_IMG_7863.jpg\")
<\/p>\nComparing the bokeh of the Canon 50mm lenses – Example\u00a02<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f12_IMG_7863_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Sigma-50mm-f14_IMG_7856_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f14_IMG_7848_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_7866_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Yongnuo-50mm-f18_IMG_7851_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-9041_Sigma-9055.jpg\")
<\/p>\nComparing the Canon 50mm f\/1.2L to the Sigma 50mm f\/1.4 \u00a0– Bokeh<\/h2>\n
Summary<\/h2>\n
Related links<\/h2>\n
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You can purchase any of these lenses through these affiliate links<\/h2>\n
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<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Olga_9138.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA\u00a0little bit of homework<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f12_IMG_9108_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f14_IMG_9102_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/review\/canon-50mm\/Canon-50mm-f18_IMG_9097_crop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n