Lens review: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II

Hello again readers! Today I will be briefly reviewing Canon's new 24-70mm f/2.8L II zoom lens. This is possibly the most popular lens among photographers, having its versatile focal length as well as a low aperture. There are some people that have built their careers on a full frame camera and this one lens.

With about a 10 year gap from its predecesor, sharper optics, more plastic (good plastic), and more money out of your wallet were added on to this new lens - but with no IS. On the other hand, it weighs reasonably on a camera body unlike the previous version, which was practically rip-your-arms-out-of-your-sockets heavy. Magically, while being shorter and fatter than the old version, this lens weighs 804.5g while the previous version of the 24-70mm weighs 950g. Even though about 1/8 of the weight is lost in this new lens, it really does feel like a big difference when taking it into action. For the same token, Canon decided to throw on a massive filter size of 82mm onto this lens as well.

70mm on f/2.8, Canon 7D (crop sensor)

70mm on f/2.8, Canon 6D (full frame)

Another difference between this lens and its previous version was the reverse zoom - at 24mm, the older version was fully extended while 70mm was retracted. This newer version on the other hand is a lot more conventional - retracted at 24mm and extended at 70mm. The lens hood also moves along with the new version's zoom while the hood stayed fixed as you zoomed in and out. 

The only trouble with this lens was the zoom which tends to be quite tough to move, and the fact that there is also a lens lock, in the situation where someone might keep it in their suitcase when travelling and it might experience a bit of bumping and moving. Other than that, I didn't really see the purpose of a lens lock with an already tough zoom.

For its crazy price tag, there is not one person I know of that has said anything badly about this overall lens - in fact, quite the opposite, meaning that the price you pay is sure worth it. 

Lens review: Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L

Hi readers! Today I'll be doing another lens review on my 50mm f/1.2L, otherwise known as a 'nifty fifty'.

The 50mm prime has always been a popular fixed focal length lens for photographers just starting out, or professional. For the beginners, their next step up from their kit lenses are normally the 50mm f/1.8.

I used a 50mm f/1.8 for 3 years and of course, it's definitely a LOT bigger than the 1.2L - it weighs nearly 600g instead of 130g which is a super huge jump in weight when I pick up my camera now. It also has a much bigger filter size of 72mm instead of 52mm.

I wanted to see what kind of results I'd get shooting completely wide open at f/1.2.

Captured on Canon 7D on f/1.2, ISO400 at 1/6400

f/1.2, ISO400, 1/8000

50mm at f/1.2 ISO200, Canon 7D (crop sensor)

50mm at f/1.2, ISO200, Canon 6D (full frame)

Going right in at f/1.2 has the most crazy falloff but of course, focused areas are still tact sharp.

f/1.2, ISO400, 1/1600

Though it is a nice aperture to be shooting at because of the bokeh, I wouldn't risk shooting something that requires lots of movement or something spontaneous. I mostly would use it for some types of portraiture and things that will keep still for a fair amount of time.

As for portraiture, the soft focus on f/1.2 is really elegant. The image below has some awesome bokeh and it was still awesome to get some bubbles tact sharp as well.

With a widest-currently-available f/1.2 aperture, this 50 allows extremely fine control over DOF - allowing the primary subject to pop. An 8-blade circular aperture delivers best-in-class out of focus blur, even when stopped down. This lens allows handholding and action-stopping shutter speeds at very low light conditions. This lens is sure to be a favourite of wedding and portrait photographers, as well as photojournalists. 

f/1.2, ISO400, 1/2500

In a nutshell, the f/1.2 aperture blur is fantastic as you'd expect, especially lower than f/2.8. It focuses on subjects super quickly. But in return, shooting wide open at f/1.2 will leave you with very little in focus, resulting in some shots being softer/more out of focus than expected.