Canon's new RF lenses are spectacular, but they are also very expensive, and you might not want to drop thousands of dollars on just one. The great thing is that the company has a very rich history of quality optics, and you can adapt pretty much any older Canon lens to their newer cameras. This video shows you what you can expect when adapting the FD 50mm f/1.2L lens to the EOS R.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost Photography, this excellent video shows the use of an FD 50mm f/1.2L lens to the EOS R. The RF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens is absolutely spectacular, but it also comes in at $2,300, more than the camera itself. The EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is not quite as optically astounding, but it is still a fantastic lens, though it too is expensive at $1,300. The FD 50mm f/1.2L is the predecessor to the EF version, and unlike the two aforementioned lenses, it can be had for $200-300 on the used market. The lens still has a lot of character, and although it is manual focus, the focusing features on mirrorless cameras can make it far easier to use than on a DSLR. If you are looking for a cheap but capable lens, it is definitely an intriguing option. Check out the video above for Frost's full thoughts.
Yes, you can find a $300 FD 50mm f1.2, really? At that price you get a lens full of fungus, haze and potentially many other problems. All these problems show at its worst at f/1.2 which even without the fungus, haze, etc. is soft. So, you have to send it to servicing which not many people do any more. So, what is the cost of services plus shipping? Probably more than what you paid for the lens. So, my recommendation is to avoid these lenses unless you are a collector or want to dish out $600-$800 for a mint copy, but again a manual focus portrait lens in the age of continuous eye AF?
Okay, if you want a 50mm MF large aperture lens at reasonable cost and totally new with warranty? Better buy one of those chinese 50mm f/1.1-f/1.2 lenses. No fungus, no haze, no scratched lens, no beaten up body...
Depends on the version of the 50mm f1.2.
The 1.2 not l is not aspherical
Doing the same thing with my Olympus OM-D, have two Zuiko SLR prime lenses, a 50mm, 1.8 and a 135mm, 3.5. Loving the results.
Better yet, get the Rokinon 50mm SP for $700. Not only do you get exceptional optics, but you also get electronic communication which, on the EOS R, makes shooting with manual focus an absolute joy. Eye detect in manual focus, and playing the game of merging the triangles, when they are green, you can bet, with confidence, that it is in focus.
You can find these lenses at estate sales and flea markets. I paid $5 for a whole camera bag of great glass. Old film camera owners kept things clean and in the cases. Carry a strong led flashlight to shine through the lens to check. Also bring your new digital camera with adapter to see live view and it works!! I have a bag full of the old Canon FD lenses I used before getting my first Sony lens because I could with an adapter. All the lenses where fast back then f/1.4 to f/2.8 and no pixel peeping. I like them for night Astro Milky Way pano's 24mm f/2 and 50mm f/1.4 for they are small and short for the parallax move. Put on a IBIS camera and you are street ready or city night shots with a small lens and turn off LCD and put a film label over it and people think you are shooting film. With focus peaking and zebras what more can you ask. Small and fast is so hard to find in modern digital and $$$$.... Save a lens today!!!
Also they have screw on filters so you can use today's astro filters.