I Added a New Lens to the Collection
I am so excited to talk about this lens today because let me tell you, it is a beast. I had been searching for a new lens for about a month, I was watching videos and reviews every night but it did not make it any easier to choose. For every lens you look at, there will be a thousand completely different opinions. You’ll see people who rave about the lens but then the next review will be talking about how that exact same lens model constantly misfocused. When you see these clashing reviews, you have to keep in mind that yes, you could get a faulty product from the manufacturer and two, that not everyone has the same photography style as you or the same needs in a lens.
Before purchasing my new lens, I was shooting with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 which was producing pretty great images for me. I just needed something a little different, I thought I was looking for a lens with greater compression like a 135mm. I still wanted the low f-stop so I wasn’t leaning towards the Canon 135mm f/2.0, I was looking at the Sigma 135mm f/1.8. I was relatively fearful to invest upwards of $1,400 on a lens brand I had never used. I was so stressed trying to pick a lens because of the wide variation in reviews and the steep price tags. After jumping around from 35mm to 85mm back to 135mm, I decided on investing in a higher-end 50mm lens from Canon.
My first tip for investing in your first high-end lens would be find a professional photographer that has a similar style to what you have or what you want to achieve and take their advice. I was inspired by the wedding photographer Katelyn James. My second tip would be to invest in a more expensive version of the focal length you are shooting with already, in my case that was the 50mm.
My reasons for choosing the Canon 50mm f/1.2
I trust the brand Canon
50mm is a good versatile focal length
I was already shooting with a 50mm lens
The f-stop of 1.2 would give me a lot more blur
It was a good start to my professional lens collection
Things that made me skeptical to purchase the 50mm f/1.2
THE PRICE
Not getting to experiment with a new focal length
Not getting the higher compression I wanted in a lens
Quite a few reviews about the shutter breaking
Why wouldn’t I have just gotten the much more affordable Canon 50mm f/1.4? The 50mm f/1.4 is said to not even work as good as the 50mm f/1.8 that I already had. I saw it as a waste of money to put $400 towards that 50mm f/1.4 rather than just saving it for the lens I truly intended on purchasing.
I am so happy with my purchase. I was able to do my first shoot in Traverse City, MI with it and it performed amazingly. The background blur was far more gorgeous than I could have imagined and the focus is so sharp. I am going to insert some pictures below from this past weekend’s shoot.
