Is the Canon 50mm F1.2L worth it?

‘Canon EF 50mm f/1.2’ by Thomas Hawk, available at here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License

There has been many reviews on the Canon 50mm F1.2L, and many say it is not worth the money when taking into consideration the quality you get from the cheaper 50mm 1.4. My favourite Canon lens review website concludes that the 50mm F1.2L is worth the money, but only if you value the standard L features and exceptional performance between apertures F1.2 and F2.8. I know many pros buy this lens because it is arguably the best that money can buy, but I want to know if it is a value for money purchase for amateurs like myself. I decided to hire the lens for my annual trip to Spain; this way I could test the lens by shooting as if I was using my 50mm F1.4.

These are my thoughts on using this lens:

• The image quality is absolutely amazing; anyone who has used L glass before will understand how good the colour contrast and sharpness can be.
• The lens is big and heavy, and when paired with a 5D MkII it is a solid combination. This characteristic actually makes it a joy to use because it is well balanced and therefore steadying the camera for focusing is easy, but I did notice the additional weight and bulk in my camera bag.
• I immediately noticed the auto focus speed was slower, but quieter than the F1.4 version of this lens. Personally I would sacrifice near silent auto focus for faster performance (as long as the auto focus does not get as loud a the F1.8 version that sound like a wasp stuck under a plastic cup).
• The lens performs well wide open, and is sharp enough between F1.2 to F2.0. However pixel peepers may be disappointed that images do not pop as much straight out of the camera.
• The lens handles chromatic aberration, which is my pet hate, very well. However this distortion still happens in extreme cases.
• The bokeh is simply amazing; for some bokeh addicts this a reason alone to buy the lens.

So is it worth buying this lens?

It depends if there is a need for the performance, described above, when the lens is wide open. If this is the case, then this lens is worth it. However if you have used the F1.4 version, you will realise that this lens is not far behind in image quality. I have decided to stick with my 50mm F1.4 until either canon releases the rumoured mark 2 version or I start missing the benefits of it's bigger brother; the latter is very unlikely but you never know.