Dan Kerin

 Canon 50mm F1.2

When shooting with analogue equipment, gear is arguably more important as film does have its limitations. When shooting in low light conditions you can either, shoot with a higher ISO film (or push the film) which will increase the grain. Lower your shutter speed, and risk motion blur. Or use a faster lens with a wider aperture. Though I am not one for always shooting wide open in certain situations having a fast lens can make all the difference.

Though my 50mm Summicron performs very well in normal lighting conditions, at night I found myself having to decrease my shutter speed to 1/30th or lower to correctly expose the scene. This was frustrating as I did not want to keep carrying two film bodies one with 400 speed and the other with 1600. I had previously owned a Voigtlander 50mm F1.1 Nokton and remember it being quite large and heavy and that was one of the reasons I sold it. As I began searching for a fast 50 it quickly became apparent that below f1.4 there are not many choices. Leica do have the Noctilux however as this will not be my main go to lens so I cant justify the price tag that goes along with the Noctilux name. Though Voigtlander do make some great lenses I don’t want anything too large or heavy. I did briefly consider 7Artisans however the reviews are really all over the place either being outstandingly great our outstandingly poor. It was here I started going back in time and I started to look into the Canon 50mm F1.2.

Released in 1956 and designed by Ito Hiroshi, at the time this was the fasted lens in mass production. Having seven elements in five groups this was a very simple lens. What attracted me to this lens was its rather short stature when compared to other fast 50mm lenses, its even shorter than my 50mm F2 Summicron! This makes it great for an everyday lens as it can fit in most bags and isn’t too intrusive when on the camera. Though many can be found on E-Bay I highly recommend buying from a reputable seller or going to see the lens before purchasing. Most of these lenses are in poor condition having physical problems such as overly tight or loose focus/ aperture rings, or more severer issues like fungus or balsam separation.

 After shooting a few rolls with this lens I can say, I see this being a future classic. As to be expected from a lens of this age and design, the photographs you get are lacking in contrast. Personally, I do not see this as an issue as contrast can always be added through development, post processing or printing. When using this lens I found it to be very well suited to the Leica camera system, not feeling to large or heavy while being light enough to carry all day without any problems. The lens has a fairly long focus throw meaning accurate focus can be achieved with ease. Having used this lens both on a Leica M3 and Leica M4, I found having the longer rangefinder base length on the M3 allowed me to focus with higher accuracy. I did notice in a few photos the lens suffered from flaring. This is down to the simple design which makes this lens so compact.

Now to discuss the elephant in the room, sharpness. If you know how to use vintage lenses of this era and understand simple lens characteristics you will be happy with the results. When shooting at F/2 and above this lens performs well. However, when purchasing a F/1.2 lens you don’t buy it to shoot it stopped down. When shooting wide open special care needs taking in order to get the best results. Centre sharpness is good but there is fall off towards the edges. When shooting wide open I advise to have the subject in the centre of the frame to ensure a sharp result. That being said as Henri Cartier-Bresson said ‘Sharpness is a bourgeois’ and that is a concept I do believe in. Safe to say if you want 100% sharpness from a lens this fast opt for a Leica Noctilux or Voigtlander Nokton.