Living a fantasy : Canon FL 55mm F:1.2

There are myth and fantasies that we sometimes have opportunities to make happen.
Super fast primes have and almost cult status, as they are bigger, less common, more expensive than what we usually shoot with.
Recently I decided to treat myself to a well regarded super fast 50is lens, the Canon FL 55mm F:1.2.

The copy I bought is in mint condition, and a very beautiful item.



It would have been pretty unwieldy on the 5N, but is actually rather well balanced on the 6. Obviously wide open, the DOF is *razor* thin, and achieving critical focus with moving subject is pretty tricky. Plus my kid was VERY active tonight, so I had a helluva tight getting it right.



The lens is a bit low on contrast at max aperture (as expected, of course). However, sharpness is already quite good, and with a bit of PP files look very good.



I really need to practice with this lens, which is pretty challenging, so be gentle


with a bit of added contrast it looks gorgeous in B&W.





Here you can see how thin DOF truly is :


And a last pic, shot with the Minolta MD 50/1.7 that I happened to be also testing today :

 

Sorry, I haven't got around to shooting anything else than my kid (partly because I think that lens loves her !).
Tonight I decided to test a few things on the NEX6, which I'm still getting acquainted with, as I got it late on Sunday.

First, the 55/1.2 is certainly a powerful portrait tool. If you nail focus (which is really tricky due to the razor thin DOF), it's already adequatey sharp wide. It does lack contrast at maw aperture, but sharpness and definition are there.



Wide open with critical focus achieved :


At an intermediate setting between 1.2 and 2 (no clickable stop between those, so it's a bit of a guess, I'd venture 1.7 or 1.8) :


At F2 :


Now this gets interesting. I tried shooting the camera without flash, at ISO1600. WB is all over the place, but noise is very, very well contained (noise reduction set to LOW and NO PP denoising whasoever, jpeg file).



And this is with the built-in flash held back in bounced position :


Note this is 90% as good as the results with the external, bigger flashgun !! Unlike the GX-1, the 6 offers no way to hold the little flash unit in bounce position. I need to find a way to do this, as it gives excellent results without having to deal with the added bulk of the SB-600.

Wide open with external flash again. This is typical of the soft creaminess at 1.2 :

 

That's it, it doesn't "click" in bounced position as it does on the GX-1, you have to hold it in place (very awkward). It works great though (better than the Panny's flash, it seems to have way more power) so I'm looking for a technique to hold it there. Any input welcome.

 

Thank you Freddy, and hope everything soon goes back to normal on your end. Thanks for sharing the beautiful after storm pictures.

 

I don't know about the progression of light gathering within the 55/1.2, I only know that it seems to gather WAY more light than another lens, at SIMILAR F stops ?!? For instance, if I stop it down to F:1.8, I have to use ISO 200 for 1/160th, but if I swap another nifty still at 1.8, I need to bump the ISO to 400 to stay with 1/160th... The lack of clickable, or at list identified increments between 1.2 and 2 is a pain, you have to "guess" where you are. I stick the ring right in the middle and assume I'm anywhere between 1.5 and 1.7, and it's already amazingly sharp for such wide apertures.