It seems that quite a few people are interested in the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4′s bokeh. The Canon Ef 50/1.4 excels in many areas and bokeh just happens to be one of them. I wouldn’t call this lens the king of bokeh but is very good. I won’t bore you with techno babble, instead I have left you with some personal images I have snapped with the 50/1.4. These photos are a good sample of the bokeh that the Canon 50/1.4 offers.
All of these photos were shot with a Canon 5D but they could just have well been made with the 5D Mark II or any other Canon full frame camera. Click on any image for a larger view.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.6 - I took several shots at f/1.6 rather than f/1.4 when I first received the lens. I thought there would be a slight increase in sharpness at f/1.6 over f/1.4. I have since determined this to be a false assumption. F/2 is where a big jump in center frame resolution occurs. Today I rarely use the 50/1.4 at f/1.4 or f/1.8. I keep it locked at F/1.4 when I need the speed and then move to F/2 or higher when I need more DOF.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.6
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.6 - Another frame at f/1.6
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/2
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/4.5
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 @ f/8
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The house being slightly out of focus is very pleasing. the bokeh of that lens is very nice.
Thanks Weldon… Once you get past F2.8 or so the OOF areas are so neutral they look like a Photoshop filter. The Canon EF 50/1.4 lens is almost boring in that regard.