I had my eye on this lens for a very long time as 50mm is my favorite focal length, and I've never been a fan of the f/1.8 or f/1.4 50mm lenses from Canon

I find 50mm to be a great focal length for many of the sporting events I attend locally, but it doesn't focus like a sporting lens should

I specifically wanted to write this review for crop frame users who prefer the 50mm focal length that produces a compressed 80mm perspective on your sensor

The focal length is perfect for so many shots that I use it for at least 60% of all shots on a typical wedding day

and I realized that it was my favorite focal length with my 5D II.

For me, 50mm is the golden focal length and this lens is the best 50 you can get.

i find it to be the most versatile focal length because it can be used to shoot portraits with little to no distortion as well as street photography and general purpose stuff.

I was debating this vs the 35L, but 50mm is my preferred focal length

So I'm back to an effective focal length of 50mm

conditions.-great big aperture for astrophotography, though the focal length is a bit weird for that application (not too telephoto for closeups, not wide enough for big Milky Way shots)-low profile, not big enough to attract much attention.

i love the 50mm focal length on a full frame body like my 5D mark II.

50mm has always been my favorite focal length on FF camera's and this is an amazing lens, everyone loves to argue if the 1.2 is worth so much money over the 1.4, in photography everything always feels too expensive

To many, this focal length may be the ideal length for portraits

I appreciate its focal length for portrait style photographs and its ability to produce a very strong bokeh, especially the f1.2L. I started with the 50mm f1.8, then purchased and utilized a 50mm 1.4 for several years, and as of around May of 2013 decided to reach out and grab this 50 f1.2L. The build quality is superb, but I mean the lens costs over a thousand dollars, so wouldn't you expect it to be built better

This is the softest L lens I own.

Plus I had my much better photographer friends telling me to go with a nice L zoom lens for the flexibile range.

Sean Reid [...]. rated this as the L lens worth its price tag

They say that amateur photographers embark on an equipment journey...beginning with cheap starter lenses, then to "L" zooms and eventually all roads lead to the elite prime "L" lenses- the 35mm, the 50mm, 85mm, 135mm, etc,

I'm in the process of acquiring a full set of fast prime "L" lenses

It seems to do exactly what it purports to do and then some...it really makes some truly lovely pictures (and yes all that wonderful L color and contrast is there too)

I had a Sigma 50mm 1.4, two tamron sp 35mm and 85mm 1.8, all made for high megapixel wars, but none, no other lens besides the 85mm 1.2 L lens will give u the rendering, the bokeh, the 3d look, the beautiful L lens colors, transition from bokeh to sharpness, the amount of light u can capture with this lens, its superb

Chromatic abberation is rather harsh for an L-lens (even harsher than the 1.8 and 1.4 non-L lenses) and the vignetting on a full-frame sensor is kind of disappointing