Canon 50mm f/1.0 L — Bokeh & Optical Ray-Tracing Simulator

Interactive 3D portrait ray-traced through the published US4717245A optical prescription (11 elements in 9 groups, 2 aspherical) with a 50.0 mm entrance pupil and 0.6 m minimum focus.

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Optical & Portrait Specifications (Upper Body Framing)

Optical & Portrait Metric	Measured / Patent Value	What It Means in Practice
Patent Prescription	US4717245A · 11 elements in 9 groups (2 aspherical)	Traced surface by surface in WebGL2
Entrance Pupil Diameter	50.0 mm (at f/1)	Controls distant background blur disc size
Upper-Body Working Distance	2.01 m	Camera-to-subject distance for head-to-waist framing
Effective Focal Length (Breathing)	49.3 mm (-1.4%)	Actual framing focal length at portrait distance
Depth of Field (Sharp Zone)	14 cm (1.95 m – 2.09 m)	Sharp zone at wide-open aperture
Minimum Focus Distance	0.6 m	Closest focusing distance from the sensor

Questions

How much background blur does the Canon 50mm f/1.0 L produce?

Wide open at f/1, the Canon 50mm f/1.0 L has a 50.0 mm entrance pupil (50 mm ÷ 1). In an upper-body portrait at 2.01 m, the sharp depth-of-field zone spans 14 cm (1.95 m to 2.09 m), while mechanical vignetting and 11 glass elements shape the out-of-focus highlights.

Does the Canon 50mm f/1.0 L show focus breathing at portrait distance?

Based on patent US4717245A, tracing the focusing group at 2.01 m gives an effective framing focal length of 49.3 mm (-1.4% vs. the nominal 50 mm). You can toggle "Match subject size" in the simulator to see the framing shift live.

What optical design is inside the Canon 50mm f/1.0 L?

The patent prescription (US4717245A) specifies 11 lens elements in 9 groups with 2 aspherical surfaces. The interactive Optical X-Ray above traces rays through every surface in real time.

Head-to-head patent comparisons with Canon 50mm f/1.0 L

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Also see: depth of field, bokeh, crop factor, lens compression.