Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens - An affordable standard prime lens with a fast aperture, suited to any field of photography.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens Pros: Clear, Crisp, Bokka, Light, Cheap Cons: Delicate, If you like Zoom this isn't for you. I've always had a passion for photography but I've never had the bank balance to back it up. I'm always the person hunting for second hand equipment to bolster my collection but always look on longingly at my close friends uber expensive toys. I then found myself with a few extra pennies one month, and rather than donating it to the family for a change, I decided to treat myself to a new gadget. I hunted around the forums and reviews for the best bang for buck that I could get from my spare cash. One things that kept popping up was the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens or better known as the "Nifty Fifty". This Lens is a prime lens that fixes to the front of the camera and thats it. There is NO zoom functionality, it literally is one piece of stationary glass. Now when I thought about buying this, I was a little worried (naive) that I could get great pictures from a single focal length. How wrong I was. I took the plunge and very shortly after I had my brand new shiny lens. Within minutes of fixing it to the camera I was off and about relearning my photography craft and being forced to get active and frame my shots properly, rather than stand from a distance and play with a zoom. The sharpness of the pictures is incredible at the right aperture, producing some amazing portrait shots. It also allows me to produce a beautiful faded look around my subject when reaching into the wider apertures. Although be warned that if you head down to F/1.8 for portraits, you will end up with a sharp nose and faded face for example. I have also had fun exploring the world of Bokka using this lens, setting the aperture wide and taking pictures with lights in the background. With all the positives there are slight downsides as well. The main one being that for the price of the glass there are compromises. The casing of the Lens is made of plastic which from a weight perspective could be seen as a good thing. You will have to be extra careful though as it does feel like it is a lot more delicate than its metal brothers such as the EF 50mm F/1.4 for example. The only other negative is sometimes the auto focus can be a bit lethargic compared to my kit lens for example and it will sometimes auto focus on everything but the subject of the photo. And if i'm using a Tripod for long exposures I tend to use manual focus to get it just right. Overall, my experience with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens was positive. I really enjoy just fitting the lens and heading out for random walks and excursions to see what images I can get out of the little thing. For the money I paid, it has been extraordinary value. I just wish there were more lens like gifts out there for such a small amount of money so that us small time photography enthusiasts with the small time wages can play with new and bigger toys, But my experience with this Lens has really helped my camera craft and that is something money really cant buy. Verdict: I would highly recommend anyone with a Canon on the look out for a new lens who hasn't got one of these. BUY IT.

As a keen photography enthusiast i have decided to take a plunge and upgrade my old Sony a200 system (that i couldn't get on with) to a canon 7d - the first mistake i have made was buying expensive body and not having the funds to buy a decent lens. I love photographing people so i thouht a prime lens will be the best choice for me (this is a fixed focal lens ) 50mm lens can basically mimic the perspective seen by the human eye . i felt that this will be the best choice .Also prime lens made me more creative , as i hadn't had the opportunity to just zoom in if i wanted to.I had to move around and try viewing subject from different angles. when the lens arrived i was surprised by the toy feel - its all made of plastic (besides optics) - it felt cheap like it will brake any minute ,there iwasnt any pouch with this lens .just an instruction manual .The lens is very light ( 130g ) and small (2.7" x 1.6"/68.2mm x 41.0mm - WxL ) - it is also a canon smallest lens on the market . before i have decided to review it i thought i will use it for a bit (i have used it for over a year ) .I was a bit doubtful if constant lens change could affect plastic lens mount in any way - but it didn't .On the lens itself there is only one switch AF/MF (Auto focus and manual focus ). Autofocus is driven by a micro motor - that is pretty fast. With a minimum focus distance of 1.5' lens can deliver some good images. My first test shots look terrible , the lens flare that was on the images looked pretty bad and affected the overall quality . Lens flare is created when forming light enters the lens and subsequently hits the camera's digital sensor. I have decided then to buy lens hood and filter (to reduce glare) and try again. i would strongly recommend buying lens hood (ES-62 ) that includes the Hood adapter that threads onto the lens - the hood then attaches to the adapter by pinching two latches With everything in place i decided to do a few test shots again on few different light situations and f settings (aperture size are often referred as a f settings .The aperture size determines the depth of field, or zone of sharp focus, that surrounds your subject the smaller the f i.e. f/1.8 - the shallower the depth of field is ). i love the way my images came out - sharp where i wanted them to be , and colours where fantastic .focus worked well on a 4 year old who run around the park like a tornado and because lens is very light i was able to take some decent shots handheld , without the discomfort, or a lense shake. . The strongest quality of this lens is sharpness - it produces fantastic pictures , i can honestly say that its sharpest at f/2.8 and beyond on f1.8 it performs also good but not as sharp if the camera is hand held .All depends what you want to shoot . i tend to shot people at f/5.6 (but this depends how much of the subject i want to stay sharp) and landscape at f/8 - as i find this my safe zone , and i know images will come out decent. Autofocus is pretty fast when shooting moving objects ,it focuses quickly witch is handy when shooting kids (that just don't sit still ... ) or fast moving objects . Lens its very good in limited light conditions ( in the house ) - but only if you shooting on wider aperture (smaller f number) .- most of portraits are shot in low light condition and all of them are shot using this lens another good factor was the lens size and weight -it is very easy to carry around , despite being plastic it is also very robust ,and it can take some serious banging. Just imagine me trying to strap screaming 4 year old into a booster seat with camera still hanging on my neck - it usually bash straight into car paintwork (that did chip) I have grown to love this lens in fact this is the lens and i use in 98% of my images as the lens is very portable and light , so its easier to take hand-held shots without minimal camera shake. most of the new dlsr's on the market come with a standard kit lens either 18-55 or 17-85 . so if you are looking for a nice addition to your camera i can highly recommend buying this lens despite it plastic look , its a very nifty lens with fantastic price tag. , and as i mentioned earlier i would recommend purchasing lens hood and possibly a UV filter . "please bare in mind that im Polish - and English is not my strongest point but i try my best to give as honest review based on my own experience , and i know my grammar is terrible . "

Pure raw awesomeness. Showe me another 1.8 lens with this price and I'll stand corrected. I only bought it for it's 1.8, nothing else. 1.8 makes it absolutely amazing for low light photography and portraits (although small DOF makes the latter tricky). At 2.8 it gives enough focus to easily produce great portraits and great photographs in general with a little bit of this awesome-looking bokeh in the background. Can't say much about anything above as I don't think I ever shot it. On top of it, it's plastic, which means it's light (if you're into body building there's a heavier mark I out there). It has it's known problems, which you can read about all over the Internet. I came across some, but got used to them or found ways around them. Mind getting a lens which fixes some of these issues (you won't find a lens which fixes all without introducing some other problems) can cost 4-digits so I'm delaying going that route until I have to. - Auto Focus: at 1.8 your AF needs to be spotless, which this one isn't always. You'll have to take several photos or force it to refocus sometimes (focus on something else, then back to target). Mind your DOF is so narrow you shouldn't move the camera too much if at all. Neither should your target move. Best AF won't fix that for you. - hunting AF - never came across it. Unless trying to focus on something like a 1 colour wall or a clear blue sky. I'm yet to see a lens which does that. - soft wide open (i.e. at f1.8) - no denying once you manage to get your focus right, the photos won't come out razor-sharp at this aperture. Make no mistake, they are still clearly sharp! Also consider, the slight "improvement" should you choose to seek it in this area will cost you £££ for a "better" lens or a body which supports 6 digit ISO (the latter might be worth considering in fact, it'll let you snap even darker scenes with this lens! But it's a different story). If anything I actually like these softer pictures, usually taken at night, with some city lights, it gives the photograph a dreamy feel. - Can't do manual focus override - you have to flick a switch between AF and MF. Again, let me re-stress I mostly use this lens in low-light and I couldn't manually focus on anything in low light. If I think the focus is wrong I focus on something else, then back onto the target. Works most of the time and is quicker than fiddling with the ring. - 5 bladed diaphragm - allegedly gives you pentagons in your bokeh. Firstly, at 1.8 it won't, as the blades are hidden. Secondly, I had to conduct an arranged experiment to confirm this, never happened to me in real world somehow (maybe because I like shooting 1.8 so much). Thirdly it's hardly end of the world and noone would notice apart from some pros out there, who won't like your photos anyway because they think they can do better. Fourthly, you may actually want to have pentagons in your background sometimes (e.g. if you look at poster of Breaking Bad they intentionally used 5-bladed effect to make it look more "crystal"). To summarise - I use it in low light, mostly evenings and night time. During the day I use other slower lenses. For me this is the best value fast lens out there; it'll be a long time before I "invest" in anything more expensive.

I bought this because I wanted lens with a big aperture and I'd read that a prime lens can produce better photo's than a zoom. I wasn't expecting too much, because it's so cheap; but I can honestly say that this is now my favorite lens. The fact that it is a prime lens and 50mm really forces you to think about the composition of your shots. 50mm is the same focal length as your eye, so it's a case of what you see is what you get. I now find myself scrabbling up walls or climbing trees looking for that ever elusive sweet-spot; instead of relying on the zoom. The photo's you can take with this lens look fantastic and are pixel perfect, even at a high ISO in low-light conditions. I agree with some of the other reviewers, it does feel a bit cheap when you look at it: it has a very light plastic case, the manual focus ring is a bit fiddly and the auto-focus is louder than USM (obviously). However, I think that Canon have done these things to keep the cost down, without compromising the actual optics inside the lens. The result: a cheap lens that takes fantastic photo's with rich colours and fine detail. If you don't have a nifty-fifty lens or you are just venturing into the world of digital photography, you should start here.

This is a canny little lens and I purchased it on the basis that I wanted to take some photographs of food; seriously! I didn't want a macro lens, just something where I could photograph food with very little depth of field, against a blank (or foil) backdrop and the f1.8 suited me nicely to ensure that I had a nice soft bokeh effect and the background would be slightly out of focus/"milky". Obviously the f1.4 or f1.2 would have been better, but the price premium to photograph shepherd's pie or bacon and eggs in a kitchen wasn't worth it to me. I had tried to use my trusted 40 mm prime and my 18-55 kit lens, but neither gave me what I wanted, particularly due to the smaller maximum aperture on both of them and the increased depth of field. I just wanted that bit more and for less than £75, it was worth the gamble - and it paid off and I have the images which I wanted for a marketing project for a little more cost than the meal would cost for 2. I have used it indoor and outdoor, in natural and with studio lighting and just simply love it. So why 5 stars? Lot's of things actually! It is compact and whilst I regularly carry my 40mm for shots outside, this lens is rapidly becoming the alternative for when I want just a little bit more focal length and with my APS-C body has a circa 75-80mm lens when compared to full frame. Basically, it is hard to beat a prime lens, even a cheap prime lens with a zoom, whatever the quality there has to be some compromise to accommodate the flexibility of the optic array. It is also useful to have that extra stop of light for winter days when it compares well with my 40mm in terms of ability to focus and take shots in low light. I believe that it would be good for portrait work, but so far I haven't tried it, but I anticipate that it would be very similar to the 85mm I used to use for the same with my 35mm camera some time ago. Construction It is all plastic, other than the lens elements, but to be honest, I needed this item to supplement my range of lenses for a specific task which was unlikely to generate any income and if necessary, I could just dispose of it. So far it fits snugly and I would suggest that it will last as long as the Canon 550d it is used with. Operation Well it is very smooth, focusses very quickly either in manual or autofocus and the images produced are crisp and very sharp. I would say though that with the same optics as it's considerably more expensive stable mates, I am not surprised. It really is great for the price and small enough to pop into a pocket when you are wandering around with a multi purpose zoom such as 50-250 or similar if you need a quality image or light is low. I tend to pop both this and the 40 mm in my pocket even when using my 150-600 zoom out of doors, just in case the opportunity arises for a landscape or similar; being compact and light, they take no space at all. Images I have said already that the pictures are crisp and sharp. There is much written here already about how good it is and the excellent reviewers have gone through the technical stuff. In summary Pro's Light Compact Cheap Construction (it's plastic but so what) Fantastic images Con's Construction (it's plastic but so what - I realise that I have repeated myself - it doesn't matter and I am confident that it will outlast me) I always use good quality UV filters to protect the outer lens element and that cost almost half of the cost of the lens.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM is a lens that delivers impressive results at a price point accessible to most photographers. It arrived securely packaged, and the build quality feels solid without being heavy — a great balance for both casual outings and professional use. Optically, this lens produces sharp images with beautiful color rendering. The f/1.4 aperture is especially useful in low-light situations and creates a pleasing background blur for portraits. Autofocus is quick and generally accurate, though not completely silent; for video shooters, this is worth keeping in mind. What stands out most is its versatility: it works just as well for portraits as it does for street, travel, or even product photography. While it doesn’t have the weather sealing or ruggedness of higher-end Canon lenses, it more than makes up for it in performance-to-price ratio. Overall, this is an outstanding choice for anyone looking to expand their kit with a fast prime lens without breaking the bank. Highly recommended.

Now, all of my Canon owning friends have this lens, and it is the favorite lens for almost all of them. Expect of course for those few who can afford L-series lenses, but comparing this to an L-series lens isn't fair anyway. It is very fast with f/1.8. And for the money it is the fastest good quality lens you can get. Canon's next prime lens with faster aperture of f/1.4 costs about four times as much. Yes it is faster and USM, but you would expect it to be with that price tag. Obviously this isn't a "cover all situations" lens, as it is a prime 50mm lens. So to zoom you either walk forward or backward, or do cropping later. It is for specific situations, but it does work in those situations so well. Those situations mainly being portraits and low light photography. With the large aperture it can create stunning portraits with blurred backgrounds. It allows you easily to take those portrait shots you always see and admire. The large aperture also allows it to be used in situations where a normal lens wouldn't be fast enough, using this 50mm lens often allows you to shoot without flash, allowing the pictures to have more natural lighting. The motor is a bit noisy (it's no USM) and sometimes in low light situations it occasionally has some problems trying to find focus, but all very minor setbacks in my oppinion. It is very light, and yes I admit the build quality isn't mabye greatest, but what did you expect for the price? It is sturdy enough however (it's been through some rough trips). The size and weight make it easy to carry in your camera bag, even if you are using something else as your main lense. Though I know many who use this as their main lens. If you have a Canon DSLR, then you need this lens. End of discussion. Unless of course money is no obstacle, then go buy the f/1.4 USM lens you rich bastard.

My friend convinced me to buy the 'nifty fifty' (or 'thrifty fifty' as some may call it) ever since I bought my DSLR. This lens will work on cropped sensor and full frame DSLRs, and older film EOS SLRs - it is equivalent to 80mm on my 650D. It takes some getting used to using a fixed focal length, as you have to use your feet to zoom in and out, but the image quality is sharp and quite superb for the price. So it has an all plastic, almost toy-like body (even the lens mount is plastic - treat it with care and respect, and it should last just fine), the autofocus is a tad noisy and not superfast, and the manual focus ring is tiny (don't forget to flick the switch from AF to MF, as there isn't full-time manual focus override available) - but hey, this lens just works! Personally, I find images at the maximum aperture of f/1.8 slightly out of focus, and the background blur is a bit harsh (probably due to the small number of diaphragm blades). Like another reviewer, I love the images I have taken at f/2.8, subjects are sharp with reasonably shallow depth of field. Of course, the aperture selected is dependent on what you're shooting, and this lens has a minimum aperture of f/22 (although on APS-C you probably won't want to go much smaller than f/16). It is a good lens for low light photography, especially indoors. Note that the filter thread does not rotate on autofocus, so you can happily use a polarising filter. Mounted to my 650D, it makes for a very light combination, and is a great introduction to photography with a prime lens.