Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
Customer Review: Biggest Bang for the Buck or The Right Lense for the Right Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
First, I would like to give a little back ground on myself ie history; My first camera was an A95 which I bought for $200. This is a small hand held camera which I would only use for its auto focuse as I had no other idea how to use a camera. Now this camera took absolutely amazing pictures in high light situations, as good as a DSLR that was supposed to be far above it. However I found myself very unhappy with not being able to capture low light photos without a flash. With a flash the image or scene is simply ruined in my opinion.
Second, What was I looking for in a camera and lens; I wanted a camera that could take photos in doors outside etc in extremely low light with no flash at all. I wanted to be able to capture moments not portriaghts that are so unatural. IMO real photography is spontaneous, it just happens and then it is gone like that ie like a shooting star. I wanted to capture those shooting stars.
Third, My references to which judege and decide what camera and lens to pick; My father is a semi-profesional photographer. He uses Nikon, which is supposed to make some of the best lenses if not the best lenses there is. I would look at his photos and I simply did not like the colors at all. Further he used a flash and I did not like that at all, it made the photos unrealistic and I simply did not want to carry around all this heavy equipement.
Fourth, My Choice; I decided that I loved the colors and abilities of my A95, for me there is no better color capture capabilities than a Canon. Next I wanted to keep my camera as small and light as possbile, further I thought of the types of photos I was taking most often. I found that 90% of them required no zoom, I did not want nore need zoom and I prefer to get into the action of my subject or scene inorder to capture these moments.
So with all this in perspective I realised I wanted something more than some reble, but I did not want to go beyond the price range of $600.00. What to do? I bought a used 20D, used? Heck it was as new as new could be for $500.00. Next I looked at lenses my two choices for this camera were the 1.8 ($89.00) and 1.4 ($350.00, with the 1.8 I was able to stay in my perfect price range. If I had the extra budget I would 100% go with the 1.4, don't even hesitat.
Results; I use three different modes on this camera, I am no expert at all so I need this setup to do as much as the work as possible if not all the work. That is exactly what this camera and lense does, I use the auto P, portriat, and action settings. I may not be a professional on dialing the camera settings in, however what I am a professional at is choice of scene, use of natural light, etc. The result is absolutely amazing, I did not expect these results, however the photos I have produced are absolutely professional. The quality of some of the photos are 100% magazine material, everyone in my family are asking me to take photos for me and my father is out right considering ditching his Nikons for a Canon.
Conclusion; Did I make the right choice? Heck yes I did, you are not a professional if you have all this absurde equipment you have to carry with you, and how often do you even use your zoom for that matter? I have shown my work to some professionals and they didn't even believe that I took the photos! They got really snotty with me telling me the merit of flashes, you have to have a zoom lens etc.
Listen I can caputre my family, friends, animals outside at dusk and inside the house at night time. You are missing out on real photography and real moments. Stand still portiats are lame, my christmas card was 6 kids sprinting full speed in a race towards me out side. Never seen that before, time to change the game back to what it used to be, down with the flash!
Customer Review: Wow! Best single lens purchase I've made yet!
Summary: 5 Stars
My fiance picked this lens up for me for my birthday and I have to say, after taking quite a few shots with it, I'm HIGHLY impressed with what Canon has done in the 50mm realm.
Before purchasing this or any lens for you DSLR, make sure you are happy with your current camera. In reality the DSLR business is kind of like the reusable razor blade business. You purchase the razor system and then buy blades. With DSLR the camera is like the handle piece and the lenses are the blade replacements. Once you begin investing in lenses, this will most likely mean you will be sticking with the manufacturer of your lenses for life. The camera body can be easily replaced and will, if you get into the hobby seriously, be the least expensive of everything you own. If you know you want to stick with Canon "for life," continue reading.
First, do you need a 50mm lens? Are you a hobbyist photographer that wants amazing focus and blur levels, like the professionals take? Are you a professional that wants the best image a camera can capture? If you said yes to either of the above, you need a 50mm lens. For Canon cameras, you have really only 3 Canon choices. This lens, the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras and then you have the grand daddy of them all, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras. So what's the difference? For one, the price. The f/1.8 is the least expensive of the three. The f/1.4 non-L is roughly $600 and then the L is roughly $2000 (discounting Amazon discounts). If you're a hobbyist, every review and comparison will tell you that this lens, the f/1.8 is the biggest bang for the buck.
If you do a search for DxO labs comparison of Canon f/1.8 vs f/1.4, you will find that the results in actual image quality will surprise you. Image quality is generally regarded better on the f/1.8, though if you find you are photographing something that needs that extra bit of aperture, that could really make the decision easy for you as your only other option would be the $2000 L.
I own the Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black) and have made the decision to purchase only EF style lenses from now on, as I one day hope to be able to afford a full frame DSLR and will be using Canon for sure.
I cannot directly compare the lenses myself as I only own the f/1.8, but based on the photographs I've taken thus far, the lens is very easy to get the right distance for the right amounts of background and foreground blur. I actually want to use this lens for almost all of my photography because it is just so easy to snap on, step to the right distance, focus and shoot. I'd miss out on some of the great macro photography of the zoom lens I have, so that's not really an option, but for every day shooting, especially portraiture, you can't go wrong with this lens. And at $200 MSRP, and an Amazon price as low as $99 (currently $115 is the norm), the value for your dollar is tremendous.
Purchase this lens and forget about it. Great value for the dollar and dollar for dollar the best image quality.
Customer Review: Best Lens in my Kit
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens has a beautifully small depth of field that makes every picture it takes just amazing. It is an astounding $100, but this does not make it a bad lens at all. It is one of my favorite lenses, and the most fun to use. It really makes pictures look professional and you can get creative with it.
This lens should be in every photographer's bag. And I'm not just saying that because everyone else does! I completely agree with the statement.
It is such a tiny lens, you can bring it with you everywhere. You SHOULD bring it with you everywhere.
It is probably the highest awesome-to-cost ratio by a long shot for lenses. It is on par with my thousand dollar lenses in awesome.
The only downside is that it does not have a variable focal length, but this is what they make. It is not really that big of a deal. It only annoyed me once when i was taking a group shot of 4 people, but in hindsight, I should have used one of my other lenses for group shots anyway - you can't really use the 1.8 with 4 people. (I usually use this lens with 1.8 or 2.8 otherwise I would use my other lens which has a larger zoom range) I found that out the hard way with half the people's faces blurred! The focal length is a good distance on my small sensor camera (Rebel XSi).
I have heard some people comment on its build quality and how it is "plastic". I can't really debate this much because I'm not an expert on "build quality." I can tell you that for most people out there, you will not think this has bad build quality. I guess it's plastic, it seems just as good as my other lenses! Unless you REALLY care about build quality, I think you will be happy with this lens. I never once looked at it and thought it was of a low quality construction. I haven't dropped it, nor do I plan to, but if I do and it breaks... it was $100 dollars! I will buy it again within the hour and wait anxiously for its arrival, hoping I will not need it in the meantime.
They also offer the 50mm f/1.4 for $300 I believe. I am a serious amateur, hoping to get into the business, and I feel no need to get the 1.4 ever. 1.8 is small enough. 1.4 isn't worth the money, and would probably be more difficult to make sure the focus isn't on a person's nose instead of their eyes. Pictures with that much blur just get to be annoying in my opinion. I would buy the f/1.8 3 times without any regrets over the 1.4 if I lost it or broke it a bunch of times (I'm usually very careful, so I plan to only buy it once).
It is EXCELLENT in low light. Aside from creative shots and beautifully blurred backgrounds on portraits, it is a lifesaver in low light. I don't like using flash very often because I love candid shots. This lens is perfect in low light. Can't get much better than this!
Having a f/1.8 is indispensable for a photographer.
I can't say enough good things about this lens.
Pros: Like a million
Cons: Zilch!
Customer Review: This should be the growing photographer's second purchase
Summary: 5 Stars
After buying a body and using what will probably be the standard kit lens that shipped with it, you're shopping for a new lens. Yeow! $600 or more for a prime portrait lens? $300 minimum pricetags are making you (or your mate!) are rethink this photography hobby?
Enter the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, called Canon's "stealth prime" lens by many internet reviewers. Yes, it's lightweight and plastic-y, but the bang for the buck is truly awesome. The interior hardware of this lens is a top-notch thoroughbred, even if the exterior is like a plastic naugahyde saddle. It's the PHOTOS that count, right? So buy it for the great hardware and the consistently great photograhic results it produces.
For starters, if you're using a digital SLR, this 1.8 actually stops down to an equivalent of around 1.4, so that background bokeh blur one aims for in portrait photography is even softer than you'd expect. I'll be honest and say that Canon's prime ($380ish if I remember, maybe more) version of this lens gives absolutely velvety backgrounds while this budget model is more like high quality velveteen. But still, it's a welcome step in the right direction if you're looking to explore portraiture on a budget. The notes I get from my professional photographer buddies are routinely along the lines of "that's with that $80 lens you bought? Wow!"
Many professional reviewers go on at length about how the inside of this lens is truly close to pro quality, housed in a cheapo body. Do a little web searching and you'll see what I mean. I treat my lenses well and haven't had the catastrophic failures that some have reported. (I mean, are these guys rock climbing or playing roller derby with these cameras or something?)
I've read that "downsizing" from a zoom lens to a fixed 50mm is a great excersise in growing as a photographer and now that I've done it, I agree. Working with a fixed lens gets you more involved with your subject and this more intimate connection can really show in your work. I keep this 50mm on my camera as my "main lens" now and only rarely break out a zoom lens unless it's absolutely needed.
Once you play with this budget lens, you'll likely want to try to find a top-of-the-line lens that can give results this good at a distance. You'll want a zoom lens that can stop down to 1.8 or lower. That's when you'll cry to find that you're moving into minimum $600 range and into the $1000+ for some lenses. And at that point, you'll think "wow, that little fixed 50mm f/1.8 was a steal."
I was on the fence between buying this budget lens and saving up for the pro version and I'm really glad I got it as a gift. That let me try it out on its own merit with no buyers' remorse.
Customer Review: About the best value of any lens
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this little lens on Amazon plenty of times and wondered whether it was really as good as people said it was. After all, it had f/1.8 in all its glory, fantastic reviews, and was selling for $100. I figured I had to be missing something. I was: a fantastic lens.
I bought this for a family photo shoot and tried it out for the first time for the shoot. It was pretty darned good, and I was quite impressed, but it wasn't until I tried it a few more times that I realized what a great little lens it is. Here's why:
- First off, you can't get other any lens with f/1.8 for this cheap, let alone one that performs this well. I love how much light enters this lens, even in low light.
- The colors and contrast are fantastic for the price. It's not L lens quality, but what do you expect at $100? But I can say that the colors and contrast are both FAR superior to my Canon 28-135mm zoom, which costs over 4 times as much.
- The sharpness is quite good, with a couple caveats which I'll mention later.
- The focal length is just about perfect for most portrait photography. I'm a landscaper almost exclusively, but this lens has increased my interest in portrait photography.
- The background blur is remarkable, but not surprising for a lens with such a large max aperture.
There are of course a few minor cons:
- The main one for me is sharpness at larger apertures. Anything larger than f/2.8 it's something of a hit or a miss, though I have yet to get a truly blurry picture that wasn't my own fault. But images are certainly a bit softer at 1.8 and 2.2.
- Another issue is the build quality--it's relatively solid, but not strong. The casing is entirely plastic, which makes it lightweight but somewhat delicate-feeling.
- I'm not the biggest fan of the bokeh--I wish it were rounder and less hexagonal. But for that you'd have to pay for an L lens, so I really can't complain too much. It's certainly not bad.
- One final issue, and this isn't so much an issue with the lens as with the user, is that you have to be very precise when focusing with this thing at larger apertures, because a difference in depth of 6 inches will cause your focal point to not be in focus. So it takes some getting used to, and some skill to properly focus. But that's a tribute to the lens' backgrond blur more than it's an issue.
To summarize, though it has some issues, I give it 5 stars for its value for the money. Short of an L lens, I don't know that you could do better for portraits.