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: A Lens for (Nearly) Everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first made the switchover to SLR photography from point & shoot, I debated over several lenses to accompany the camera's kit lens. The EF 50mm f/1.8 lens is often described as a "must have" lens for new photographers, so I gave it a shot. I must say, I've been very pleased.
Pros:
f/1.8 Aperature:
This lens is "fast" in that it has a very wide maximum aperature (f/1.8), meaning it lets through more light and can thus take photos with a faster shutter speed than a "slower" lens. A wide aperature also allows for very shallow depth-of-field (and thus a lot of background blur).
Because of the wide aperature, the lens is useful both for lower-light conditions--allowing you to still shoot at fast enough shutter speeds to permit handholding and often without having to add a flash--and for portraiture in well-lighted conditions, in which the background will be blurred.
Cost:
How many lenses of reasonable quality can you find for under $100?
Cons:
Focal Length on Digital SLRs:
For the digital SLR user, unless you're using a full-frame camera, the crop factor of the APS-C sized sensor will make this lens more in the range of 80mm and thus a medium telephoto rather than the "normal view" 50mm that many film shooters are expecting--so keep that in mind.
Autofocus:
The autofocus is not Canon's USM system and is thus a bit slow and noisy, and it requires the use of a small switch to change over to manual focus (no full-time manual focus). Sometimes, the lens seems to "stick" in manual focus after being switched there and then back to auto, requiring a dismounting and remounting of the lens to get it working right again.
Minimum Focusing Length:
This is not a macro lens and thus cannot focus at extremely close range, although I've successfully used it as such with the "poor man's macro" screw-on magnifying lenses. The loss of quality in doing so has not been a problem for me, anyway.
Build Quality:
Make no mistake--the lens' cheap price is reflected somewhat in its build quality, although the optics themselves seem to be fairly good. The lens may feel "cheap," and probably would break if dropped, but at the price, one could easily afford to replace it.
Summary:
Overall, I'm quite pleased with this lens and am glad to have purchased it. I tend to use it for pet and human portraiture and have also used it in a pinch for macro photography of flowers and in low-light conditions indoors.
Customer Review: Everybody should have this
Summary: 5 Stars
Everybody should have this lens. It is so cheap and so effective at doing what it does.
I initially bought this lens for the 1.8 f/stop alone. I am slowly building up my photography gear and needed a 'faster' lens. I felt like I had been extremely limited by not having a lens that could perform well in low light situations w/o the use of flash. This lens solved that problem. I have been able to shoot in light that I have never before been able to shoot in w/o a tripod, etc. Of course having spent most of my time shooting with a standard zoom lens, being limited to the 50mm is difficult to get used to at first, but also forces you to compose your shots within the frame instead of relying on zooming in and zooming out, not a bad skill to have! Of course the one major problem with this lens is now I desperately I want a faster zoom lens haha
I took some time for me to get used to using the large aperture openings simply because of the extremely limited depth of field, which of course, is an effect that I wanted by buying a lens like this, but when the lens if fully open it was really a shock to me initially how little is actually in focus. It took some getting used to, so if you have never shot with a wide open aperture before, you might also find that it takes some getting used to to, as far of just what you can and can't do with this lens.
A couple true cons: This lens is a bit noisy when it is autofocusing. I sometimes feel reluctant to use in situations that require quiet. Secondly, the autofocusing has problems finding the correct focus in certain situations. Often this is remedied by moving back from the subjects just a little. I've encountered this issue with canon's autofocus system on other lenses as well, it just seems to be a distance and/or lighting situation.
I was hoping to get pretty bokeh effect with this as well, and while it isn't quite as smooth as I hoped, in certain situations it performs well to create that. I'm happy for what I paid for it in that respect when it comes to that effect.
I do think if you dropped this lens on a hard service, most likely you would not have this lens anymore. However, depending on the fall and what it hits, it could be quite possible to say that for a lot of lenses.
So I received this, this is the lens that has been on my camera more often than not. Lots of uses and produces fabulous images.
Customer Review: 50mm Lens Surprisingly Great in the Right Situations
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this lens "stock" when I bought my Canon Rebel xTi (400D) off of a dude on Craigslist. He included a flare guard and a UV filter. At first I had no idea what i was doing with the thing. my initial reaction to a nonzoom lens was THIS IS STUPID WHY DO THEY MAKE SUCH THINGS. I hated that I had to move super far away from my subject matter and that I could get wider shots. As I got used to it, I found out the secret awesome to a no-zoom lens.
-INTENSE depth of field: details get nailed with correct focus
I am very into getting a super focus on my subject, and this lens allows for a huge difference between the subject and everything else. Finding the correct way to focus took a few weeks, but once I figured it out I felt like all my photographs were some sort of brilliant breakthrough. It's invigorating to have the huge amount of detail from a lower end DSLR. My school had 5Ds for rental, and I feared I would take ages to own that type of hardware after graduating. The quality of shooting is extremely satisfying, as long as you know what you are shooting for. Until you can afford a macro lens, go with this guy.
-capturing live music events can happen
As a band photographer and concert goer, I have played with different types of cameras and (if applicable) lens. The lowlight situations were a biatch when I didn't have a large flash and didn't want to distract the performers. This lens rocks at freezing singers in their tracks. Once you find your perch you're good for the rest of the night. You have to be a little closer than you think you need to be.
I would not use this lens when shooting people in close quarters. you have to get quite a distance away if you want to have anything show up around your subject. It's a handy lens to have while sightseeing, especially for monuments. If you're in a museum that allows photography, I would not use it because of needing to be far from the subject -- you'd be pretty interrupting to the other museum-goers. The auto-focus can be pretty janky at times which can be a bummer when you want a quick snapshot. Be prepared to do all manual focusing; it creates the best shots with this lens.
This lens is good for a beginner photographer in the land of DSLR because it makes you learn how to use your camera rather than letting you get away with pretending you know what you're doing. :P
Customer Review: No Need To Worry
Summary: 5 Stars
There is really no reason not to buy this lens, unless you're considering upgrading to the 50mm 1.4 lens for a faster and more durable lens, albeit at nearly 4 times the cost. This could be worth it, but unless you change lenses like it's your job (which it might be), or work in ridiculous conditions (America pretty much doesn't qualify), there's really no need. For the price and the great quality that you get in return, this lens has no equal. The 1.8 aperture is unbelievably useful, especially for stopping action, which IS does not help anyways.
The sharpness of the lens is a nonfactor. This is also true of almost any lens made in the last 50 years by a reputable dealer. Sure, the lens is a little sharper stopped down from f/1.8, but the biggest limit to the sharpness of the picture at large apertures is in fact going to be the depth of field, not the actual sharpness of the lens. Since only one point is in perfect focus, the rest of a 3D object will be progressively less in-focus as it gets farther away from or closer to that point, limited entirely by the depth of field.
Treat this lens right, and you'll have it for a long time. The question to ask yourself if you're considering the 50mm 1.4 is if you think getting a wider aperture is worth the cost. Or, if you don't care about the wider aperture as much (most people don't often need it), then ask yourself if you think you'll go through 4 of these lenses in the time you would go through one of the 1.4's due to cheaper build quality. In my opinion, if you think you might, you should be more concerned about protecting your lenses.
Overall this is a spectacular wide aperture lens, the color rendition is excellent, and it makes for a fine short telephoto on a 1.6 crop factor camera, or a great normal lens on full frame. And while using this lens as an everyday lens is fine because of it's low-light capabilities, be aware that this is not a wide-angle lens, especially on a 1.6 crop factor camera. So you might need to back up a few steps to get everyone in the picture, which is OK so long as you have the space. If you need a wider lens, the 18-55mm IS lens is actually quite good for the price, with the only real competition coming from the much more expensive 17-40L, or the 18-55mm 2.8 IS, which cost 6 - 10 times as much.
Customer Review: Buy it now. You will NOT regret it.
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is a no-brainer. It's always right around $100 and it wins over most other, more expensive lenses. When I bought my 40d, I got the Canon 17-85mm USM IS lens. Well, to be honest, I hardly even use that lens anymore. And it retails for around $600! Sure, it might have a more versatile range than this fixed 50mm lens, but the image quality and speed of this lens is enough (in my opinion) to make me leave the other one in the bag 90% of the time. I owned a canon 70-200mm f/4L lens. Here is what I think of the whole "L" thing: give it up people. They are way overpriced, ugly (seriously, who wants an off-white lens on their all-black camera? The only reason I can think of is so that everyone else knows they're toting around an L lens), and the image quality isn't much better (not better in the case of this insanely cheap 50mm lens!). So don't waste your money on an L lens, especially when you could be taking the best photos you'll ever take with a lens that costs over 10 times less. Remember that this lens is plastic, so just be careful with it and it won't break. I've had mine for over a year now, and it has no signs of wear. Also, being plastic, this lens is incredibly light! It makes walking around all day while taking photos amazingly easy. Don't second guess this lens, and more importantly, don't opt for the more expensive 50mm f/1.4 lens either! This lens produces cleaner images at 1/4 the price. Make sure to buy a good Hoya or B+W UV haze multi-coated filter for this thing!(and any lens for that matter) It will improve your images. (don't buy cheap filters!)
Pros: Cheap!, outstanding image quality (even compared to an L lens), light weight, fast!(f/1.8), great portrait lens.
Cons: plastic (but it's not really a con in my opinion. It reduces weight, and makes it cheaper. Just treat your equipment with care and this won't be an issue. And if it does break for some reason, you can always buy another one, and you would have still paid less in total than the more expensive version!)
I think that with over 900 reviews on how awesome this lens is, you should just add it to your cart, checkout, and get it over with. I guarantee this lens will stay on your camera more than any other lens you own.