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: Amazing if you know how to use it
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this lens when I ordered my Canon Rebel T1i. I have never taken a photography class, so I am kind of self taught, but I love it.
Anyway...
When I first got this lens, I thought I had wasted a hundred bucks. No zoom, short little lens, and if you don't focus perfectly, it is super blurry.
So, I decided before I canned it, I would at least give it a few days. So I decided I would use it to take some pictures of fireworks. Once I got the settings right, the pictures turned out great. I decided to use the lens that came with the kit to take some pictures, and none of them turned out, they were all too dark.
So, I was like, okay, it does a good job in low light situations, I guess it's good for something.
I recently decided I want to start taking some more artistic portraits, rather than just still life photos. I still had this lens on my camera from the night before so i gave it a try, after playing with the settings and the lighting a bit, I got some pictures that looked pretty good on the lcd. so i took a look at them on my computer. They were amazing. They looked so professional, and the lighting that this lens picked up was perfect.
After a few more shots and really learning how to use this lens, I realize that I had gotten an amazing lens. The fact that it has such a low aperture allows you too use a really fast shutter speed, so it has amazing bokeh, and in most situations, the background is completely black, making for a very professional looking photo.
All in all, I wasn't impressed at first, but after using it a bit, I was amazed at the photos this lens could take.
It is definitely 100 dollars well spent.
I am going to upload a few of my photos so you can see what I am talking about.
5 stars all the way.
Customer Review: I never went back to my 18-55...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this lens sometime in Fall '10 (a couple months ago) and I NEVER went back to my 18-55 kit lens.
First of all, the wide open aperture of f/1.8 is PHENOMENAL. It is also VERY SHARP when stopped down, I usually go down to f/4 for general sharpness, f/8, and f/11 for landscapes. It is also EXCELLENT in low light situations, not having image stabilization is not an issue for me either, I have still been able to take amazing photos at night without IS.
I owned an XSi (just upgraded to a 40D) and this lens made taking photos immensely more fun, and I learned a lot from it. Since it's a prime, you can't zoom, so it really makes you think about your shots.
It is awesome as a portrait lens, since on a 1.6 cropped body it is equivalent to an 80mm (Canon's 85mm f/1.8 is known as one of the best portrait lenses).
I use it for everything besides portraits, the only issue I ever faced was when I was indoors in a tight space, I did not have enough room to take a family photo, the ONLY time I resorted to using my 18-55.
Overall though, everyone complains about the build quality. It IS a plastic mount, with a plastic body all around, and you don't need a dedicated manual focus ring since the one on it works fine, so I don't see any reason for complaints.
I paid around $100 for this from here (Amazon) back then, and I do not know why the price has gone up.
I would buy another one if I had the extra money as a spare, and if the price was still lower. Overall, excellent glass for a very low price, if you treat it well, then you shouldn't worry about the build quality. If you own a dslr anyway, you should be treating it well overall.
Customer Review: Great lens for the cost, excellent picture quality
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is a must-have for anyone who wants to take decent DSLR pictures. Some people have complained about shoddy construction or materials, but like any other piece of expensive electronics, if you take care of it, it will last. The pictures I've taken with this lens are incredibly better than ones with my stock lens, or even my 75-200mm F4. Obviously the ability to zoom is lost, but for most situations, the lens is more than enough to take great pictures. The best quality is the ability to take pictures in very low-light conditions, without using flash, getting clear, visible shots of dimly lit subjects. Everyone who's used a camera knows the implications of using the built-in flash (too much lighting, subject being too close, shadows, etc.) but turning off the flash and using this lens for even that one spectacular shot will make you feel like you got your money's worth.
Even though I'm still an amateur photographer myself, I can already tell that many people's complaints on equipment seem to be rooted in the fact that they don't understand the balance between aperature, ISO setting, shutter speed, and white balance.
This lens stays on my camera all the time unless I absolutely need to take that zoom shot, as infrequent as that is. It severely cut down on the number of lenses I feel I need to carry around with me, and since it is so lightweight, it makes shooting even easier.
I'd recommend this to any aspiring photographer. Although the F1.4 version of the same lens would likely provide even more extraordinary shots, the extra cost for .4 doesn't seem like a reasonable justification in my opinion, unless one has the money to spend on the best of everything.
Customer Review: If you use your camera for toddler snaps, just go ahead and buy it already.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this a month ago, and now I've got the Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras lens as well (at 10x the price). My wife doesn't think the quality of the images shot with the 135mm are any better. :( That's a big shame considering that it gets 52 * 5 star reviews (and nothing less). However, that should tell you how good the image quality of the EF 50mm is.
I'm holding out for some wide open spaces to use the 135mm on before I review it, but I will go ahead and say that provided you take care of the 50mm, you will consistently be impressed at the image quality of the nifty fifty. For $100 you can't go wrong.
Sure it's not silent and the manual focus ring is tiny. None of those are of any real concern for what I use it for, and the price is far cheaper than anything else with equivalent image quality.
The EF 50mm F/1.8 II is also a really convenient size for taking picture of your kids inside your house (our camera body is a Rebel, so there is a 1.6 crop factor). There is not a shot I can't get to with a little foot zoom, and the image quality is far superior to the kit zoom. If you are like us and take lots of pictures, 97% or so being of people and 90% of those being your kids, then this lens is for you. Just buy it, stick this on your camera and never look back. The kit lens will stay in the bag.
And take care of your gear. Get a good padded camera bag like the Lowepro Nova 200 AW Camera Bag (Black) and wear the strap provided.
Customer Review: What build quality?? Nothing beats this lens at this price.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned this lens for only 3 days yet... and this is my second DSLR lens to the Canon 28-105mm USM one.
Regardless, I can already see the difference in image quality when I compare the two. This lens is far better in sharpness and color rendition at an equivalent focal length. It is amazingly sharp around 2.8f.
I wish I had bought this one in the first place... and then I wont have bought the 28-105 one so soon.
To sum up:
Pros:
- A great lens for starters.
- Very sharp around f2.8, sharp even otherwise.
- Very good for low light conditions.
- Light weight, not bulky in size.
- Vibrant colors.
Cons:
- Auto focus isnt very handy.. and struggles sometimes in low light conditions. But thats expected I think.
- Focussing is noisy.. no ultrasonic gizmos in there.
- Manual focus wil need some skills... the grip threads arent very easily grip-pable.
In the end, I would actually cross off all the cons from the list considering the price you pay for it: a sub-100 bucks lens that gives excellent image quality. People who complain about the build quality probably care more about a solid body than about the end result: image quality.. and will be happy to pay 10 times for a lens that isnt as sharp... so let them pay the extra bucks if they can. I speak from personal experience since I paid about 4 times as much for a USM lens and this one still beats the expensive one by a long margin!!
Recommendation: I highly recommend this lens as a starter lens. I would in fact advise you to get this one instead of the crappy kit lenses that no one would buy otherwise.