Canon EF 50mm f/1.8

[TCampbell]

There is a reason the 50mm f/1.8 is as cheap as it is. If you can afford the 50mm f/1.4 version... that's the one you want to get.

The f/1.4 version has a substantially better build, faster focusing, quieter, SUBSTANTIALLY better background blur quality, etc. In "in focus" areas won't be so different when comparing the two, but everything else is night & day difference. It's worth the higher price tag.

 

[shane90]

Wouldnotreccomend/10 for an apsc

 

[iolair]

The 50mm f/1.8 is a good portrait lens because ...

1) the distance you get using a 50-135mm lens (on a crop-sensor body like the 70D) or 85-200mm lens (on a full-frame-sensor body) tends to be quite flattering. Closer than this, features get distorted too much (large nose, small ears). Further than this, it's hard to communicate with your subject (and some people feel the features feel too 'flat')

2) The large maximum aperture lets you create blurred backgrounds to isolate the portrait subject (when you want that effect).

A couple of things to consider
- Yongnuo are now selling a clone of the 50mm f/1.8 so you can get the new lens for even less money.
- the bokeh (that is, the quality of the out-of-focus areas of the image) for these 50mm f/1.8 lenses tends to be quite 'busy' and with complicated backgrounds can actually be a bit distracting. Better lenses (e.g. 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.8) produce more pleasing blurred areas.
- some people complain the 50mm f/1.8 is fragile. (however I owned one for five years and was never careful with it, and it never let me down).

If you're on a budget and starting out, though, the 50mm f/1.8 (either Canon's version - or presumably Yongnuo's, which is said to be identical but I've seen no reviews yet) is a fantastic choice.

An alternative maybe worth considering is a manual 85mm lens - also a great length for portraits (although it can be a little too tight indoors). Opteka make one with nice optics (although I owned one for only a day - the aperture ring failed and I returned it for refund) - or there are lots of vintage options around on eBay which will work with your body via a cheap adapter.

 

[zeds]

simple review about The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II.....

The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II is the least expensive lens currently available for the EOS system, and has been in the lineup since late 1990. It's a simplified version of the original EF 50mm F1.8 of 1987 (often referred to as the 'Mark I') which was supplied as standard with some of Canon's earliest 35mm EOS SLRs; however it can trace its lineage back a lot further than that, as the company has been making 50mm F1.8 standard lenses since 1959. Like its predecessor, it uses simple symmetric Gaussian optics with six elements in five groups, in a well-proven formula which is known to offer excellent correction of aberrations.

Although designed as a 'standard' lens for 35mm film, these days the 50mm F1.8 is far more likely to be seen doing service on APS-C format DSLRs, on which it behaves like a short telephoto portrait lens (80mm equivalent). With its remarkably low (sub-$100) price, it tends to attract the interest of Canon SLR users looking to start experimenting with fast lenses for low light and shallow depth of field work, or simply hoping to get sharper results than those which can be provided by the kit lens bundled with the camera body. It's also a potential option for those seeking a near-disposable lens to use in adverse conditions.

Of course this isn't the only lens of its focal length in Canon's lineup, and potential buyers will often also be tempted by the EF 50mm F1.4 USM which we reviewed recently, despite its significantly higher price tag. So the question we'll be asking in this review is whether the slower lens offers such compelling value for money that it's an unmissable bargain, or if instead the inevitable compromises involved in hitting such a low price point are too much to tolerate.

Headline features

• 50mm focal length
• Fast F1.8 maximum aperture

 

[KmH]

Other Headline features

• Has only 5 lens aperture blades that are straight and sharp edged which causes nervous, jittery, pentagonal shaped, unpleasant bokeh quality when depth-of-field is shallow to blur a background.
• low build quality
• has a tendency to break into 2 large non-repairable pieces if dropped.

 

[waday]

The 50mm f/1.8 is a good portrait lens because ...

1) the distance you get using a 50-135mm lens (on a crop-sensor body like the 70D) or 85-200mm lens (on a full-frame-sensor body) tends to be quite flattering. Closer than this, features get distorted too much (large nose, small ears). Further than this, it's hard to communicate with your subject (and some people feel the features feel too 'flat')

2) The large maximum aperture lets you create blurred backgrounds to isolate the portrait subject (when you want that effect).

A couple of things to consider
- Yongnuo are now selling a clone of the 50mm f/1.8 so you can get the new lens for even less money.
- the bokeh (that is, the quality of the out-of-focus areas of the image) for these 50mm f/1.8 lenses tends to be quite 'busy' and with complicated backgrounds can actually be a bit distracting. Better lenses (e.g. 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.8) produce more pleasing blurred areas.
- some people complain the 50mm f/1.8 is fragile. (however I owned one for five years and was never careful with it, and it never let me down).

If you're on a budget and starting out, though, the 50mm f/1.8 (either Canon's version - or presumably Yongnuo's, which is said to be identical but I've seen no reviews yet) is a fantastic choice.

An alternative maybe worth considering is a manual 85mm lens - also a great length for portraits (although it can be a little too tight indoors). Opteka make one with nice optics (although I owned one for only a day - the aperture ring failed and I returned it for refund) - or there are lots of vintage options around on eBay which will work with your body via a cheap adapter.

The lens broke in a day and you want the OP to buy one ??

I've had mine for quite a while, and it hasn't broken.

 

[AndrewCanon6D]

50mm f1.8? Get it! I have had several friends ask me about photography, and my first advice to anyone is to buy one of these lenses. It kind of feels like a toy and it can break easily if you are tough on it, but it is almost the best bang for the buck lens out there.

When I was first getting into dSLR photography, I had my kit lens and then several months later I bought a 50mm. My images were much, much, much better on the 50mm lens and I had a lot more shooting with that than the kit lens too! When I bought the 50, I was planning on using both lenses, but I liked it so much more than the kit lens that it ended up staying on my camera all the time!