Sent back my 50mm f/1.4, ordered 50mm f/1.8

[Mot]

A few words of warning about the 50mm 1.8 EF-II "with the hood on": the HOOD has been implicated in hundreds of incidents of what Canon refers to as "barrel separation". When the 50/1.8-II model is fitted with its lens hood, the pairing has a disconcerting habit of causing the lens to snap into TWO, large pieces, due to the exact way the lens fits, and the way the hood fits onto the lens

This is exactly true. While I did own the hood I never actually used it. I couldn't understand why you would want to elongate the barrel, all I could see is that at some point it was going to fall out or be forced off due to the hood. Fall out it did, I was changing the lens above a table and accidentally dropped it. It fell a massive 6" and just fell apart. That was the end of that lens. I've dropped my DSLR and 50mm 1.4 down a flight of stairs, that's still working fine.

 

[cgipson1]

Doesn't sound like a lens I would want to own!

 

[gsgary]

I second the F1.8 is crap for manual focus, you should have stuck with 50F1.4

Eloquent. Brief. gsgary at his best.

No point ***** footing

 

[Derrel]

A few words of warning about the 50mm 1.8 EF-II "with the hood on": the HOOD has been implicated in hundreds of incidents of what Canon refers to as "barrel separation". When the 50/1.8-II model is fitted with its lens hood, the pairing has a disconcerting habit of causing the lens to snap into TWO, large pieces, due to the exact way the lens fits, and the way the hood fits onto the lens

This is exactly true. While I did own the hood I never actually used it. I couldn't understand why you would want to elongate the barrel, all I could see is that at some point it was going to fall out or be forced off due to the hood. Fall out it did, I was changing the lens above a table and accidentally dropped it. It fell a massive 6" and just fell apart. That was the end of that lens. I've dropped my DSLR and 50mm 1.4 down a flight of stairs, that's still working fine.

That's what Microsoft calls a "design feature", not a bug in the design!!!

 

[2WheelPhoto]

 

[Dao]

Doesn't sound like a lens I would want to own!

Don't lie .. I know you want this lens so bad ... And you even think about come to the dark side because of this lens. Come on ..Come on ...

oops ... I meant the bright side.

 

[cgipson1]

Doesn't sound like a lens I would want to own!

Don't lie .. I know you want this lens so bad ... And you even think about come to the dark side because of this lens. Come on ..Come on ...

oops ... I meant the bright side.

At least you got the "dark side" right! The day I buy a Canon will be the day I buy a Canon MP-E 65 lens.... lol! (it may happen someday!)

 

[Josh66]

^^^ That one is still on the wishlist, lol.

 

[NickStevens]

The main advantage of the EF 50mm f/1.8 is cost. I used to own the version II, then version I and then now the f/1.4.

As o hey tyler mentioned, the extra money mainly goes to build quality, out of focus blur quality and wider aperture. (And a little faster and quieter AF).

Out of focus blur quality and wider aperture was the main reason I jump from the mk1 version to f/1.4. But the f/1.8 version II is still a good lens for what it worth.

I was holding out for a 1.4, but a 1.8 came along today at a good price, so I went ahead and got it.

Used it for the first time tonight, wanted to try and get some serious blurred backgrounds on some karaoke singers, which did kinda work well.

But I was getting a LOT of focused backgrounds and blurred singers in the worst case scenario, and in many somebody standing just 6" behind was blurred, but the person at the front was sharp.
I was also finding that I would focus on the singers face, then they would move forward/back just a couple of inches and blur :x
Now I know about depth of field and I was stopped down to f2.2........I switched to f5.6 and still ended up with some blurred pics and it got kinda annoying (this is my first time out with a fast lens btw)

The lens also dosnt seem razor sharp even when its perfectly focused....

So do I have a faulty one........is it just a crap lenes.......or is it me?

If the lens is ok, and I should be getting better results, I think I have some options:
1) Use a higher apature to give more room for a little movement and or somebody else being slightly off the focal plane.
2) Use a faster shutter speed? (I was using around 1/10, and using second curtain flash to freeze.)

Can anybody offer advice at how best to do this, bearing in mind the light is poor and theirs nightclub lights screwing with the exposure all the time too.

 

[Danmunro_nz]

I have the 50 1.8 and I love it. I mostly use it on my 35mm EOS. Tack sharp when stopped down past F2.8. I have taken some of best shots using it with a good film, like Ektar or Ectachrome 100G.

 

[subscuck]

I was also finding that I would focus on the singers face, then they would move forward/back just a couple of inches and blur :x
Now I know about depth of field and I was stopped down to f2.2........I switched to f5.6 and still ended up with some blurred pics and it got kinda annoying (this is my first time out with a fast lens btw)

The "size" of your dof at any given f stop is determined by your distance from the point of focus. As you move closer, dof shrinks, as you move further away, it increases. The focal length also plays a part. A 35mm lens, at, say f3.5, 10 feet from your subject, will have a deeper dof than a 50mm at the same f stop and distance. Google "dof calculator" and play around with it, changing distance and fl, but leaving aperture the same. Look at how the dof changes as you change these numbers.

 

[NickStevens]

I've got a DOF calculator on my phone... Got it from the play store for Android

 

[bigal1000]

Being cheap will always cost more in the end,belive me..

 

[bigal1000]

The main advantage of the EF 50mm f/1.8 is cost. I used to own the version II, then version I and then now the f/1.4.

As o hey tyler mentioned, the extra money mainly goes to build quality, out of focus blur quality and wider aperture. (And a little faster and quieter AF).

Out of focus blur quality and wider aperture was the main reason I jump from the mk1 version to f/1.4. But the f/1.8 version II is still a good lens for what it worth.

I was holding out for a 1.4, but a 1.8 came along today at a good price, so I went ahead and got it.

Used it for the first time tonight, wanted to try and get some serious blurred backgrounds on some karaoke singers, which did kinda work well.

But I was getting a LOT of focused backgrounds and blurred singers in the worst case scenario, and in many somebody standing just 6" behind was blurred, but the person at the front was sharp.
I was also finding that I would focus on the singers face, then they would move forward/back just a couple of inches and blur :x
Now I know about depth of field and I was stopped down to f2.2........I switched to f5.6 and still ended up with some blurred pics and it got kinda annoying (this is my first time out with a fast lens btw)

The lens also dosnt seem razor sharp even when its perfectly focused....

So do I have a faulty one........is it just a crap lenes.......or is it me?

If the lens is ok, and I should be getting better results, I think I have some options:
1) Use a higher apature to give more room for a little movement and or somebody else being slightly off the focal plane.
2) Use a faster shutter speed? (I was using around 1/10, and using second curtain flash to freeze.)

Can anybody offer advice at how best to do this, bearing in mind the light is poor and theirs nightclub lights screwing with the exposure all the time too.

Sounds like user error to me,use a fast iso 800-1600 and stop down some, at 2.2 theres not much dof and focus is critical

 

[TCampbell]

Uh oh... zombie thread back from the dead.

The main advantage of the EF 50mm f/1.8 is cost. I used to own the version II, then version I and then now the f/1.4.

As o hey tyler mentioned, the extra money mainly goes to build quality, out of focus blur quality and wider aperture. (And a little faster and quieter AF).

Out of focus blur quality and wider aperture was the main reason I jump from the mk1 version to f/1.4. But the f/1.8 version II is still a good lens for what it worth.

I was holding out for a 1.4, but a 1.8 came along today at a good price, so I went ahead and got it.

Used it for the first time tonight, wanted to try and get some serious blurred backgrounds on some karaoke singers, which did kinda work well.

But I was getting a LOT of focused backgrounds and blurred singers in the worst case scenario, and in many somebody standing just 6" behind was blurred, but the person at the front was sharp.
I was also finding that I would focus on the singers face, then they would move forward/back just a couple of inches and blur :x
Now I know about depth of field and I was stopped down to f2.2........I switched to f5.6 and still ended up with some blurred pics and it got kinda annoying (this is my first time out with a fast lens btw)

The lens also dosnt seem razor sharp even when its perfectly focused....

So do I have a faulty one........is it just a crap lenes.......or is it me?

If the lens is ok, and I should be getting better results, I think I have some options:
1) Use a higher apature to give more room for a little movement and or somebody else being slightly off the focal plane.
2) Use a faster shutter speed? (I was using around 1/10, and using second curtain flash to freeze.)

Can anybody offer advice at how best to do this, bearing in mind the light is poor and theirs nightclub lights screwing with the exposure all the time too.

You need to know how the Canon AF system works.

A few rules:

When you are in the standard "one shot" mode, the camera uses "focus priority". This means it wont take the shot until it locks focus on at least one AF point. HOWEVER... once it does lock focus, it will turn off the focus system and wait for you to fully press the shutter button. If that focused distance CHANGES between the time you focused and the time you take the shot, you'll get an out-of-focus shot.

If you use "AI Servo" mode, then it does continuous focus... once it locks it doesn't give up... it continues to look for movement and updates the focus. You shouldn't use AI Servo mode unless you know the subject is going to move (e.g. shooting sports or action for example.) Also in AI Servo mode it's on "release priority" which means it takes the shot as soon as you fully press the shutter whether the shot was in focus or not.

If you pick a specific AF point for focus, then the camera will only use that point. If you allow the camera to auto-select the AF point then it will pick the point which is able to get a focus lock at the closest distance to the camera. If focus points are on targets which are at different distances, the one nearest to the camera wins.