thinking about buying a canon 50mm 1.4

marmots · Jan 2, 2011

any thoughts/experiences with the lens

pbelarge · Jan 2, 2011

All over the web, there are a million different stories about this lens.

My personal experience has been nothing but great. The AF is pretty fast, the lens is pretty sturdy/well built. The lens is super light, sometimes I look at the camera to make sure it is still there. The lens has not 'missed' since I have been using it.

The results of this prime are dependent upon the photographer, plain and simple.
My results are not as consistant as I would like, but that is all a result of my inexperience. I can say I have improved with this lens, and I love shooting with it. It really makes me watch the lighting, length, angle, composition, etc... The color/contrast is very rewarding.

Get it, shoot it and enjoy it.

j-digg · Jan 2, 2011

What body do you use? I had to micro adjust mine to +7 to get it to AF correctly :/ and I hear its not exactly rare to have these kind of issues ( get a "bad copy")... with that said, now that I adjusted it I absolutely love using it and get some amazingly sharp images when I stop it down a tad.

cfusionpm · Jan 3, 2011

j-digg said:
I absolutely love using it and get some amazingly sharp images when I stop it down a tad.

I only really use mine when shooting product stuff in my light box. In those conditions it's spot on and amazing. I find 50mm to be a bit too tight to use on my crop bodies indoors, and outdoors when I don't need the fast aperture, I like the versatility of the 17-55 better. I love my 50 1.4 when I need it, but I just don't seem to use it very often anymore.

Except for the shot of the 50 itself, all shots in this composite were taken with the 50 1.4:

(click for 100% crop)

AaronA1 · Jan 3, 2011

I bought this lense not too long ago. It is really awesome. There is a lot of stuff you can do with it. If you are thinking about getting it, just do it! It is really awesome and you will not regret it!

Alter_Ego · Jan 3, 2011

I nearly bought a 50mm 1.4 and i kinda regret i didnt.. i mean for $100 why wouldnt you get it? I did get the 85mm tho and i love it so now i want the 50mm and 35mm.

j-digg · Jan 3, 2011

Alter_Ego said:
I nearly bought a 50mm 1.4 and i kinda regret i didnt.. i mean for $100 why wouldnt you get it? I did get the 85mm tho and i love it so now i want the 50mm and 35mm.

50 1.4 for 100 bucks? Psh Id buy a second one at that price haha... you sure you arent talkin about the 1.8? That makes a bit more sense.

Village Idiot · Jan 3, 2011

erose86 said:
I like it :sillysmi:

Most of the recent stuff in my flickr sets was shot with it.

(Sorry, that was extremely generalized, but I'm really bad at reviews unless someone asks a specific question. :lmao

How are you enjoying the filter threading on the Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens? Is it up to your expectations? Does it fulfill your hopes and dreams?

marmots · Jan 3, 2011

OK thanks this is pretty much what I've been hearing around the web i don't have many lenses yet (especially not high quality L lenses) so it seems like it should do just fine

syphlix · Jan 3, 2011

i used the 50/1.4 for a long time... really liked it... but i haven't used the 1.8 or 1.2 to compare... so who knows...

i do know the general consensus usually is... get the 1.4 if you can afford it and it's not a big deal.... focuses faster and is built better... otherwise get the 1.8 cuz it's awesome for the price and it's practically free...