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Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens (Retail Packing)
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Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens (Retail Packing)
£379.62 £246.75
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Green Eco Warrior –
As a keen photography enthusiast i have decided to take a plunge and upgrade my old Sony a200 system (that i couldn’t get on with) to a canon 7d – the first mistake i have made was buying expensive body and not having the funds to buy a decent lens. I love photographing people so i thouht a prime lens will be the best choice for me (this is a fixed focal lens ) 50mm lens can basically mimic the perspective seen by the human eye . i felt that this will be the best choice .Also prime lens made me more creative , as i hadn’t had the opportunity to just zoom in if i wanted to.I had to move around and try viewing subject from different angles. when the lens arrived i was surprised by the toy feel – its all made of plastic (besides optics) – it felt cheap like it will brake any minute ,there iwasnt any pouch with this lens .just an instruction manual .The lens is very light ( 130g ) and small (2.7″ x 1.6″/68.2mm x 41.0mm – WxL ) – it is also a canon smallest lens on the market . before i have decided to review it i thought i will use it for a bit (i have used it for over a year ) .I was a bit doubtful if constant lens change could affect plastic lens mount in any way – but it didn’t .On the lens itself there is only one switch AF/MF (Auto focus and manual focus ). Autofocus is driven by a micro motor – that is pretty fast. With a minimum focus distance of 1.5′ lens can deliver some good images. My first test shots look terrible , the lens flare that was on the images looked pretty bad and affected the overall quality . Lens flare is created when forming light enters the lens and subsequently hits the camera’s digital sensor. I have decided then to buy lens hood and filter (to reduce glare) and try again. i would strongly recommend buying lens hood (ES-62 ) that includes the Hood adapter that threads onto the lens – the hood then attaches to the adapter by pinching two latches With everything in place i decided to do a few test shots again on few different light situations and f settings (aperture size are often referred as a f settings .The aperture size determines the depth of field, or zone of sharp focus, that surrounds your subject the smaller the f i.e. f/1.8 – the shallower the depth of field is ). i love the way my images came out – sharp where i wanted them to be , and colours where fantastic .focus worked well on a 4 year old who run around the park like a tornado and because lens is very light i was able to take some decent shots handheld , without the discomfort, or a lense shake. . The strongest quality of this lens is sharpness – it produces fantastic pictures , i can honestly say that its sharpest at f/2.8 and beyond on f1.8 it performs also good but not as sharp if the camera is hand held .All depends what you want to shoot . i tend to shot people at f/5.6 (but this depends how much of the subject i want to stay sharp) and landscape at f/8 – as i find this my safe zone , and i know images will come out decent. Autofocus is pretty fast when shooting moving objects ,it focuses quickly witch is handy when shooting kids (that just don’t sit still … ) or fast moving objects . Lens its very good in limited light conditions ( in the house ) – but only if you shooting on wider aperture (smaller f number) .- most of portraits are shot in low light condition and all of them are shot using this lens another good factor was the lens size and weight -it is very easy to carry around , despite being plastic it is also very robust ,and it can take some serious banging. Just imagine me trying to strap screaming 4 year old into a booster seat with camera still hanging on my neck – it usually bash straight into car paintwork (that did chip) I have grown to love this lens in fact this is the lens and i use in 98% of my images as the lens is very portable and light , so its easier to take hand-held shots without minimal camera shake. most of the new dlsr’s on the market come with a standard kit lens either 18-55 or 17-85 . so if you are looking for a nice addition to your camera i can highly recommend buying this lens despite it plastic look , its a very nifty lens with fantastic price tag. , and as i mentioned earlier i would recommend purchasing lens hood and possibly a UV filter . “please bare in mind that im Polish – and English is not my strongest point but i try my best to give as honest review based on my own experience , and i know my grammar is terrible . ” 1,060 people found this helpful
Carmen i. –
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens Pros: Clear, Crisp, Bokka, Light, Cheap Cons: Delicate, If you like Zoom this isn’t for you. I’ve always had a passion for photography but I’ve never had the bank balance to back it up. I’m always the person hunting for second hand equipment to bolster my collection but always look on longingly at my close friends uber expensive toys. I then found myself with a few extra pennies one month, and rather than donating it to the family for a change, I decided to treat myself to a new gadget. I hunted around the forums and reviews for the best bang for buck that I could get from my spare cash. One things that kept popping up was the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens or better known as the “Nifty Fifty”. This Lens is a prime lens that fixes to the front of the camera and thats it. There is NO zoom functionality, it literally is one piece of stationary glass. Now when I thought about buying this, I was a little worried (naive) that I could get great pictures from a single focal length. How wrong I was. I took the plunge and very shortly after I had my brand new shiny lens. Within minutes of fixing it to the camera I was off and about relearning my photography craft and being forced to get active and frame my shots properly, rather than stand from a distance and play with a zoom. The sharpness of the pictures is incredible at the right aperture, producing some amazing portrait shots. It also allows me to produce a beautiful faded look around my subject when reaching into the wider apertures. Although be warned that if you head down to F/1.8 for portraits, you will end up with a sharp nose and faded face for example. I have also had fun exploring the world of Bokka using this lens, setting the aperture wide and taking pictures with lights in the background. With all the positives there are slight downsides as well. The main one being that for the price of the glass there are compromises. The casing of the Lens is made of plastic which from a weight perspective could be seen as a good thing. You will have to be extra careful though as it does feel like it is a lot more delicate than its metal brothers such as the EF 50mm F/1.4 for example. The only other negative is sometimes the auto focus can be a bit lethargic compared to my kit lens for example and it will sometimes auto focus on everything but the subject of the photo. And if i’m using a Tripod for long exposures I tend to use manual focus to get it just right. Overall, my experience with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens was positive. I really enjoy just fitting the lens and heading out for random walks and excursions to see what images I can get out of the little thing. For the money I paid, it has been extraordinary value. I just wish there were more lens like gifts out there for such a small amount of money so that us small time photography enthusiasts with the small time wages can play with new and bigger toys, But my experience with this Lens has really helped my camera craft and that is something money really cant buy. Verdict: I would highly recommend anyone with a Canon on the look out for a new lens who hasn’t got one of these. BUY IT.
gog@castleview –
I did a lot of reading and research deciding whether to buy this F1.8 or the more expensive F1.4 (F1.2L completely out of the question). I ended up purchasing this one and I am pleased that I did. My need was fairly basic; a fast lens for low light use. It also has the appeal of a nice focal length when used on a crop sensor camera (equivalent 80mm) for portraits. I’m sure most people looking at this lens have read various pros and cons about it. In short, yes it does feel quite cheap, but the price reflects this. It is not of such bad quality that I envisage it falling apart anytime soon, providing it is looked after. I’d rather err on the side of caution and handle it delicately than throw it about, if I’m honest. Despite its ‘bare minimum’ construction, I must say that it is nice to have such a light, unobtrusive lens. The mount is plastic; I would’ve preferred a metal mount but it does the job as long as you don’t swing the camera around by the lens. Wide open at F1.8 the corners are soft but at this aperture/depth of field, this isn’t really a problem. Centrally it is softer than when stopped down, but nonetheless perfectly acceptable. Stopped down the image quality is superb…very sharp and detailed; perhaps to the point where portrait shots need more editing work…! Image quality on this lens is not going to be an issue for most users I don’t think. The autofocus is quick enough in ideal lighting; anything less and it is noticeably slower but still finds a lock the majority of the time. It is noisy (the whines and clunks of an unrefined motor), but then my experience is mostly with the sublime L-series’ USM motors, which it isn’t. Manual focusing is possible, albeit with a tiny focus ring. For me, in this case, it’s about compromises. For the price, you get a very good quality photo in a not so great quality casing. If you really covet a metal mount, full-time manual focus and a USM motor then pay the extra for the F1.4. If not, then buy the F1.8 and be happy; it is a very good lens. 2 people found this helpful
Samuel Rossage –
I can only concur with the other reviews. The lens is lightweight and feels like a toy. Whenever I take off the lens cap I am worried that I will pull off the manual focus ring too. When the autofocus motor reaches the end of its travel it stops with an undampened thunk, and I am worried that the lens will burst open. On the other hand, and this is a huge factor that outweighs all the above, the image quality is very good. The lens is useable at f1.8, with a nice tight depth of field, and it gets sharper from there. At f5.6 it is very sharp indeed, and from the test results I have seen on the internet it is probably sharper than most digital camera sensors can resolve. For the price it is very impressive, and based on image quality alone it would be very impressive at any price. There is a big argument on the internet as to whether the 50mm f1.4 is superior when stopped down to f2.8 or thereabouts. My feeling is that most people who care about such things will buy the f1.8 anyway, and use it as a “beater”. I wonder how it compares to Nikon’s 50mm f1.8, which has a similar reputation and costs much the same? On a 1.6x camera the focal length is 80mm, which is one of the classic focal lengths for portrait lenses. It’s ideal for faces, head-and-shoulders, upper body shots. For anything else it falls between two stools, neither telephoto enough for lions nor wide enough for crowds. Along with the build quality, this is the only real drawback of the lens. It’s a shame Canon couldn’t combine the low price and image quality with a 28mm focal length, it would be an ideal party lens. As a lark, I decided to test it against an old Pentacon 50mm f1.8 M42 lens I had lying around, which is solid and made of metal, and sells for about a tenner on eBay. The Canon lens seemed much sharper at f1.8, and slightly better at all apertures, although not noticeably so unless I zoomed right in; but on the other hand the autofocus was more accurate than my manual focus. Against an old 50mm f1.4 Super Takumar the results were less “dreamy” when wide open, but when stopped down I had to strain my eyes to detect any difference in sharpness, and unless you habitually enjoy photographs by looking at them zoomed in at 500% on a giant monitor I doubt you would notice any difference. As an added bonus, the lens works fine on full-frame cameras. It also has a very mild cult following. And it’s slightly melancholic, in the sense that you start to realise that other lenses, which cost ten times as much, are not ten times better. You pay a lot extra for a little extra. 59 people found this helpful
Bridget Friend (verified owner) –
A perfect companion for a full frame Z series camera when you don’t want to be carrying around a lot of bulky,& heavy, gear. Optical quality ,although very good, is not quite up with the more expensive Z series lenses, as you would expect at this price point, but well worth the £289 that Gadget Tree were charging when I bought it recently rather than the asking price of well over £400 at other UK dealers.Buy now if you are tempted because Nikon prices are due to go up significantly in the near future & many UK dealers have been unable to get stock of many Nikon products for months. 2 people found this helpful
poetjen (verified owner) –
After all the controversy, criticisms and pixel peeping on the web, I was expecting to have to return this lens at least a few times before getting a ‘good’ copy or at worst – a refund (out of curiosity my copy was made Dec-08…). What can I say, I was pleasantly surprised. Its a fantastic lens and if like me, you love a fast discreet 50mm for street/ low light photography then it’s defintely worth the investment. The pictures have a certain vibrancy over other lenses and the build quality is absolutely quality. The lens is not especially sharp from f/1.2 – 1.6 and has noticeable purple fringing at these f numbers (but definitely useable). It becomes sharp by f/2 and tack sharp by f/2.8. Comparing it to my 24-105mm, it’s MUCH sharper than the 24-105mm up to about f/4.5 – 5. By f/5.6 onwards they are much of a muchness, although the zoom is a tad sharper in the corners. I tried to recreate the focus shift issue, but couldn’t find any problems. I’ve maybe had 1 or 2 slightly missed shots at the minimium focus distance of 45mm, but then I’ve had that on rare occasions with my 24-105mm too. It’s always asking for trouble when you shoot at the min distance for any lens. On the whole I would say the lens easily focuses as accurately as my 24-105mm, and perhaps a split second slower due to the front glass element moving through the barrel (which incidently means you need to get a filter to make it dust and moisture resistant – doh!) Overall a marvellous investment that will last, unlike the (also excellent) 50mm f/1.4. I think the biggest complement I have, is that this lens allows me to shoot the way I want, without having to change my style to accommodate any functionality/design issues – and for that reason, its almost always attached to my 5D2 28 people found this helpful
Ionut C. –
This is a very nice prime lens, with a very low 1.4 minimum f-stop which allows for lovely bokeh and particularly good night street photography. I found that I could wander around Manchester at night and take lots of street photos of people and objects, with nice bokeh and easily 1/100 upwards shutter speeds without the ISO going insane. 1/100 with ISO1000 wasn’t uncommon when using the F/1.4. The auto-focus is quite noisy and slow, and isn’t always 100%. As a result of that, and because the lens is already quite soft at 1.4, it doesn’t produce the sharpest of images. Light level doesn’t seem to affect this, and I find that daytime photos are no sharper than night time. Increase the F-stop to 2.8 upwards and things get a lot better, although they are still not pin-sharp. This might be because my camera itself isn’t superb quality; other people with better cameras might have a better result, however my other lenses are definitely sharper. But I don’t think this is a lens intended for very sharp shooting, it is mostly for the very large aperture I can achieve. Related to this, and more importantly, there is **NO IMAGE STABILISATION** on this lens. This makes a significant difference, as without a tripod you’ll need fast shutter speeds to compensate. Handheld with anything less than 1/60 is not going to be usable. I would recommend buying the related Canon lens hood for it, as it reduces the stray light entering the lens significantly, and also protects it nicely. You can attack and remove the lens cap easily without having to first remove the hood. Overall I am very happy with this lens, and I have had great fun using it to take street photography. It isn’t as sharp as I would like, and lacks image stabilisation, but once you accept this you learn to live with it and change the type of photos you are taking so they aren’t ones that require sharpness. Things like canvas prints that already aren’t capable of very sharp printing avoid this too. I would definitely buy this lens again if I needed to. 2 people found this helpful
lchad96 (verified owner) –
This is a canny little lens and I purchased it on the basis that I wanted to take some photographs of food; seriously! I didn’t want a macro lens, just something where I could photograph food with very little depth of field, against a blank (or foil) backdrop and the f1.8 suited me nicely to ensure that I had a nice soft bokeh effect and the background would be slightly out of focus/”milky”. Obviously the f1.4 or f1.2 would have been better, but the price premium to photograph shepherd’s pie or bacon and eggs in a kitchen wasn’t worth it to me. I had tried to use my trusted 40 mm prime and my 18-55 kit lens, but neither gave me what I wanted, particularly due to the smaller maximum aperture on both of them and the increased depth of field. I just wanted that bit more and for less than £75, it was worth the gamble – and it paid off and I have the images which I wanted for a marketing project for a little more cost than the meal would cost for 2. I have used it indoor and outdoor, in natural and with studio lighting and just simply love it. So why 5 stars? Lot’s of things actually! It is compact and whilst I regularly carry my 40mm for shots outside, this lens is rapidly becoming the alternative for when I want just a little bit more focal length and with my APS-C body has a circa 75-80mm lens when compared to full frame. Basically, it is hard to beat a prime lens, even a cheap prime lens with a zoom, whatever the quality there has to be some compromise to accommodate the flexibility of the optic array. It is also useful to have that extra stop of light for winter days when it compares well with my 40mm in terms of ability to focus and take shots in low light. I believe that it would be good for portrait work, but so far I haven’t tried it, but I anticipate that it would be very similar to the 85mm I used to use for the same with my 35mm camera some time ago. Construction It is all plastic, other than the lens elements, but to be honest, I needed this item to supplement my range of lenses for a specific task which was unlikely to generate any income and if necessary, I could just dispose of it. So far it fits snugly and I would suggest that it will last as long as the Canon 550d it is used with. Operation Well it is very smooth, focusses very quickly either in manual or autofocus and the images produced are crisp and very sharp. I would say though that with the same optics as it’s considerably more expensive stable mates, I am not surprised. It really is great for the price and small enough to pop into a pocket when you are wandering around with a multi purpose zoom such as 50-250 or similar if you need a quality image or light is low. I tend to pop both this and the 40 mm in my pocket even when using my 150-600 zoom out of doors, just in case the opportunity arises for a landscape or similar; being compact and light, they take no space at all. Images I have said already that the pictures are crisp and sharp. There is much written here already about how good it is and the excellent reviewers have gone through the technical stuff. In summary Pro’s Light Compact Cheap Construction (it’s plastic but so what) Fantastic images Con’s Construction (it’s plastic but so what – I realise that I have repeated myself – it doesn’t matter and I am confident that it will outlast me) I always use good quality UV filters to protect the outer lens element and that cost almost half of the cost of the lens. One person found this helpful