Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

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Nothin g for the price I paid!

I know all the arguments about this lens. It is plastic, it's focus is to slow, or the auto focus hunts, it has a plastic mount ond so on. But so what. The lens is SHARP and has and f 1.8 so how can anyone complain about this lens. I know if you drop it , it is going to break. But shouldn't you be careful not to drop any of your equipment. The best thing is, if you do drop it you can buy another for $74. It is a great lens for the price. BUY ONE!

Inconsistent focus accuracy, a little soft on the far right (mine at least)

I bought this lens used from local Craigslist, planning to pass it on to a friend who is trying to put together a kit on the cheap. I've read over and over again what a bargain it is for the money and thought it would be a good starting point for him.

Pro:

- When this lens focuses properly, it is very sharp indeed. Just a little softness on the far right of the image, but not too bad and inconsequential if taking shots of your kids.

- Super light

Cons:

- Flimsy build (see 'super light')

- Major inconsistent focus problem. Using center spot, the camera will confirm focus while the lens is front or back focused. This happens on about 1/2 the shots. Not an issue with my other lenses.

Bottom line: Maybe it's just this example, but I would recommend staying away from this lens. $90 may seem like a bargain, but missing shots because of poor focusing is not worth it.

Focus ring is to small

Very fast and accurate focusing on my 50D, it hunts sometimes on my 40D but the AF is still fast most of the time.

AF is not as Noisy as some people are claiming, yeah sure we can hear it but some of the people act as if you would be disturbing an entire wedding if you were to use it and that defiantly not the case. In a small quiet room yeah someone else that's near by will hear it but not at any small event or gathering.

Durability is an issue

Got this one for my Canon 350D and it followed me to the 30D and on to the 1D Mk III.

Its fast, cheap and light and a great tool when first trying out DOF and DSLRs. Durability is an issue though - after one year some plastic came loose on the inside, but it doesn't show up on the pictures (probably because of the 1,3x crop factor).

AF is a bit slow but I still use 50 mm from time to time - especially for product shots. But will not replace it when it finally breaks - instead I will look for a 50 mm 1.4 or a 24 mm 1.4L (nice but expensive)

extremely soft at ƒ/1.8 all the way to ƒ/4, sent to Canon 3 times for calibration/fixing, bad build quality, bad autofocus and noisy autofocus.

I got this lens new about a year ago after hearing all the great reviews about it and how great the quality of the optics were. I didn't bother to do any tests after receiving the lens and just started to go out and shoot, after coming back there were almost no keepers, every shot at a wide aperture (save for 1) was unbearably soft.

After seeing this I found it a bit harder to want to use the lens, but I tried it off and on for a couple more months before finally getting fed up with it and I sent it off to Canon to calibrate it. I received the lens back shortly thereafter and the manual focus ring was stuck so it went back to Canon again. After receiving it back again the autofocus started to make a very odd sound at both the closest focusing distance and infinity focus. But the lens did work, although after testing it in the field again I came back with soft results at anything below ƒ/5.6 (ƒ/4 being soft but usable in small prints).

This made me test the lens, and the results of it backed up the results from the field, the lens was soft (ƒ/4 being usable but still soft) until ƒ/5.6 where it was tack sharp. I don't know about anyone else, but when I buy a fast prime lens I plan to use it at wide apertures and not at ƒ/5.6 and smaller. So yet again I sent it back to Canon and I finally got a decently sharp copy but I just decided to sell it for cheap (making sure that the buyer knew the history of the lens) because a lens that costs less than $100 is not worth this much trouble. Maybe I just got an extraordinarily bad copy of it, but personally I'd avoid this lens.

Af is loud and inaccurate, Mf switch is tiny and hard to move, and the focus ring is a bit small, but it is only $90, so why complain?

It is a sharp lens that has produced great results for me over and over again. The colors are very nice, but contrast is lacking sometimes. F/1.8 is usable, and once you stop it down to f/2.2 it is extremely sharp. It is very light, so when paired with an entry level slr like the XT/XTi the combo weighs slightly more than a super zoom point-and-shoot. If you ever feel like stopping down to f/8 this lens hits optimal sharpness and is great for shooting buildings--although for serious applications you will want a T&S. Great for people starting out to learn the basics of photography and produce great results along the way.

Very weak construction, Erratic AF, Bokeh (Boke) a bit harsh (not very creamy)

I thought I would post a bit of an updated Review to one I did a long time ago (well, not really, but I know much more now than then)

You are likely reading this because you are considering the purchase of this lens. Please be aware of several important pieces of information and myth surrounding this lens

MYTH 1: THIS LENS IS SOFT WIDE OPEN

lens either suffers from significant sample variation, or it's used by newbies (given its "consumer" status) who don't know how to use a lens wide open very well. But there are reports of dud copies so if yours is not sharp wide open get it replaced.

My copy is sharp wide open, almost as sharp as my 85mm f/1.2L II wide open and my 35mm f/1.4L wide open. Other reviewers have reported this lens as soft as s--- wide open. It leads me to be uneasy about the variation. If you don't believe that this lens is sharp wide open send me a PM and I can link you to some of my test shots. What is my definition of sharpness? Well I'm a pixel peeper who views the 100% view for every photo I take, so my idea of sharp is very sharp.

Getting sharp photos from this lens is complicated though. Firstly this lens has erratic focus accuracy. Secondly, because the depth of field is thin at f/1.8 you have to be wary of what your AF sensor is locking onto, as well as avoiding any movement yourself either from swaying or camera shake.

MYTH 2: THIS LENS IS CHEAP AND PRACTICALLY DISPOSABLE, IF YOU BREAK IT JUST BUY A NEW ONE

This lens is weak. I have snapped mine in half on numerous occasions. But note what I just said about "numerous occasions". That's right, you can easily fix this lens yourself for the most common breakage where the lens breaks into two halves.

Many forum users suggest you just dump your broken 50mm f/1.8II lens and buy a new one because its so cheap. Wrong. I'd rather save that money towards a nice L lens instead. If you drop your lens and snap it in half, you will have to find the little plastic pieces that snapped off, superglue them back into the top half, then lock the two pieces back together. It takes a bit of trial and error but the lens works perfectly if you do it right.

MYTH 3: THIS IS A GREAT BEGINNER'S LENS

I made a mistake of buying this lens because many people said "It's a great beginner's lens" or "It's only $XX, it's like pocket change". Well, any amount of $ you spend on this lens means it will take that much longer for you to buy a quality lens like the 35L or 85L II or another lens that you really need. My 50mm f/1.8 II is just sitting at home doing nothing. (I dropped it and superglued it back together so whilst it still works, it's unlikely to fetch much

I am not convinced this is a good lens for beginners. Many users are seduced by the hype and the "affordability" of this lens, but does it really have value for money?

Wait...did I just say the 50mm f/1.8 II (which is always voted best bang for buck Canon lens) is bad value for money? Yes. I did. It is bad value for money for me at least.

Why? Well ask yourself what can this lens really do?

General Use? No, with its 80mm FOV on APS-C bodies (what most newbies use), it's too long for most walkabout purposes

Landscapes? No for similar reasons

Portraits? Yes...but this lens has a harsh quality to its out of focus regions, meaning there are better options

Wildlife? Sports? No because it is too short and slow AF

Weddings? AF is too erratic, and I like my primes to have nice creamy bokeh (boke)

As you can see it's usefulness is very limited.

Make no mistake, this lens is for you if you are happy with the focal length and you don't do time critical photography and you just want great image quality in a lens without spending heaps of money. But don't think for a moment that this lens is for everyone.

And if you don't like the 50mm focal length, or you do time sensitive work, then better to save that money towards a nice L lens or a Speedlite...

Hope that helped in your buying decision. My recommendation? (Unless you are sure the 50mm f/1.8 II is for you) If you are a newbie with a APS-C Camera, put the money towards a nice walkabout zoom lens like the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or preferably Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS for the time being, and then save up for a FF camera with quality primes like the 24L,35L,85L,135L if you want primes.

Terrible AF accuracy and precision.Cheap build, Very soft wide open.

I could have liked this lens a lot if it were not for the awful AF. It may be I have a bad copy but I just couldn't live with it, so I got a 50mm 1.4 instead which is much better in every way bar price.

It's hard to say anything bad about this lens. Though far from perfect, all minor gripes I have with it go out the window when you consider the price. It's one of those "why not?" purchases that just exceeds all expectations.

Yeah, it's made of plastic. It looks and feels cheap (it is!) Sometimes the focus hunts a little. It's a little soft at f/1.8. But man, is it ever a great deal, and I've made a lot of great pictures with it. On my 40D, it's a decent portrait lens.

This was the first lens I bought for my digital Rebel, other than the old 18-55mm kit lens. And it was a good 6 months before I took it off regularly. It's small and light, great to walk around with all day. And it's small enough to throw in my cargo shorts if I'm packing a zoom lens instead.

Sure, I'd like the older version with the metal mount, but good luck finding one of those for a decent price - just get this one for $75 instead. It will exceed your expectations as it did mine.

But be warned, this is a "gateway" lens - you'll start wanting more primes, the faster the better.

plastic, noisy, sometimes not accurate focus

well, it's my first prime lens for my canon 400d.
at first, i really like the bokeh it makes, also the f/1.8 that allow u to take w/o flash in low-light rooms.
But then the compensation of that is it's really hard to search the accurate focus, yet it's noisy n creepy.

I use it for certain occassion, not my fave lens, anyway.
But i could rely on this 'tiny' lens for nite-portraits.

For price?
if u have budget to buy a standard SLR, then this one wouldnt 'bother' your wallet, though !

plastic, poor build quality, slow, but not loud or inaccurate AF

Let me start out by saying that this was the only lens that I had for my first six months with my 20d. Those first months were some of the most inspirational and fun times of my life, and I owe quite a bit of it to this little lens.

This is a perfect lens for those learning that aren't quite ready to invest a lot of money on equipment. It won't limit you in low-light situations like the kit lens, and the image quality won't disappoint beginners, or anyone, considering the price.

Not only is it great for beginners, but it is small enough to be worthwhile for more advanced photographers to keep on hand for low-light shooting.

One of my favorite uses of this lens is portraiture, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a walk-about lens, even on a cropped body like the 20d or 400d. Many will say it is too long to be useful as a walk-about on anything but film or full-frame bodies, but in using it as my sole lens for months, I can't think of a single situation where I couldn't frame all the shots I wanted by backing up.

If you're new to photography, or if you're an old veteran just looking for some inspiration, the 50 1.8 is sure to please.

plastic, prime lens and not zoom lens

This is such a great lens. I just got it last week and I am so pleased with it. It has fast become my favorite lens. The image quality is so sharp and crisp and being able to go to f/1.8 makes things so much easier. When I went in to buy it the sales person tried to tell me that this isn't a 'real' portrait lens and that if i wanted a 'real' one I should get the $400+ f/1.4 lens. Now, no doubt that the more expensive lens is better but this lens works just perfectly for portraits and is only a quarter of the cost. For some, it might be weird getting use to having no zoom but it just means that you might have to do a little more moving around. I would reccomend this lens to anyone.

Slow focus, focus ring not in the right position to use easy, not high quality body but this expected for this price, its colors need correction.

I bought this lens a few months ago, the big advantage is see how cheap prime lens produces high resolution compared to normal zooms.

The big downside is slow focus, make this lens useless in speedy events. but you can solve this somehow by selecting the center focus point only, so you can point to your subject and focus fast more.

The best application of this lens is portraits, products photography.
This lens gives 80mm on my 350D, so it's good for portraits.

I recommend it for Canonians, of course!

This is THE best bang for the buck. You just can´t beat this in terms of price/quality. Nothing can or will.

Sure, it´s no L-series super lens that costs $3000. But considering the price you pay for this lens and the images you get, this one is a winner. And less tears will be shed over a scratch in the lens.

Mechanically, this lens is horrendously flimsy. All plastic and yuck.
And that´s about the only bad thing that can be said about it.

The AF whirrs a little, but just a little compared to the 28mm f/2.8 which is a Noise Machine From Hell.

Build quality makes you treat it like a newborn

First lens I ever bought and still have it today. Fast enough for indoors and a staple in my bag. Great buy for anybody buying a dslr.

I bought this lens for no reason and discovered it was so worth it!

This baby is SHARP. Colors are good, and contrast is great!

Two negative points:

The build quality: Plastic fantastic. Its wiggly but it holds. I dropped it hard on concrete a few weeks ago and I thought it was all over, but to my surprise absolutly nothing happened.

The AF: Single shot is not problem and focuses just fine in normal daylight. With AI Servo shooting fast moving stuff your keeper rate is going to go down but you'll still get usable stuff. As said above it hunts in the dark.

Highly recommend as a fun lens!