about | support
home
 

Search Used

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

Buy from B&H Photo
Reviews Views Date of last review
344 518126 Apr 17, 2013
Recommended By Average Price
94% of reviewers $128.35
Build Quality Rating Price Rating Overall Rating
5.89
9.55
8.6
ef50mmf_18_1_

Description:
This is the lightest EF lens of all at a mere 4.6 oz. (130g). Compact and high-performance, standard lens. Its Gaussian optics provide sharp delineation from near to far focusing distances. The color balance is excellent for a standard lens.
Keywords: EF 50mm f/1.8 II


 


Page:  1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11>  next
          
rater
Offline
Image Upload: On



Registered: Mar 26, 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 19
Review Date: Apr 17, 2013 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Prize, sharp and f/1.8.
Cons:
Slow/noisy autofocus, cheap build quality

This lens is a bargain. You get f/1.8 for less 100$ if you buy it used. Image quality is OK but build quality is not great, although for the price you pay is great value.

I sold mine to buy a f/1.4 version as I was always complaining on the autofocus and the fact that it has not full time manual focus.


Apr 17, 2013
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add rater to your Buddy List  
oldshutterhand
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 24, 2012
Location: Hungary
Posts: 0
Review Date: Jun 29, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Good light gathering capacity, no distorsion, no cromatic abberation, usable wide open, sharp stopped down, even colours, can make pictures with special athmosphere
Cons:
bad light focus hunting, low quality feeling, on APS-C, flare can be a problem


The lens most positive aspect is the light gathering capacity, I like the pictures in 'near dark' situations. The field of view on APs-C is not the best though (I agree with the people of same opinion in this forum.) The lens is sharp, but not expect miracles for this price. Better check before buy. Even colours, but not as good as canon 200 /2.8L for example. Not suggest for a one lens solution.
For portraits works good with a Kenko 1.4 dgx converter.

I have a review of this lens at
http://oldshutterhand.com/?page_id=146


Jun 29, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add oldshutterhand to your Buddy List  
FreelyBlueBird
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Jun 22, 2012
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
Review Date: Jun 22, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Cheapest lenses in the whole market,good quality,very sharp indeed.
Cons:
plastic body and mount

I was buy this one because it very cheap.
The lense is working so fast and sharp focus.
It's very valuable for use in field work.


Jun 22, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add FreelyBlueBird to your Buddy List  
bonjerdo
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 14, 2011
Location: South Africa
Posts: 0
Review Date: Jun 19, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Cheap, lightweight, easy to use and gives great pictures
Cons:
none, especially that you can buy one of these for under R1000

I have had many lenses including L series and found that if you get to know your lens and camera well you can produce great photos at a fraction of the cost.
I think the very expensive lenses are for pros who need a 100% reliable and sturdy build if it gets dropped etc. Most people are clicking away for a hobby and this little lens will give you some very surprising results.

Take a look at some of the photos i took casually with this lens.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonjerdo/7217722410/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonjerdo/7084360653/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonjerdo/6273405675/in/photostream

I would almost be bold enough to say that you could use this lens on any pro photoshoot especially if you are shooting on a controlled environment.
I use this lens most of the time.


Jun 19, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add bonjerdo to your Buddy List  
aestiva
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 18, 2009
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 0
Review Date: May 15, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: sharp and cheap
Cons:
Wide open poor quality, ugly bokeh

One of my first lenses.

Very sharp for the price, but poor build quality.


May 15, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add aestiva to your Buddy List  
nswelton
Offline
Image Upload: On



Registered: Jan 16, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 236
Review Date: Apr 11, 2012 Recommend? no | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: none
Cons:
filmsy. don't breathe on it!

canon doesn't make a good 50mm prime. they make a cheap junky one, a medium priced junky one, and a super expensive one that is okay but that still falls apart. this 50mm is the cheap junky one. it rolled off a coffee table and landed on a pillow 12 inches lower. broke. got a new one to put in a travel bag and the focusing gears make the most unholy noise ever now. beware. it'll blow your mind if you're moving up from a kit lens, but it will annoy you to no end if you are used to anything of any quality.

Apr 11, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add nswelton to your Buddy List  
mjeffbr
Offline
Image Upload: Off



Registered: Dec 6, 2011
Location: Brazil
Posts: 56
Review Date: Jan 18, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $166.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: great value, shallow dof, nice colors, light, very good optics
Cons:
fragile, slow autofocus, gets dust easily

Well I recommend this lens to anyone (even being so fragile), because it is dirt cheap and can produce great pictures, with great colors

I regret selling it, what was the point anyways? heheh

being so light you barely notice it

Will be buying it again


Jan 18, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add mjeffbr to your Buddy List  
Damian_pro3
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Dec 20, 2011
Location: Poland
Posts: 0
Review Date: Jan 5, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: sharpness, nice bokeh, f/1.8, price
Cons:
build quality(!), slow autofocus, soft on f/1,8-2, problems with flaring

I always have problems with making a review for this lens when someone asks for my opinion about it. It's because you'll either love it or hate it.
For me this lens has always been a good tool, despite it flaws. And when you speak about flaws, there are wuite few. Starting with build quality, which is horrible! Made of cheap plastic and sucking dust like a vacuum cleaner, it's not made to survive in harsh conditions. When I hear Nikon users complaining about a quality of Nikkor 50mm 1,8 it makes me laugh. Try this one and you'll definitely complaining. The another annoying aspect of working with it is an autofocus. It's really slow even in good light conditions and hunts for a long time when there isn't much light. Hence, shooting with it during concerts can be quite annoying. This lens is also characterized by quite visible chromatic aberration and softness on large apertures. But it becomes usable from f/2.2 onwards, giving great results from f/2.8.
Despite all those negative aspects, one can make use of this lens and be satisfied with images it produces. 50mm is usable focal lenght, on FF you can use it for street or landscape photography, on APS-C it's great for portrait, product and semi-macro photography. As I've already written, it's capable of producing sharp images and gives nice bokeh for portraits. And since I use it almost only in a studio, take pictures of still objects, I don't have to complain about AF anymore.
Having said that, I don't feel a need for upgrading to f/1.4 as long as my copy works.
Samples:
http://www.pro3photo.pl/#/gallery/7/86/
http://www.pro3photo.pl/#/gallery/2/84/
http://www.pro3photo.pl/#/gallery/7/92/


Jan 5, 2012
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add Damian_pro3 to your Buddy List  
Zezoo
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 9, 2011
Location: Iceland
Posts: 0
Review Date: Sep 9, 2011 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $120.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Light, small, sharp, cheap and probably the best lens for the money from Canon
Cons:
Slow and noisy autofocus, plastic body, plastic mount, ugly bokeh balls

I bought this lens because it was so cheap and an f/1.8
Its all plastic so you have to be careful with it if you don't want to break it. The plastic mount scared me at first but if I just take care of the lens it shouldn't brake. The focal length on this lens is great on full frame and also on crop (80mm equivalent).
The lens is very sharp and has a large aperture of f/1,8. The focus is slow and really noisy, so I wouldn't recommend this lens for any sort of action photography.

All in all this lens is great, and for the price you pay it's a must have for any Canon user.

Here are some shots I've taken with this lens:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isbjorn/6130698710/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isbjorn/6039633819/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isbjorn/6120785355/in/photostream


Sep 9, 2011
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add Zezoo to your Buddy List  
shroud72
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: May 11, 2011
Location: Spain
Posts: 47
Review Date: Aug 27, 2011 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $99.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: inexpensive optics are worth twice the price fast lens excels in low light colors are better then kit lens sharp
Cons:
cheap plastic feel manual focus ring difficult to use because it is small fragile lens

This lens has been recommended by many people to a beginner photographer as the first lens after the kit lens.
I´ve had this lens for a year and have had sort of a love / hate relationship with it.
The cheap plastic feel and the almost impossible to turn manual focus ring are the main reasons for my dislike for this lens.
It does make a great portrait lens and after some practice you will be taking much better portrait shots with this lens then with the kit lens.
However where this lens really excels, and the reason why this small lens always has a place in my photography bag is because it is really incredible in low light night photography.
I normally shoot this lens at f/2.0 as I find f/1.8 a bit soft but still somewhat acceptable when needed in a pinch. Shooting at f/2.0 in AV aperture mode with 800 ISO produces amazing night time results with my 450d/XSi.

Some night time shots to backup my review
http://flic.kr/p/ag8UCp
http://flic.kr/p/a6N1YZ
http://flic.kr/p/a6MTcF

This shot has been cropped by about 75% and still the results are acceptable
http://flic.kr/p/agknfj

Nature Panoramic shot
http://flic.kr/p/agxiqP

Portrait shot
http://flic.kr/p/afgs1G

Shot through a restaurant window
http://flic.kr/p/agQvgt

Handheld 4 shot panoramic at dusk
http://flic.kr/p/agTqC1

Summery: Although the build quality leaves much to be desired, I have not experienced that many Autofocus problems, even in low light and have gotten photos that I would have otherwised missed.
For a beginner photographer on a budget highly recommended performance for the price.


Aug 27, 2011
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add shroud72 to your Buddy List  
Aputure
Offline
Image Upload: Off



Registered: Aug 10, 2010
Location: China
Posts: 4
Review Date: Jan 24, 2011 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $80.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: CHEAP, lightweight, conspicuous, sharp when stopped down, fun
Cons:
soft wide open, slow focus in low light

Having shot with lens for nearly 5 years, I must say it has served me rather well. The big question many photogs might face is whether to get this or the EF 50mm 1.4. That one has full time manual focusing, a focus distance scale, and of course a faster aperture, gathering 2/3rds more light. Personally, I should have probably gone with the 1.4 version, considering my love of shallow depth of field and creamy smooth bokeh (of which the 1.4 outperforms the 1.8) but that doesn't mean the 1.8 is not a good bargain.

To read more and view sample photos, see here: http://www.aputure.com/blog/2010/12/30/canon-ef-50mm-1-8-ii-review/


Jan 24, 2011
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add Aputure to your Buddy List  
Iceberg54
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 8, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13
Review Date: Oct 19, 2010 Recommend? no | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 3 

 
Pros: cheap
Cons:
cheap build, soft wide open , Af is a joke

The build is really cheap . It's soft wide open, but usable , better at 2.2 . But the Af is really a joke , it's hit or miss and it doesn't seem to matter how good the lighting is.
I've had a few copies , but the outcome has been the same for all of them. Sure it's cheap , but that doesn't make it a great lens.


Oct 19, 2010
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add Iceberg54 to your Buddy List  
Dave_EP
Offline
Buy and Sell: On



Registered: May 13, 2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1031
Review Date: Sep 28, 2010 Recommend? no | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 4 

 
Pros: It's Cheap.
Cons:
Soft, massive barrel distortion. The manual focus ring is not smooth and is right on the front of the lens.

I had one of these a couple of years ago, and remember it being better than this. I just recently came back to Canon from Nikon (for the video features) and the cheap Nikon 50 completely blows this one away, in build quality and IQ. Shame, because this is one of the most recommended lenses.

I took mine back and swapped for the f1.4 instead.


Sep 28, 2010
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add Dave_EP to your Buddy List  
kevandmel
Offline
Image Upload: Off



Registered: Sep 7, 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 0
Review Date: Sep 7, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $99.95 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: lightweight,compact and sharp.
Cons:
None. I can't see the fact that it's plastic being a con....c'mon its 100 bucks.

At this price as long as it mounts on my camera it’s worth it. The fact that it works as well as it does....icing on the cake.

Sep 7, 2010
View profile View recent posts View reviews Add kevandmel to your Buddy List  
defleppard
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: Aug 21, 2010
Location: Indonesia
Posts: 13
Review Date: Sep 1, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $100.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: great IQ, sharp, cheap
Cons:
for this price?? none really

you can't go wrong with this lens

Sep 1, 2010
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add defleppard to your Buddy List  
Snopchenko
Offline
Image Upload: Off

Registered: May 18, 2010
Location: Russia
Posts: 1761
Review Date: Jun 26, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: + sharp + compact + bright
Cons:
- pentagons in highlight bokeh - awful build quality

Seriously, this is one of the best Canon lenses. It's sharp, it's bright and it's lightweight / compact.

The only real downside is build quality. Mine got broken twice from falling onto something hard and had to be repaired the second time. Nevertheless, it still continues to provide sharp pictures.

Not a real downside, but I find myself using this lens only rarely since I got a 1D Mark II N. It has become a little short for facial portraits and many shots end up in no man's land between the wide angle and telephoto / portrait (just as I'm using this lens in between 17-35 and 70-200 zooms). But that's just my style of shooting, I guess.

I got it out again for the recent Cirque du Soleil shooting session. It's amazing that this little dude got me a few great shots over both L lenses I won.


Jun 26, 2010
View profile View recent posts View reviews Visit Homepage Add Snopchenko to your Buddy List  

          



Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

Buy from B&H Photo
Rent from LensRentals
Reviews Views Date of last review
344 518126 Apr 17, 2013
Recommended By Average Price
94% of reviewers $128.35
Build Quality Rating Price Rating Overall Rating
5.89
9.55
8.6
ef50mmf_18_1_


Page:  1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11>  next