50mm 1.4, fast and sexy
- Sexiness Ratings:
- Value to your kit
-
4 of 5 stars) - Image quality
- 4 of 5 stars)
- Build quality
- 3 of 5 stars)
- Jealousy Factor
- 3 of 5 stars)
- Bang for your buck
- 5 of 5 stars)
- Overall Sexiness
- 4 of 5 stars)
Yes, when I say fast, I mean like lightning. With a maximum aperture of 1.4, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens makes easy work of any low light situations, and if you’ve never used a lens this fast before, you will be instantly hooked. If the combination of price, speed and image quality on this lens doesn’t wet your appetite, I don’t know what will. Its made this lens a staple and favorite of many photo hobbyists and pros who dont want to pay over $1000 more for the 50mm f1.2 L.
Aside from the speediness, this is a very sharp lens, especially for the price. Although its a bit soft wide open, super-sharpness can be achieve stopping down a bit to f2 or f2.8. Shooting at f1.4 does give some significant halos with the softness, but the dreamy look that is achieved is actually a cool effect in a lot of situations. When stopped down anywhere past f2, the halos disappear and this lens provides surprisingly excellent image quality for its low price. Aside from the sharpness, this lens provides some really sweet background/foreground blur courtesy of an 8-blade aperture . Some of my favorite shots have been portraits at f2, focusing right on the eyes. You can really achieve that sharp, striking eyed portrait you always see on flickr and wonder how the hell to do it.
Since I purchased this lens, it has become a favorite for portaits in any situation as well as a nice walk-around workhorse. Focusing is fast, overall build quality is good and for a lens that costs just a hair over $300, image quality is unreal. If you are talking about bang for your buck, I couldn’t recommend a better lens.
Test Shots
| Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Tech Specs (from bhphoto.com) | |
|---|---|
| Filter Size | 58mm |
| f/Stop Range | 1.4-22 |
| Minimum Focus Distance | 1.5′ |
| Magnification | 1:6.66 |
| Zoom/Focus Control | Not applicable |
| Angle of View | 46 Degrees |
| Groups/Elements | 6/7 |
| Length | 2.0″ |
| Maximum Diameter | 2.9″ |
| Weight | 0.64 lb |
Additional Resources
- Canon USA Website Product Page
- The-Digital-Picture.com Review
- Photo.net Review
- Canon 50mm 1.4 Flickr Group
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Ever since I got this lense I hate to use anything else. It’s become my go to lens in pretty much any situation and I’m still trying to figure out all the ways to use it and love it.
Oh i definitely feel ya. Although i can’t say its my goto all the time, for any type of portraits, its all i use. My only gripe is that on my non full-frame camera, its a bit long in some situations. I actually had it out last night, uploading the pics to flickr shortly.
Thanks for stoppin by!
[...] it’s good for situations when you’re up close to your subject. I’ve tried out the 50mm f/1.4 lens that’s in a similar category, and it can definitely put you closer than you want to be [...]
[...] Canon 50mm f1.4 [...]
What can I say…
- fantasicly light (the wife loves it)
- beautiful 8 blade bokeh
- 1.4 for when u need it
- sharp (on selected units)
It’s the ultimate portrait lens for your 1.6x crop cameras.
I love this lens – In fact I’ve loved a few of them. You see there is a serious design / build flaw and you will eventually find your auto focus turning into full manual sooner or later.
I’ve had two of these. The first lastest two years. The relacement has only lastest 4 months and is going back to Canon under warranty.
A quick whipp around the web shows I’m not alone.
PLEASE CANON – make a 50mm 1.4 mark II and fix the issues.