Amazon.com Product Description Lightweight and affordable, the Canon EF 50mm lens--which offers a fast f/1.8 aperture--is an excellent lens for people who prefer a fixed focal length. Canon's lightest EF lens at a mere 4.6 ounces, the lens boasts a traditional Gauss-type optical design that delivers a sharp performance even when wide open. As a result, the lens provides an image that's extremely close to how your eye perceives a subject, making it excellent for portraits and images that require a natural depth of field. In addition, the lens focuses as close as 18 inches, helping you take extreme close-ups. Finally, the lens offers an excellent color balance. As with all Canon lenses, the lens carries a one-year warranty. - Focal length: 50mm
- Maximum aperture: 1:1.8
- Lens construction: 6 elements in 5 groups
- Diagonal angle of view: 46 degrees
- Focus adjustment: Overall linear extension system with Micromotor
- Closest focusing distance: 1.5 feet
- Filter size: 52mm
- Dimensions: 2.7 inches in diameter, 1.6 inches long
- Weight: 4.6 ounces
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 Nifty-Fifty: Lives up to it's name |
| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. E. Kang, Anaheim Hills, CA |
What can I say that already hasn't been said about this lens? It's sharp, it's light and contrary to what people say, it doesn't feel like a toy at all. The finish is nice (albeit could be nicer) and the lens itself feels solid in your hands. When it's mounted on your camera, you forget that it's a mere $100 lens, and you create pictures that professionals would have charged you a liver and a kidney for.
This lens is great for beginners, and it's perfect in that it will teach beginners the magic of f-stops/aperture settings.
The lens is incredibly sharp and focuses incredibly fast. When light is low, it has a hard time finding what to focus on, but that can be corrected by focusing manually. ;)
All in all, this lens does above and beyond what you would expect from it. Buy it without hesitation.
I'll post some pictures in the picture section; take a look for yourself. I consider myself an amateur. :) |
Lensy Densy Mcschmensy
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| Review Date: March 5, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Aaron Schilling, EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS, US |
I wanted a new lens
For my canon rebel xs
I looked on amazon.com
And finally ended my quest
I found the lens i wanted
the f stop 1.8
It measures 50 millimeters
It arrived a few days late
I tore through the box
I pulled out my lens
Put on my camera
and showed all of my friends
Its darn well worth the money
And i very much approve
The canon EF 50 mm
Lens to all of you
But now i have to go
Reviewing more would be great
But ive got my awesome lens
and more sweet pics to take!
I do recommend this lens to those who are serious about photography. But if you have a camera that will take this kind of lens, id say that you probably are. It's a little pricy, but the pictures you'll end up with (as long as you keep at it) will be priceless. |
Excellent potrait lens for indoor shots without flash
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| Review Date: March 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Harry W, NJ |
Superb image quality for potraits for indoor photography without flash. This lens is so fast I do not need any flash with it indoors. The excellent background blur it creates produces gr8 potraits.
Do not to use this for group pictures... IT is a potrait lens where everyone should be in the same focal plane.... |
Gest lens value by far in the Canon lineup. Taught me about depth of field
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| Review Date: March 3, 2010 |
| Reviewer: GearGuy, Pacific Island |
Highly recommended. An iconic lens that evidently is legendary in the Canon circle. As the reviews say, a pro can appreciate this lens. Also, a beginner like me can learn a lot from using this lens. I bought this with my new T2i to have a 'fast' lens to learn with. As an amateur, I wasn't sure what I was going to learn, but the reviews here encouraged me. I shot some hand held shots on my way home by train, bike, and on foot; all at night. Got home, plugged in the SD card, and.. my jaw dropped. The clarity and brightness are spectacular. Now 'I get it'. I have already learned a lot using this lens, and it's only the first day. For example, like the rank amateur I am, I thought the camera had failed to focus some of the frame, because I'm used to a P&S where everything is focused.. Now 'I get it'.. that a shallow depth of field makes the image look 3 dimensional. It's awesome.
I am looking forward to learning about how f/ stops affect DOF, and other techniques which right now I 'don't know that I don't know!' Yeah, the lens is plastic; but short of dropping it, I think it will last. Amazing that this is a Canon branded lens at this low price. Buy one, and do your Canon shooting friends a favor and get them to buy one as well. |
Much better pictures than you'd expect
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| Review Date: March 3, 2010 |
| Reviewer: L. Meyer, Southern CA, USA |
When you see a lens with a plastic mount and a price this low, the natural response is to assume it's a piece of junk. But, to my pleasant surprise, this little lens has produced some shots that rival my favorite L (pro series) lens. It's great for portraits, especially if you're shooting with a full-frame body. On a 1.6 crop camera (i.e., a Rebel), you might find that you need to be farther from your subject than you'd like, but as explained below that isn't really a problem.
One of the biggest advantages of this lens is the f/1.8 aperture. It doesn't sound quite as impressive as the more expensive 50mm 1.4, but it's definitely enough for almost any situation. It allows you to get really nice bokeh even when shooting a portrait on a 1.6 crop factor body, with a greater distance from the glass to the subject. What's supposed to be sharp is sharp, and the blur is perfect. I actually think, with the right lighting of course, taking a portrait at f/1.8 or f/2 on a crop body creates the ideal balance. On a full-frame body, you'd want to stop down a little to get a crisper, sharper portrait given the closeness of the subject to the lens.
Of course the aperture also makes it a great low-light performer, but if you're not experienced with camera equipment than know this -- opening the aperture to 1.8 (or anywhere below 3, really) will give you less depth of field than you probably want in average picture taking scenarios. For example, if you're just taking candid pictures of people at a family gathering, or if you're doing a group shot with a large number of people, you don't want to sacrifice focus for the sake of getting a low-light shot. That being said, I've been able to hand my camera to inexperienced shooters at family gatherings on full auto with this lens and they've gotten some pretty impressive shots. Focuses fast and accurately, and nails the aperture and exposure time.
All in all, as long as a) you've got some experience with lenses or b) you'll follow the advice to not shoot at super-wide aperture unless it's the right situation for it, anyone with a Canon DSLR should really enjoy this lens. |
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