Which canon 50mm ??

[Noah Kadner]

Fastest you can afford

Noah

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[Chris Wright]

faster lens is better low light capability. make sure it has auto exposure correction or your zooms will change f-stops as you zoom in/out. Also you get what you pay for in lenses with anti glare, chromatic protection, stabilization. also consider the pros/cons to primes.You can spend more on a lens than a camera.

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[Pete Burger]

The 50mm 1.8 is a very fine lens for an unbeatable price. I got one myself and am very happy with it.
What you should consider, is that this lens is not built very stable. I read a lot of horror stories about breaking apart after a couple of days. Mine still works, but the 1.4 is definitly better quality and it is a bit faster.

One might say, there is no big difference between 1.8 and 1.4, but if you’re shooting lowlight, the small difference might be crucial whether to have to push ISO (and noise) up or not.

Also: The AF of the 1.8 is very slow and not too precise and manual focussing is also easier with the 1.4.

There is no big difference in picture quality (I would say, there is none, but some people I know claim, they can see one…).

To cut a long story short: If you can/want to afford it, get the 1.4.

But I think, you also won’t be disappointed with the 1.8

[Shawn Riley]

Thanks guys, I am just starting to learn photography and about DSLR cameras ans what lenses to use. I currently do film with HD/HDV video cameras but the DSLR thing is a whole lot different. There is so much to learn..

[Robbie Carman]

I have both the 1.4 and 1.2. I was drawn to the 1.2 because of an obsessive case of techno lust. I love the 1.4 can’t really find fault with it except for things it just wasn’t designed to have i.e. larger focus ring with more throw. I have mixed feelings about the 1.2. Its much better built, more ergonomic i.e. larger focus ring and slightly more throw but I was expecting it to be loads sharper then the 1.4 which its not. From 1.2 to 2 I think the 1.4 is actually sharper (obviously with the 1.4 it can’t open to 1.2), with that said you can’t beat the low light capabilities of the 1.2 and the extreme bokeh that it can produce. Speaking of the bokeh its superb but keep in mind, wide open and close to a subject I’ve found it near impossible to get sharp focus using the camera LCD with a viewfinder since the focal plane is soooooo shallow I have to rely on an external monitor (higher rez and with focus assist function)

So all and all the 1.4 is a real winner, personally I would skip the 1.8. And now that I have the 1.2 I can’t really say its worth the premium over the 1.4 for many shooting situations.

Robbie Carman
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[Bob Farnsworth]

I adore my zeiss 50mm 1.4. Focusing a dream.

[Sohrab Sandhu]

[Chris Wright] “make sure it has auto exposure correction or your zooms will change f-stops as you zoom in/out.”

As much as i know, its a fixed focal length lense. So you can’t zoom with it.

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[Andrew Moorman]

Keep in mind now that you’re moving into faster & longer lenses (the 50mm becomes an 80mm on the 7D, 60D & T2i) focus is going to get harder and harder to maintain throughout a shot. You’ll find quickly the necessity for a follow focus unit, and with that whenever you can afford it a focus puller. The real downfall to the 1.8, besides build quality, is the focus ring, which is very thin and doesn’t really allow for a lens gear to surround it. The lens gear is what a follow focus unit requires to operate. Meanwhile, the 1.4 has a much wider focus ring that perfectly accommodates a lens gear. It’s still going to be a challenge given the very short focal throw of any still lens, but a geared lens with a follow focus will bring you much closer to pulling it off.

[Jason Mann]

The awesome low-light qualities of a 1.2 or a 1.4 lens seem obvious to me. But the question is, if your depth of field is going to so shallow that an entire face can’t be in focus at the same time, is it really worth it?

(I use a 5D, so maybe this wouldn’t be the case with a 7D.)

—
Jason Mann
http://www.pull-start.com
jason *at* pull-start *dot* com