Canon EF 50mm 1.8 Where have you been all my life?

I have several lenses. Only the wide angle's are prime in my bag. So I never felt the need for a 50 prime.
I shoot a Canon 20d so it's got the lovely cropped sensor, essentially making the focal length longer (you know what I mean).
I've stuck to fast zoom lenses merely for their "all in one" appeal.

Well let me tell you this little cheap'o lens performs wayyyy beyond it's price.

Sure the body is made of plastic, and it almost feels like a toy in your hand. BUT who needs an extra 3 pounds of glass in their bag???

Autofocus is really noisy... But it's the same way on the 18-55 kit lens too.

This lens is great for truly working with depth of field. If you don't understand how DOF can help/hurt your photos, this is a GREAT lens to buy and start learning.

It's also a great little lens lo leave on the camera for casual shooting. Family at the park, trip to the grandparents, etc.

I use it a lot in the studio as well, nice fast lens for beauty shots.
Only drawback there is you've gotta be pretty close to your subject, and some models don't care for the "in your face" approach.

If you don't own it, buy it. You won't be sorry. If you decide it's not for you, put it back for sale on ebay it will sell.

Canon SLR owner? Buy this lens!

Camera: Rebel T1i
Other lenses: EFS 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

What value for money!
I had read many other reviews prior to purchasing this lens. Many people talk about poor build quality and I feel I need to dismiss these claims. I would compare the build quality to that of the 18-55mm kit lens. I will say however that the manual focus ring is clearly designed to not get much use. If you want quality build then you will have to pay much more for the next level in prime glass.

Build quality out of the way.... how is the image quality?
Quite spectacular! What a surprise for the money this lens costs. Canon have been making this lens for quite some time and it shows. As this is a prime lens with fixed focal point you will need to walk around to capture the shot that you want. This WILL make you a better photographer!
At full open aperture there is some amazing shots available to you. Works fantastic in low light conditions where the EFS 18-55mm kit lens just cannot compete. I have taken some amazing shots indoors of my family. Faces being tack sharp with some amazing bokeh.

Unlike the zoom lenses I own the inner ring does not rotate when focusing, this makes it ideal for using slide in graduating filters etc. The use of these filters may add extra strain to the motor, however no bad news to report yet in regards to damage. If like me you own the standard kit lens or the EFS 55-250mm lens you will need to purchase an adapter as the kit lens is 58mm whilst this lens fits a 52mm thread. Lens flare can be an issue so I would suggest a hood also.

Fast, clear lens at an amazing price! I couldn't be happier. If you have to buy a lens make it this one!

Geat Lens

This is a great lens to complement a zoom lens with a high minimum aperature. Its images look like an 80mm (portrate lens) from the 35mm film days. It is light and autofocus is adequate. I prefer to use manual focus on many occasions and lens works great that way too - tack sharp. I use it on my Canon 60D with a Promaster Spectrum 7 f/1:4.0-6.3 28-300mm lens. The camera by today's standard is an old timer. But it is an excellent camera for most shooting conditions and this lens really give new life to my package - lightness, faster lens and a great fixed focal length for photographing family. Thanks ebay for making is so reasonalbe and simply to get!

The little lens that could, he'll win your heart and you'll keep your money

He's the little lens that could. He's not the fastest-focusing, he's not built like a rock, and there's a couple of little oddities that you may find yourself needing to adjust to. But for about $130 (or less) you really get your money's worth!

First, the good. With such a wide aperture you get more light for indoor shots, and you also get some really great depth of field effects that work nicely outdoors.

Being so small it only has a few elements in it. This lowers the weight and reduces the amount of light you lose.

The picture quality is amazing for the price, I think it's even better than my kit lenses that cost 2 to 3 times more than this. The odd thing is that my other lenses are zoom lenses. I'm no expert, but it seems that zoom lenses are typically less expensive, and can often have better image quality than prime (at certain focal lengths, anyway). So by all logic the image quality SHOULD be noticeably LESS than my other lenses, not more. That is what has really sold me on this lens.

Now the bad. These aren't major, but worth mentioning anyways. The build quality is good, but the materials used are cheap. It's a plastic housing, and you can tell.

The focus ring is recessed, so it's not as easy to reach as it could have been with so little effort. When focusing automatically on a subject that's tough to focus on it doesn't stop nicely when it's at its focus limit, it kinda goes "clunk".

Lastly, and maybe this is my inexperience, I wasn't expecting it to have a different diameter for the threads. My other lenses are 58mm, and this one is 52mm, and I just wan't expecting that. So now I need to either re-buy my favorite filters, or find an adapter. Maybe not a negative for you, but definitely something to keep in mind.

Overall this is a good lens. If you don't have a lot of cash and you don't have a fast lens (wide aperture/low f-number) or a prime lens (non-zooming) then definitely get this lens. You won't be blown away (except maybe by the value) but I don't think you'll be disappointed either.

Fast, Light, Sharp and Cheap

Build quality of the 50 f/1.8 is very cheap (as you might expect). This lens feels more like a toy than a piece of optics. It utilizes plastic contruction right down to the lens mount (the lenses are glass of course). This light material combined with the small size (2.7" x 1.6"/68.2mm x 41.0mm - WxL) puts this lens in the featherweight class - 4.6 oz (130g). The 50 f/1.8 is currently Canon's lightest and shortest lens. Considering how light the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens is, I think the plastic lens mount is adequate for strength. You might get more wear than you wish if you are changing the lens frequently.

There is not much to this lens. There is no distance window or markings. There is barely even a focus ring - and the tiny ring that is there is barely usable.

Autofocus is driven by a micro motor. Focus speed is not stellar, but fine in good light with subjects that are not moving too quickly. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens is one of Canon's louder/buzzier lenses - you know when it is focusing. But this is not a wildlife lens - and the noise probably won't bother most people. I suppose a positive aspect of the sound is that you know when it is working - and when focus is locked. FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing is not included. The 50 f/1.8 extends up to 5/16" during focusing - the very small 52mm filter does not rotate.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens' strongest quality is its sharpness. Sharpness performance wide open (f/1.8) is decent, but the Canon 50 f/1.8 is very sharp at f/2.8 and beyond. It is slightly sharper than even then Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens.

With an f/1.8 maximum aperture, this is a fast lens. Unfortunately, only five non-rounded aperture blades are used in this lens. This design leads to sometimes-poor bokeh (image quality of out of focus areas).