Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard AutoFocus Lens

• Superb lens featuring superb quality and portability.
• f/1.8 speed makes it perfect for available-light shooting.
• Ideal lens to accompany a zoom when shooting in low-light conditions.
• Compact and affordable.

So, you just got your Canon SLR, and want to go beyond the kit lens. There is no better choice than the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 II. I have owned it for two years. I own higher-end lenses (70-200 f/4 L and 100 mm f/2.8 macro), but end up using this lens more often than any other. On a 1.6 crop body (like the Rebel series) the lens is a great portrait length. The lens is sharp enough that I cannot on a Rebel XS (12 mp) I go to pixelation before seeing effects of loss of sharpness from the lens on test photos.

The biggest upgrade from the kit lens is the huge gain in speed. This lens is very sharp at f/2.0 or 2.2, and with normal indoor light you will be able to shoot flashless at ISO400 comfortably. This was the lens I trusted for the birth of our first son, and I couldn't be more happy with the images it captured. Even in the low light of the hospital room I was able to catch those first eyes-open moments without a flash.

This lens is very light (maybe a little cheap feeling), which is nice when you are just carrying a camera to family outings or traveling. Really, a Rebel series with this lens is not that much larger than a quality point-and-shoot, but you have much more creative flexability and get much better shots.

Buy Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard AutoFocus Lens Now

The reason this lens is selling for less than the same item listed at http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1350244710&sr=1-2&keywords=canon+lens

is because the item here is a direct import item (What is commonly referred to as Grey market. Meaning, it was manufactured with the intention of sale in a country other than the USA.

The seller stated in an email to me:

"There is no restriction on a retailer to purchase these items for sale in the US. However, manufacturer's, by way of serial number tracking, are aware of which models were intended for sale in the US, and thus often refuse warranty service on the imported model.

In lieu of the manufacturer's warranty on these imported products, Unique Photo offers our own warranty to support what the manufacturer will not, so that the customer can make their decision with piece of mind. This warranty would be for a period of one year from date of purchase (limited to manufacturing defects)."

Therefore, if you trust the warranty of the Unique Photo Team to be identical, or as good as, the one directly provided by Canon, you can buy this lens, an imported item. Personally I prefer to spend the extra $10 to obtain a warranty directly from Canon, as I have had no prior dealings with The Unique Photo, and have no basis to think that their one-year warranty can compete with Canon's one-year warranty.

Read Best Reviews of Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard AutoFocus Lens Here

This lens has an excellent aperture (f1.8) for the price. It allows you to really control the depth of field when taking portraits and other settings where you want to have the background blurred or softened. The lens is cheap because it is made out of plastic. Even the bracket to mount to the camera is plastic. The manual focus ring is very small, about 5mm wide, or just a little wider than a polarizer filters' ring.

This lens is sharper than the standard zoom lens that comes with the Rebel series (18-55mm). So if you are on a budget it is a great buy. I knew it was made out of plastic before I bought it, so I wasn't surprised when i got it. I do not regret this purchase, because for what you get, you can't beat this price.

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This lens is so cheap but it's a great introductory prime lens. I bought this with my Canon XTi and haven't taken it off! I love how beautiful the images are that come from this lens. When I have used my zoom (which was only maybe once when I first got the camera) I have been disappointed with the images in comparison to the prime lens. I just bought the Canon 28mm 1.4 and can't wait to get it. Go Prime!!!

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I've used multiple copies of this lens and the 50/1.4. If you're on a severe budget with a crop body and want to take portraits, buy it. If not, buy the 50/1.4 or 85/1.8.

Let's start with the good. This is a super-simple lens design. It's very sharp corner-to-corner after f/4. It's sharp at f/2.8, decent at f/2, and a little soft at f/1.8. Contrast is high. Flare and other aberrations are minimal after f/2.8. Every zoom under $1000 is worse.

It's durable. The front element is recessed, so you don't need a protective filter or a hood. It's plastic with mostly plastic components. When you drop it, it bounces or falls apart, but rarely breaks. It's trivially easy to take apart and put back together. The build tolerances are lax, but it has few elements and the design doesn't require that much precision anyway. It doesn't weigh anything. The mount is plastic to no consequence.

The focus throw is extremely short. Manual focus for video or otherwise is a trial-and-error affair. There's no focus damping. Autofocus is relatively quick. It makes a brief micro-motor noise that no one will find offensive. AF accuracy is hit or miss. The mechanism isn't physically capable of fine differentiations, so you're likely to be a little off at f/2. Micro-focus adjustment is a waste of time unless there's a gross deviation in the base calibration. Most people will find that it focuses well enough.

A point of technique: depth of field is very shallow at f/2 and below. Focus and recompose, where you focus with the center point and then shift your view before you take the picture, will ensure slightly out-of-focus pictures. You need to select the correct focus point for your composition. The 10D-50D, 7D, and 5D series all have a joystick to make this easier, though the lack of outer cross points on the 5D and 5D II may negate the benefit.

Compared to the 50/1.8 Mark I? The older version has a metal mount, larger focus ring, and a distance scale you'll never use. The optics are the same, as is the focus mechanism. I wouldn't buy one. They sell for 50% more and were made from 1987 to 1990, so any copy has been around for literally decades. Spare parts are uncommon if it breaks.

Compared to the 50/1.4? That lens is optically better below f/2.8, focuses quieter, and is capable of marginally higher AF accuracy. It's also less durable and f/1.4 has a gauzy, low-contrast look that's best suited to portraits.

Compared to the 85/1.8? The 50/1.8 is worse at everything but weight. AF speed and accuracy is enormously better on the latter. I harp on AF in all of my lens reviews because modern DSLRs and DSLR lenses don't have the right focusing screens or focus throw for manual adjustment. You're likely to be SOL if the lens can't hit a mark without assistance.

Handling issues aside, this 50/1.8 is the peak of the Canon value equation. No other EF lens under $300 will provide such a dramatic leap in image quality and subject isolation relative to the kit lens. If the focal length is appealing, by all means buy one.

EDIT: This is a 'gray market' lens. It's identical to the USA version with the same accessories, but Canon may not honor the 1-year warranty. They probably will if you can provide an invoice from an authorized reseller (e.g., Amazon, BH Photo). For this lens, the difference amounts to $10. I would buy the USA version.