The Cheapest Canon Prime Lens
When we speak of lenses of legendary status, we usually refer to rare and/or expensive lenses that has come and gone throughout the years. Rarely can we find a lens that’ll give us great images that we’re willing to buy without giving up a year’s worth of gas money. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mark II will not only give you great images, it also cost less than half a week’s worth of gas money! Now that’s legendary in my book.
From Canon Specifications:
Features
* Diagonal Angle of View: 46°
* Lens Construction (elements/groups): 6/5
* No. of Diaphragm blades: 5
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* Minimum Aperture: 22
* Closest Focusing Distance (m): 0.45
* Maximum Magnification (x): 0.15
* AF Actuator: MM
* Filter Diameter (mm): 52
Compact and high-performance, standard lens
This is the lightest EF lens of all at a mere 130g. Compact and high-performance, standard lens. Its Gaussian optics provide sharp delineation from near to far focusing distances. The color balance is excellent for a standard lens.
Before we begin, I have to remind you to be reasonable, be logical. There’s no reason to complain about the build quality, focus speed/noise, or comparing it to pro-grade lenses when you’re probably paying more for a UV filter than this lens. If you have the money to buy higher-end lenses, you shouldn’t even be looking at this lens in the first place.
But if you’re a budget conscious photographer or a light-packing traveler, the EF 50mm f/1.8 Mark II offers more than what the price tag suggests.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first.
Build Quality
The lens is made of plastic all-over, including most of the inner part of the lens. With only the glass, inner barrel and electrical contacts as main non-plastic parts, the lens is light, but doesn’t have the solidity that metal screw joined pieces. The seam between the focus ring and the barrel tends to be the first to give as it is merely pressure fitted. The lens mount is completely plastic, but with the lens’ light weight, it’s hardly an issue.
Image by RJ Evaristo
The manual focus ring is hardly usable, it’s so thin, you probably won’t even know there is a manual focus ring.
My copy has a tiny bubble within the glass as well (bright white spec in the photo below), nothing that affects the photographs, but annoying to look at as well. This is clearly a manufacturing defect when the glass itself is being made, it’s the first time I’ve seen such a defect from my lens experience (from old manual lenses to current AF ones).
I could’ve asked Canon to replace it, but since it didn’t affect my images, I didn’t bother.
Color and Contrast
I’m not sure what sort of lens design dictates this, but when shot at wider apertures, the images EF 50mm f/1.8 II has noticeably less “popping” colors and contrast than more complex lenses. My guess is from less-optimized lens coatings, but I’m just guessing.
You’ll find yourself adding contrast a little more, whether in-cam or during post-process. Nothing serious though, with negative film it’s not as apparent, but with digital, it’s a little more obvious compared to other lenses from Canon.
Rough “[tag]Bokeh[/tag]” or Out-of-Focus Quality
With it’s 5-aperture blade design, out-of-focus elements are rendered as pentagonal shapes rather than round blobs. This isn’t really a big deal, but for large-aperture lenses, smooth bokeh is often considered a characteristic that a lens has to provide. With a simplistic 5-blade design, it may not provide pleasing OOF appeal for some users.
For me, that’s about it. The strengths of this lens far outweighs those three factors above.
The lens’ optical strength is clearly about sharpness. This lens is incredibly sharp, sharper than some of the more popular professional L zoom lenses that Canon offers.
Optimally, the lens should be stopped down to f/2.8 or so for absolute sharpness, but even at f/1.8, it is more than acceptable. If there’s a price-to-sharpness table, no other auto-focus can beat this lens regardless of brand and era.
At f/1.8, it is a nice low-light photography. You’ll sacrifice depth-of-field by quite a bit since you’ll be using the lens’ widest aperture, but the ability to shoot without flash while utilizing a reasonably fast shutter speed is something most new photographers need to experience to appreciate fast lenses.
The lens is incredibly small and light, as mentioned previously. The lens is so light that it can barely be called as a 2nd lens. I usually just pocket this lens when I’m carrying another lens.
I don’t know if I’m just lucky, but I’ve never been a guy who handles things gingerly. I have little regard for preserving cosmetic conditions on my camera gears and the EF 50mm f/1.8 II never received any special treatment for its supposed poor build quality. In fact, this is the most frequent lens that my 4-year-old son and my 9-year-old niece use when they use my film or digital SLR.
I’ve knocked this lens off the pavement and walls, stored it in plastic bags when I travel, use it in the rain, use it for macro photography etc. Oh, I don’t use a filter on this lens as well unless I’m shooting in the rain. My 50mm has been with me for almost two years now, it’s still fine. I guess lenses last longer when used than being stored in a dry cabinet.
The best purpose of this lens is for portraits. On a crop sensor camera, the effective focal length would be around 80mm, which is about perfect for head-and-shoulder portraits. The ability to throw the background out-of-focus while selectively focusing on the subject’s eye will make your subject’s portraits pop off the print. On a 35mm full-frame, this lens will provide you the classic “normal” field-of-view that is flexible enough for street photography and casual portraits alike.
Did I mention the lens is cheap? I got my copy for P3,500 (US$80, SG$110) from Canon Philippines two years ago. I’ve committed myself to use the lens exclusively for almost a year. The images I got in those 10+ months were not only priceless, but also made me appreciate photography so much more, as I’ve mentioned in my previous article. Those aspects alone are worth so much more than the lens itself. There’s virtually zero-guilt when you buy this lens, and as soon as you’ve taken your first decent photo with it, you’ve already recouped your purchase.
Why not buy one from Amazon now? They have a great deal going right now for this Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens.
Whether or not you need this lens, I still strongly suggest you buy one. Not only is it a wonderful value, it will also open your eyes to what prime lenses offer, how prime lenses can fast-track your skills in photography composition, and set a great benchmark of what kind of image a good lens should deliver when you have the chance to invest on more expensive lens. Take a look at the gallery.
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About David L. Tong
Thanks a lot for your information. I am thinking to buy a CPL filter for my 50mm lens. Do you have any recommendation? Have you heard about CITIWIDE brand filter? It sells quite cheap in ebay. A full set kit with 1 UV filter, 1 CPL, 1 ND2, 1 ND4, 1ND8, and 1 SOFT FILTER. It only sells AU$ 24.75. Do you think is it worth to buy? Or shall i go for other brand?
Thanks
Hi again Wai Kit,
What are you going to use the CPL for in the first place? I\’ve bought 3 cheapo CPLs for my 50mm in the past and they\’re all pretty useless to be honest. With CPLs, you pretty much have to buy a good one up front, luckily, the small 52mm ones aren\’t that expensive even if you get good brands.
However, I would suggest that you consider buying a larger one instead. Do you also have a kit lens? If so, get an 58mm CPL instead and just buy a 58mm-to-52mm step-down adapter instead so you can use one filter for both lenses.
Dave
Thanks for your info. I plan to capture the landscape photo, like the fish swimming under the water. I thought i am able to find a cheap and good filter.. Haha.. BTW, i am using Nikon D90 with kit lens 18-105mm. The mount would be 67mm. So do it have 67-52mm step down adapter? so that the filter could be use. For the beginner like me, is that necessary to buy the filter or have to wait until i really need to use it. What do you think about it?
Oh dear, I thought you\’re using a Canon that\’s why I directed you to this page. Nonetheless, it doesn\’t really matter what brand you choose, the principles are the same.
For 67mm, you\’ll need a 52-58mm step-up ring, then another 58-67mm step-up ring. They shouldn\’t cost more than 25 ringgit each.
As for filters for the 50mm, I honestly wouldn\’t bother unless you\’re really shooting something specific. For landscapes and such, a CPL and ND grad filter would be ideal, but make sure you\’re actually shooting enough to warrant buying them, otherwise, they\’ll just collect dust.
Thanks for replying. I am planning to capture the landscape using CPL. I thought i could have a good fortune to find such a nice and cheap lens. Haha. BTW, I am using Nikon D90 with 18-105 kits lens. You would recommend me to buy a 67mm CPL and a step down adapter right? Will it affect the quality, I mean using the step down adapter?
Thanks
The step down adapters are just threaded rings, imagine your UV filter without the glass, it won\’t affect image quality at all…
Also, if you\’re concerned about IQ, then don\’t buy cheap filters :D
Hi there new to the form great little lens used it on s wedding shoot caught the bride and groom. In a barn perfect sun lit coming in from the Windows worked a treat out done my some of me other lensis I will say this as for advise don't be shy with it some nice surprises come out with this lens even for the pride you pay marc
All EF lenses work on Canon bodies. :)
can i use it for canon 450d ??
Eric: Yes it will, any EF-mount Canon lens will work on any Canon SLR/DSLR.
There's really no "correct" settings on any lens, but the lens is sharpest at around f/2.8 or so. You might want to refer to the prime lens article here > http://iphotocourse.com/?p=802
hi david, am planing to buy this lens..can i ask if it will work with my canon eos 400d? if yes, what should be the correct settings in order for me to get the best out of it.. am a newbie when it comes to photog and using dslr..started reading from your site for a week now and i have learned a lot, just have to practice them this weekend..hope to get an answer from my queries..thanks and more power…
Your more than welcome David :) So far i'm enjoying the lens. it works great both in the studio and in natural settings :) its a great buy for the cost
Hi Kelly, thanks for dropping by. Totally agree with you :)
As a proffesional I was looking for a relatively cheap yet good back up lens. I owned this lens for two days now and am already very impressed with the clarity, crispness and detail that this little lens produces. It works wonderfully for portraits, macro's and standard landscape shots. the DOF is great for its size. it does feel a little cheap in construction but I am very happy that i have added this lens to my kit! Its small enough that even my daughter isn't afraid to use it. the Focus is a little slower than i am accustomed to and it is slightly noisier than my other lens.
this lens is cheap, nasty, built badly, noisy to focus BUT is cheap and takes some cracking pictures. in my opinion it is the best upgrade from the kit lens out there. in fact this should be the kit lens!
Nice to hear you got your first prime… :) Enjoy shooting with it :)
Hi David,
I recently got this lens as a gift from the wife. All I can say is it’s one heck of a lens. Sharp, light and compact. Now, I find it easier to bring my camera with me. Like you, I have a kid that I enjoy taking pictures of. Your flickr project of consisting of daily shots of your kid is an inspiration.
Hi Third, yes, that 3 lens combo is affordable and highly effective for most users, not to mention light enough to actually for users to carry and use daily :)
Hi David,
I’m a great fan of your articles. I agree that this lens gives you the best that you can expect for its price. I only have 3 lenses for my EOS 450D, efs 50-250mm IS, 18-55mm IS (kit lens) and this ef 50mm f1.8. I’m also a hobbyist and I think these lenses are just what I need (maybe for now, LOL). Nifty-fifty. :)
Hi Ellery:
Well, it’s still a lens so the same principle of aperture vs DOF issues apply. if you need more depth of field, just stop down to an appropriate f/stop, if you want less DOF, use it at f/2.8 or larger.
Hi David. I just got one yesterday. I’m just a hobbyist and would like to make the most out of this lens. And you’re right, I can’t seem to find the manual focus ring. How do I utilize this and what would be a good setting for landscapes and outdoors? Thanks.
I just bought the Nikon 50mm F1.8. On my D70S, I realise the best settings when taking portrait are setting to spot metering, F1.8 or F2.8. AF sometimes fails to lock quickly on the target especially in low light conditions. But so far I am happy with it because 50mm is really sharp for portraits irregardless it is a Nikon or Canon.
XingJian: That's really low hit rate, can you post links to your OOF samples? What AF mode are you using? While the focus is slow, my old camera only struggles with focus on moving subjects (towards the camera) in AI Servo mode, in normal shooting, AF is pretty accurate as evident with my photos.
Thanks for the very good review. I love this lens but have been very frustrated with the AF performance.
I know the very thin DOF at 1.8 or thereabouts is not easy, but it often locks focus on the the wrong subject in poor light.
I’ve tried to select the central AF point and recompose, but still get about 40-50% AF accuracy. That said, this little beauty is definitely the best bang-for-buck lens. I can’t complain too much for what I’ve paid for it!
I agree with you… It’d benefit a lot of newbies to get started with a reasonably fast prime instead of a mediocre zoom lens :)