Customer Reviews:
 Fantastic lens, but not without its quirks. June 21, 2004
Theodore Littleton (Millburn, NJ United States)
46 out of 49 found this review helpful
This lens will give you a half-stop above the f1.8 version, as well as a metal mount, somewhat more solid construction, full-time manual focusing, and a distance scale. The color and sharpness are excellent and, as tests available on the web reveal, beat the f1.8 version, particularly at the corners.
The lens is somewhat soft wide open, though you do get the use of f1.4, which will get you shots you might otherwise miss. It does well at f2, but needs to be stopped down a minimum of two stops (to f2.8) before its true sharpness is revealed. By f4-5.6 it's blindingly sharp, enough to serve as a measure for all other lenses.
This lens does not use a true USM ring motor, instead using a slightly noisier, slower, and less accurate micro motor with a full-time manual clutch. People with 10Ds (such as myself) have reported focus problems, and mine seems to miss focus under certain conditions more often than my more solidly constructed lenses. Apparently, 1-series cameras with superior focus systems work much more pleasingly with the 50/1.4.
Despite these issues, the 50/1.4 is an excellent lens. On a camera with a 1.6x crop factor (10D, D60), this makes a wonderful portrait lens. One just needs to keep these quirks in mind.
An Essential Lens December 19, 2005
Max Pruden (Santa Clara, CA USA)
39 out of 41 found this review helpful
There are some excellent reviews of this lens already posted, but in my opinion, this lens is quite simply an essential lens for any film or digital photographer using Canon bodies. Here are some specific observations, in no particular order.
* It provides fantastic crispness and the fastest focus I've ever seen. On subjects where my zooms tend to hunt, this lens is instantaneous. I also like the full-time manual ring, because there are times when it's handy to change focus slightly.
* I completely disagree with the reviewer who said this lens wasn't contrasty. I tend to shoot in a range of environments, from dingy school auditoriums for my niece's basketball team to bright sunlight at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and this lens has reliably given me 30-40% keepers every time I've taken it out of the bag. Colors are punchy, and there's very consistent contrast across the frame without any noticeable distortion.
* It's small enough to go anywhere, but as one reviewer mentioned, it feels good in the hand, so it's not fumbly. I didn't like the lighter plasticky feel of the f/1.8.
* The lens ring is 58mm, which means filters are inexpensive - I recommend a circular polarizing filter for any outdoor shooting.
* I agree that this lens is unbelievably crisp at f/4.0 and higher, but for some subjects I like the blade-thin shallow DOF at f/2.0 and less. Just gotta remember to keep your group pictures within a fairly shallow range. :-)
* The crispness of this lens worked beautifully with black and white photography, and for converting color to BW. Because of the extra stop, it brought out beautiful texture at ISO 100 without requiring that I go with a higher ISO, which would have introduced some grain.
If you're consdering a 50mm prime for your Canon, I recommend that you go to a good camera store, which should offer rentals. Take this lens out and do some real-world shooting. The f/1.8 is a toy in comparison, and anyone who says they would choose it instead of the f/1.4, at any price, is simply not credible.
I take my pictures because I want an excellent representation of what I saw. I don't always have the luxury of retaking them: I need the best possible shot the first time and every time. The 50mm f/1.4 is the best of these two lenses, and one of the best three lenses I own (I also own the 17-40mm f/4L and the 70-200mm f/4L).
Excellent lens for portraits and wide-field astrophotography December 8, 2004
Richard B. Williams (Los Alamos, NM USA)
37 out of 38 found this review helpful
I'll start by reiterating what other reviewers have said. This lens is amazingly sharp and one of the fastest focal ratios in the Canon lens lineup. Its metal mount and rugged construction make it well worth the added expense when compared to the f/1.8 version. The effective 80mm focal length on D10, D20, and 300D cameras make it the perfect portraiture lens for people not willing to shell out for an old 50mm f/1.0L ($$$!).
I do a fair amount of astrophotography and this is truly the test of optical quality for a lens. Trying to resolve point sources of light on a black background will truly bring out any aberration and coma that are present. With this in mind, I tested this lens on a star field and looked at stars in the corners of the frame while stepping up the focal ratio from f/1.4 to f/5.6 and found that it is more or less fully sharp by f/2.8. Many lenses I use for astrophotography only get as fast as f/2.8 and I have to step them all the way down to f/5.6 to get rid of the aberration. This lens can operate extremely fast and still be optically wonderful. Most terrestrial photography won't need to worry about this, but you can rest assureed that your photos will be sharp as tacks from f/2.8 on up.
 Choosing a "standard" lens October 30, 2006
G. Clark (Houston, Texas USA)
36 out of 39 found this review helpful
When I worked as a photojournalist many years ago, 50mm was the "standard" lens in that it came closest to a real world perspective, especially for street photography. That is no longer always true because of the field-of-view crop of many cameras. Canon's popular digital Rebel and its successors, for example, have a 1.6X view that turns a 50mm lens into an 80mm lens. The 1D MARK II has a 1.3X view that makes it a 65mm lens.
So, if you're looking for a standard lens today, 35mm probably is closer to the mark on those cameras. And Canon has a couple of options there - a 35 f/1.4 that is great and expensive and a 35 f/2 that is a good value at about $250.
If you're still looking for a 50mm, however, there now are four options from Canon: 50/1.2, 50/1.4, 50/1.8 and 50/2.5. Here are the pros and cons of each:
50/1.2 is the newest, fastest and the most expensive at about $1,600. It is an "L" lens, which means it is more durably constructed than any of the others. The image quality is a cut above all of the others, especially at wider apertures. If money is no object, you'll probably want this one. But most of the rest of us have to ask the question whether it's 5X better than the 1.4.
50/1.4 is maligned by some for the softness of its images at f/1.4, but for me its a good, compact, low-light lens at a terrific price ($325). And the lens gets sharp quickly as you stop it down. It's sharp at f/2 and very sharp by f/2.8 with good contrast and colors.
50/1.8 is a step down from the 1.4 in speed, image quality, build quality and the smoothness and noise of its autofocus. But it is a big step up in value - a decent lens for about $80. If you're just getting into digital photography, this is a great lens to learn on until you get a better feel for the lenses that you want/need.
50/2.5 - this is a macro lens, although you can use it for general photography, too. I wouldn't recommend it. If you're doing macro photography, spend a little more for the 100/2.8, which is a sharper lens that gives you more subject distance. If you're looking for a standard lens, you'll appreciate the wider aperture of the 1.4.
All that said, of the 50mm Canon lenses, I think the 50/1.4 still offers the best mix of image quality and value.
If you're going for that professional look... September 13, 2005
Glen C. (San Francisco, CA USA)
32 out of 34 found this review helpful
...then look no further than the 1.4 50mm lens.
Superb for low light conditions (without flash), the 50mm is known as a "fast" lens. What few know is that this speed comes at a trade-off. At 1.4 aperture, the depth of field (DOF) is very shallow. When focusing up close, a noticeable bokeh (lens blur) can be achieved between 2 inches of focus. This is great for blurring out backgrounds, but if you're not careful, you may focus on a nose and end up with blurry eyes.
For those who shoot with a Canon DSLR other than the 5D or 1D (35mm sensor), the focal length for this lens is really more like 80mm (50mm x 1.6 crop factor) which makes it the perfect portrait focal length.
If you're looking for a perfect portrait lens, you can't go wrong with the 1.4. For those who are money conscious, the 50mm 1.8 may be a better alternative. Some argue that aperture between 1.4 and 1.8 is not practical and favor the 1.8 for price.
The build quality on the 1.4 is better than the 1.8, but not as good as an L series lens. If you're willing to spend a few hundred more for better build quality and the extra speed, you need look no further for a lens which is destined to spend a good deal of time on your camera body.
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