f/1.4
USM
DOF window
Metal mount

Price.

This lens gives you a psychological superiority over the f/1.8. It creates confidence in you. And from that confidence, it draws you to push yourself to be a thinking photographer. Working with this lens is a commitment to the art and science of photography.

Customer Service

No need.

Similar Products Used:

EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II

* sharp and fast!
* well-constructed....feels like it will put up with a lot of abuse, which means it will definitely last forever
* I like the feel and weight and the reaction of this lens. Its hard to take it off my camera, because the 1.4 just opens up a whole new world.

* price....but with the other options out there (50 1.8 at $80 and 50 1.0 at too much), this is the best for the money. the 50 1.8 is too cheap and wont last, while the 50 1.0 is just completely out of my price range.

Love it! I feel confident having this lens on any body....it is fast and reactive to dark light situations, well-protected and very versatile.

Customer Service

* never needed it

Similar Products Used:

None

SHARP, FAST and SHARP!!! And what more do you want from a lens that delivers L series quality for a low price?

Let's not get too picky hear!

Thinking of buying the 50mm 1.8? Well if you're picky, this is satisfaction guaranteed.If you're all about prestige, then waste about AU$5000 on the 50mm f/1.0, and you'll be right. If you're really picky, then the 50mm f1.4 USM is satisfaction assured, guaranteed and better than perfection. A great lens for a great perspective! This is hard to take off the camera. This may seem a lot to pay for a 50mm lens, and expensive compared to the 50mm f/1.8, but you'll love this baby forever.

Similar Products Used:

EF 50mm f/1.8II
EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM
EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM
EF 20-35 f3.5-4.5 USM

Razor-sharp, fast, well-built, has FTM.

None

The most logical choice for a standard lens; slightly sharper than the 50/1.8, but better built and with USM and full-time manual.

I've never used the 50/1.0L, but it seems to me that because of the cost and weight/size that it wouldn't be worth it unless you have a specific need for the speed.

Anyway, this is a great lens; top-notch optical quality in a durable, long-lasting package.

Customer Service

No need so far

Similar Products Used:

50/1.8, 24/2.8, 28-80 4.5-5.6, Sigma 105/2.8 macro

Very fast lens. Light weight. Extremely clear pictures.

I sometimes have trouble focusing with the eye controlled focus on my A2e with this particular lens. I haven't figured out why yet.

I really do not use the 1.4 (wide open) very often because of the very small resulting DOF. However, it has helped me out in some very low light situations. The clarity of my subjects are really accentuated with the pleasant background blur on this lens. This contrast has a different quality from the same effect I get with my other lenses.

Perhaps the 1.8 would have been sufficient for my needs. However, I was able to get this lens as a "bargain" from KEH and I do tend to shoot in low light/available light situations frequently.

I have not used this focal length a lot in concerts because it forces me to get too close to the subjects to islolate them. However, it seems to be a wonderful length elsewhere, like family photos and outdoor shots. I would recommend this lens more strongly if I did not have the problems with the autofocus (eye-control focus) that I mentioned. This problem seems to be isolated since I have not seen any complaints about this isue in other reviews (photo.net; tanchung.com) When I do not have any problems with the autofocus, which happens only occasionaly, the lens is a 5+. Considering that one can get the 1.8, (which is less than a 1/2 stop slower for a lot cheaper), I cannot give it a value rating of a 5. However, if you need speed and can appreciate the quality difference, it is worth the money.

Similar Products Used:

EF 20mm 2.8, EF100 2, 80-200 2.8L, 28-105 3.5-4.5

Extremely sharp, extremely fast (large aperture), easy to manually focus in dim light. It gives the photographer a great deal of creative control.

None

If you ask yourself, "Why would anybody pay $300 for a 50mm lens, when they could get a 28-200mm zoom instead?" here's the answer:
1) it can be used in virtual darkness and still be used hand held. It is a must for available light photography.
2) it has a shallow depth of field that can be used in any lighting condition for creative effect. It is possible to selectively blur out a background, either because it is ugly, or because you want to soften the scene while maintaining subject sharpness.
3) you can achieve an almost 3D effect with this lens because it is optically superb and because of the depth of field control you have with it. This can result in stunning compositions and great emotional impact from your images.
4) it is light and can be mounted on your camera all the time without drawing too much attention to yourself.
5) it makes you think about the image. Not only the composition, but also about the foreground, background relationship. You have a great deal of control of how you want the final picture to communicate your "vision."
6) it allows you to make full use of your camera's modes and functions. You find yourself saying to yourself, "I should stop the lens down another half a stop, and maybe bump the exposure a stop to highlight the scene, and then maybe move in closer to crop it up a bit." With a zoom, you dial in the scene, put the camera in P mode and shoot. You will get a decent picture this way, but not necessarily the one you "see" when you line up the camera.
I highly recommend a lens of this sort (50mm 1.4) for any camera owner, no matter what brand. The 50mm 1.4, whether Nikon, Canon, Pentax or Minolta, is optically the best lens that most people can afford. I can tell the difference in my prints and you will too. It is worth $300, and has replaced my 28-135 IS zoom (a good lens in its own right) as my day in, day out lens of choice.

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

50 1.8, many zooms

Very fast, clear,crisp,great color,light.

non found

A must have given the proper use it could compare to a good medium format with time and care.
I do miss the solid feel of metal.

Customer Service

non needed

Similar Products Used:

50 1.2 scc 135 scc 28 2.8 70-200 most lens for the AE1

Razor-sharp, super fast...

non

Super lens! Not cheap, but very high quality.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

50 1.8...

Very sharp, fast lens with nice controls

can't find any yet

This is a must have lens if you are needing 1 lens to take care of the lowest light, and don't want to afford the 1.0, which would be my preference someday.

Customer Service

always good

Similar Products Used:

28-70 f2.8
70-200 f2.8
85mm f1.8
28-105 3.5-4.5

Extremely sharp and contrasty; allows for a good degree of control of depth of field; excellent low light capabilities, making it ideal for environmental portraiture and indoor photography; relatively small and lightweight when compared to zoom lenses coming within 50mm range; good construction - handles in a very nice manner; good lens shade design with bayonet system, far better than clip system as found on 85 f/1.8.

Lens shade is very expensive (considering that it is essentially a piece of plastic);

I use this lens mainly for portraiture, when I need to include more of the environment around a subject - and for this it is very good. I enjoy the fact that I can use this lens in low light, usually coupled with 400 ISO b+w film - it allows for many photographs which one would never consider with slower lenses of the sort. The fact that this lens is small is wonderful for portrait photography - it attracts far less attention than other high quality lenses. I like this lens - gives me a lot of freedom.

Customer Service

Unless you're going through the Canon Professional Service, it can be very slow, and unsatisfactory (for Switzerland).

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 50 f/1.8; Canon FD 50 f/1.4; Zorky Jupiter 50 f/2; Zeiss Jena 50 f/2