Good quality, very sharp, cheap,easy to cary.

little bet slow focusing,

No need to pay more to buy Canon 50mm 1.4 or 1.0. This is good enough. This lens help me take a lot of photos.

Similar Products Used:

nikon 50mm 1.8
canon 75-300mm

Lightweight
Fast
non-rotating front element

Lightweight :)
feels cheap

I got this as the first lens for my new Elan 7e. My purchase was largely based on the reviews here and on other sites/newsgroups.

I've shot two rolls with this lens and the results are amazing (for me anyway). While I'm a novice in this hobby, I can tell you that these are by far the best pictures I have ever taken. I really like this lens so far.

This lens is a great first lens. While I'll eventually get a zoom, I'm glad I got this lens first. Indoor and outdoor pictures have turned out great. I don't have a hood, but I've not seen any flare. Probably because the element is set fairly deep in the lens.

If you get this from Adorama and order a filter, be sure they realize you need a 52mm filter. They sent me a 58. I imagine this is because the other Canon 50mm primes use the 58mm filters. I just kept it (I'll need it someday) and picked up the correct one locally.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

n/a

- Cheap
- Sharp
- Nice and natural color contrast
- Reasonable focusing speed
- Very light

- No DOF scale
- Plastic Mount
- No real manual focus ring
- 5 aperture blades only

This is one nice little lens to start with. Very cheap but very sharp with true color contrast. Plastic mount is probably a turn-off for some of you. However, if you don't need to take the lens out a lot, that won't be a big problem.

The major concern for me is lacking the distance and DOF scale. Calculating hyperfocal distance can be difficult.

Overall, it's a very good performer, especially when performace-price ratio is concerned. For less than $90, you can't go wrong with this lens.

Customer Service

Never used

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 50mm f1.4

light weight, outstantding optical quality, sharp.

Plastic mount.

I bought this lense as used one. Even though the lense mount is plastic, but it's a good prime lense at its price. I shot one role outdoor last weekend. It's impressed. I got nice pictures with good color constrast and sharp image. You can't go wrong with this lense as a beginer.

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None

Very sharp
Very good color replication

Cheapest feeling lens I have ever seen.
No focus or DOF info on lens body

An awesome value, but you must be very careful when handling the lens. It feels like it could fall apart at any moment.

Customer Service

Not needed

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Sigma 28-70 2.8-4

Incredibly sharp.
Small, lightweight.
Very fast.

None so far

I love this lens!! Very small, fast and SHARP!! At this price, you won't find a better lens. Buy it, you won't regret it.

Customer Service

Haven't used.

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None

PHENOMENAL optics
Excellent color balance
Cheap
Lightweight

No DOF of focal distance information (so what)

Not exactly rugged

This is an AWESOME lens. IF you own an EOS camera and don't own a prime lens, you REALLY should go and buy this one.

For $80 - $90, you get a lens with optics that other manufacturers can't touch at 4x the price. Optically, this lens seems the same as the f1.4 (in test shoots with a friend that has the 1.4) at 1/5 to 1/4 the price. There ARE subtle differences, as you might guess. But for most of the pictures we compared, they are the same, under the same conditions on the same cameras. I won't discuss the L lens here, as that lens is really in another league.

OK, so what does the extra cost on the f1.4 get you?

Well, one extra stop for one. It doesn't seem like much, but it IS a big deal.

You get DOF and focal distance information of the f1.4, which you won't get on the f1.8.

The f1.4 has a USM motor, which this lens does not. What this means is, this lens will be louder and slightly slower than the f1.4. Unless you are taking pictures of wildlife in the woods, this shouldn't be a big deal. Even still, you could always focus manually.

The f1.4 is MUCH more solidly constructed. The f1.8 is plastic, and isn't exactly a lens you'd take out to photograph a war with. Still, at $80 - $90, if you break it, you can toss it. Will this lens be more susceptible to debris like dust? You bet. But remember, this is a $90 lens.

You will experience less flare with the f1.4 than the f1.8. Not a huge difference, but enough. Whether this is worth $350 to you, I can't say.

What I do know is, that this lens is a STEAL at this price. Unless you are used to super high-end lenses, this lens will blow you away. I have owned many primes at many times the price of this lens that can't touch this guy optically. No, not as rugged as the 1.4, and yes, the 1.4 does outperform this guy at times. But not by much, I assure you.

Buy it.

Questions? E-mail me.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Contax Planar T* 50mm
Varios Pentax lenses
Tamaron 28-105 f4/5.6

Exceptionally sharp!
Light!
Value for money!
Excellent colour balance!

None

This is the ULTIMATE standard prime lens for everyone. For the price, you'll get more than you could ever ask for. The pictures produced are extremely sharp and colour balance is very good.

The 1.4 version is 5 times the price but the quality is not 5 times better. The 1.8 locks into focus very fast although it's a bit noisier. Who cares? As long as the pictures are good and it's comfortable to use. Plasticky? Not tough? Try dropping those metal ones and this lens together onto a rock. Let's see whether any will survive.

If you're going for a standard prime lens, think no more and go get the 50mm 1.8. Believe me, you'll never regret it. It's 1.4 brother is not much better.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Sharp!
Fast!
Lightweight
Inexpensive

Construction leaves a bit to be desired, but I don't forsee having any problems.

Noisy AF motor

This lens delivers incredibly sharp results. You really can't go wrong with it.

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28-90mm 4-5.6

fast and cheap, period

although not durable "feeling", mine has been just fine. I rarely use it outdoors, so it's been babied for the most part.

Most of my shooting is outdoors so I don't want to spend the bucks on flash equip for the indoor stuff that happens once or twice a year (Christmas morning, turkey day, b-days, etc).

With the 1.8, I've got handheld, no-flash, indoor grab shots to my heart's content. If you bought a kit with the 35-80 or 28-80, do yourself a big favor and get this lens for your indoor stuff. It will keep you much happier and you will throw away fewer slides/prints.

Is it the perfect lens? No, but I didn't PAY for the perfect lens either....this is an excellent value. get it.
email? delete the x

Customer Service

never needed, the cost of replacing it says it is a tossaway unfortunately

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(this is my only prime)