Sharp, cheap, fast, compact, light.
Sounds like a dream.

OK, I prefer the mark I to the mark II. But really it's not that important. The people looking at your portfolio won't know the difference !

Let's get real. This is Canon's cheapest lens- it's sharp AND fast. End of story. Since when does a heavy lens improve image qulity- never. Since when does price alone improve image quality- never ( especially in zooms ).
If you throw one of these babies onto a aps-C size sensor DSLR, like the XTI or 40D you have a very useful low-light event & portrait lens.
I used mine at a CD release concert & took some great, sharp pictures under very low-light. My 17mm to 85mm IS zoom wasn't fast enough to stop blur. Old faithful saved the day. Some of those shots are now in my portfolio.
If you don't own one of these lenses you are probably missing the point of all this gear reviewing anyway. ( isn't the point to find good, solid tools at a reasonable price ?)
This lens is the best bargain for any Canon shooter at the moment. Buy a used one & enjoy.

Customer Service

Don't know.

Similar Products Used:

Canon AF zooms, manual focus Canons & Pentax SLRs & some rangefinders including Leica.

Image quality
Aperture
Price

Bokeh looks coarse and uneven
Build quality is very poor (but it works !!)

Bought one on the strength of the many good reviews on this forum. Loved it- great pictures, sharp sharp sharp and amazing low light ability. Then it got hit by a kids football (one of the REALLY light thin walled plastic ones) kicked by a child and it burst into bits - utterly beyond repair. That It fell apart so spectacularly with such trivial trauma was actually funny.

I pondered a bit about getting another. There is really something very cool about being able to get high quality images out of a lens that feels like a child's toy. Eventually bought the 1.4 USM version My version is acually even better than te 1.8 mk2 although not everyone seems to have that experience.

Customer Service

We were WAYbeyond customer service

Similar Products Used:

Canon 50mm f1.4 USM

Bargain price, sharp image quality, bokeh possibilities, extremely light-weight.

Build, build, build (!); AF sometimes hunts in low-light.

I bought the 50 1.8 MKII because I wanted to learn about low-light lenses. It was continuously recommended for its price tag and the quality of its image. This lens does not disappoint in either category. Not only does it open possibilities to learn about DOF and the creation of rich Bokeh images, but also -----when stopped down to 5.6---- produces extremely sharp images from corner to corner. It is ideal for portraits as well as low-light situations, specially given that it compares favorably with much more expensive alternatives.


The only serious fault is the plastic build which makes you wonder whether it will survive even the shortest of falls. This is the reason I sold my MKII (plastic version) and was lucky enough to find a used MKI (metal mount) in mint condition which cost me a bit more, but guarantees years of creative fun. If you can get hold of a well-kept MKI (mine is actually 18 years old, but in amazing condition), then you should go for that one. If you can’t get hold of one, the MKII is still the greatest Canon value around. You will not regret it.

Superb image quality
Price
Price
Price

At this price? You must be joking!

How anyone can possibly criticise this lens is beyond me. For the money it costs it is simply sensational! Image quality is stunning. Beautiful fast f1.8 aperture. Good AF. No need for USM on a lens of this focal length anyway.

Yes, it has a plastic lens mount... so what? Has anyone ever worn out a plastic lens mount? Not me! Better to wear out the mount on a £75 lens than a £1000 camera.

The build quality isn't as good as the pro lenses. So what? What do you expect? The build quality is easily good enough and the lens won't break unless you abuse it.

Some people dislike the the small focusing ring. But... if you use manual focus then buy a manual focus SLR. That's what AF is for... use it... it's good!

If you have any Canon EOS camera you should own this lens.
If you really want a metal lens mount and want a DOF scale then source a used Mk1 example of the same lens on eBay.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF Mk1 50mm f1.8
Olympus 50mm f1.4 MF
Pentax 50mm f1.7 MF

Light, compact lens.
Great for low light situations.
Very sharp.
Great for portraits.
Great price.

None!

I cannot praise this lens enough!!!
If you don't own one buy one now! Do not be put off by the price.
This lens very rarely leaves my camera and is fantastic for portraits.
Feel free to take a look through my gallery. It's full of photographs taken using this lens with my 350D.

Fast f1.8
Light weight
Small size
Very sharp

Slow to focus
Noisy focus
Sticky AF switch
Build quality (but what did you expect)

I've been wanting this lens for a long time now, and when a used version came up for sale, I couldn't pass it up. The lens is pretty much what I expected. It's very sharp, very small, and very light. All good things when you want to go light for a hike. The f1.8 is great, and the optics are spectacular considering the price of this lens. Yes the build quality feels cheap, but what do you expect from a lens of this price? Put this lens on a DSLR with a 1.6 crop factor and it becomes a great 80mm portrait lens. The f/1.8 helps for focusing in low light, and alows you to isolate your subject with minimum depth of field.

I have heard this lens discribed as a disposible L lens because the optics are so sharp. I would have to agree with that. Perhaps not up to L quality, but very close, and for less than $100!

The focus is a little slow and a bit noisy but again, I wasn't expecing HSM speeds from this lens. The switch for going from AF to MF is a little stick on my lens, but not to the point it's hard to switch. Since I bought this lens uses, I don't know if these things are inherent from the factory or a result of something the previous owner did. Since this lens was only about a month old when I bought it, I'm guessing that is the way it came from the factory.

I would have liked the filter size to be 58mm instead of 52mm, but that's not a big deal. I will just have to by another step up ring ($6) for my filters.

This is a go anywhere lens. I wouldn't be afraid of taking this lens anywhere. If something were to happen to it, no big deal. Just go buy another one.

Customer Service

I haven't uses Canons service for this lens, but I have used them for other products. I am very pleased withthe level of service I have gotten from Canon. They did ship me the wrong manual for a camera that I ordered. When I contacted them about it, the immediatly shipped me the correct manual, and didn't require me to return the wrong one. I recently had them service my 300D and received the camera back, and in perfect working order sooner than I expected. The comunication was a little lacking, but the outcome was very good.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 50mm f1.8 FD mount
Canon EF 35-80mm kit lens

Excellent image results
Lightweight
Fast, fast, fast @ f1.8

All plastic
Plastic mounting ring!
Plastic mounting ring!
Plastic mounting ring!

Great images, but horrible build quality. The metal mount on my camera wound up digging into the plastic mounting ring on the lens, and in my infinite wisdom(deciding to force off the lens), I broke both camera & lens.

I guess that's what you get when you try to go cheap!
Every photographer should have a 50mm prime lens in the bag, but if you are thinking of buying this just because it's under $100, DON'T! Save your money and get the 50mm 1.4 USM with the metal mounting ring.

1.8 aperture
sharp focus

none I can think of

Great lens... very sharp. Love the images I've gotten with this lens. The large aperture gives me great depth of field and lets me shoot without a flash which I love.

Similar Products Used:

24mm 2.8

picture quality, f1,8, prise

build quality, slow af, looks like some noname plastic junk. (well, it's a canon plastic junk after all ;)...)

i bought this lens about three weeks ago, after reading a bunch of reviews of the product. so i had my expectations. i'm not disappointed at all; i was amazed by the picture quality; probably, because i've only used kit lenses so far :S. an A4 print (ink jet printer) from a shot taken with this lens looks better then those taken with my kit lens, eventhough the scanning resolution was much lower... i really enjoy the shallow DOF, and the ability of taking pictures in veeeery low light (for me at least). good for walkarond, good for macro (with extension tubes, obviously), great for portraits. but the best thing about it is certanly the prise.
but, since nothing is perfect: terribly built; any time i want to switch from af to mf im afraid, that im gonna break it. the hole thing is plastic, does not look too good either.
but thats what you get for 150$.... a must-have for anyone, who doen't have the mk I, or the f1,4 version.

Customer Service

haven't use it

Similar Products Used:

canon 28-90mm f4,0-5,6
canon 90-300mm f4,5-5,6

Not bad, esspecially for the price

tends to focus on the background during a good shot. Very sharp even at ISO 800 not to noisey. Not the fastet AF in the world

Not a bad lens. I used it for sports, esspecially basketball. A little slow on the AF side and it has a tendancy to focus on the background, (esspecially when you have an amazing shot)