Canon 50mm f1.8 AF Speed?

[22littlereasons]

I'm thinking of getting the 50 f1.8 for sports when I'm close to the action... like under the backboard etc. How's the autofocus, is it fast enough for this application?

[Geeeyejo]

Definately fast enough - but be careful with the depth of field when opened way up to F1.8- moving targets can easily go out of the DOF range and appear out of focus!

[tim]

It's the slowest focusing lens I own, but it might be ok. If you can afford it go for a longer USM lens, or the 85mm F1.8 perhaps.

[chucksberg]

Slower than your Tamron 28-75 zoom and your 18-55 Canon?

[ijohnson]

At least in my experience, the 50.1.4 is much faster. I agree with Tim, for basketball, the 85 1.8 might be better because it is longer and it focuses faster than the 50 1.8.

[tim]

Slower than your Tamron 28-75 zoom and your 18-55 Canon?

Yes.

[Reminisce]

Are you serious? My 50 is the fastest of my current lineup by a longshot, with the Tamron 28-75 a decent second. It zeroes in extremely fast, not as fast as the 85mm f/1.8 I played with a while back, but for a non USM lens, its pretty darn speedy. And what Geeeyejo said is worth noting, at f/1.8, this lens has an extremely narrow DOF, which is a beautiful thing, but should be taken into note when tracking a subject at that aperture on such a short lens.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Slow and inaccurate AF... I'd never use it for anything that required timing ;)

The f/1.4 USM is MUCH faster,. and the 85mm f/1.8 is the god damn Millenium Falcon by comparison. :rolleyes:

[22littlereasons]

I have the tamron 28-75. For sports I'd say the AF is fast enough 1 out of every three shots. Would the Canon 50mm f1.8 perform about the same or worse?

BTW - I have a Canon 85mm f1.8 on order but I know it will be too much lens for under the basket in the small gyms I shoot in.

[tim]

I find the Tamron faster and it seems to seek less. There's not a huge amount in it, a USM lens would blow them both away, like CDS said.

[ijohnson]

I wish I could remember what piece of crap lens I put on my camera one day at an electronics mart here in Korea. It was a 70-300( tokina, phoenix, ?????) and it focused so slow it felt like it needed a pull start to get going.

Of the 5 Canon lenses I have owned, the 50mm 1.8 was the slowest, but my roomate has a 75-300 non is that is even slower. I don't think it is slow but compared with any USM lens I have used it is not nearly as fast. (my lens lineup is the 50 1.4, 28-135 is, 17-40 F4, and the 70-200 2.8). Non of these are low-quality lenses so I can't compare with any of the other budget lenses.

I didn't find the 50 1.8 to be tediously slow like whatever crap lens I used that one day but it is not fast. I hear that the 85 1.8 USM is absolutely STUPID fast.

[kraterz]

Let's not forget, there are two versions of the 50/1.8, the old one was dog slow to focus, like the 35/2.0. The new one (mark-II) is pretty zippy. In fact, my 50/1.4 used to focus just as slowly, since it doesn't have a real ring USM motor.

OTOH the 85/1.8 is blistering fast. Just like the 100/2.0. These babies are in a different league compared to the slowpoke 50/1.4 pseudo-USM.

[Arsonist lolol]

The f/1.4 USM is MUCH faster,. and the 85mm f/1.8 is the god damn Millenium Falcon by comparison. :rolleyes:

:lol::lol::lol:

[nosquare2003]

50/1.8 is rather slow in autofocus IMHO.

If the subject moved fast across you closely, it will be a bit difficult for autofocus (for some equipments.) Can you track its motion when it approaches you? Can you do the focus first if you know the subject distance in advance?

[griff2]

Tim wrote:

It's the slowest focusing lens I own, but it might be ok. If you can afford it go for a longer USM lens, or the 85mm F1.8 perhaps.

Strange, my 50 f/8 mkII has a much faster AF than the kit lens - mine's the Japanes-built model though..

[tim]

I don't use the kit lens, so I shouldn't have said it focuses faster than that.

[Cadwell]

I'm thinking of getting the 50 f1.8 for sports when I'm close to the action... like under the backboard etc. How's the autofocus, is it fast enough for this application?

Autofocus speed is glacial. I wouldn't recommend this lens for sports.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Just to be more specific,. it is the slowest focusing lens I have ever owned...
But I have never owned the "kit" lens.

[cactusclay]

It's much faster than I am.

[chucksberg]

My 85 1.8 is the fastest, folowed by in this order...50 1.8, 18-55 kit, Tamron 28-75.