50 1.4 Dissapointing coming from 50 1.8 ?

Once you need to manual focus either lens, it will all come to you.

paperpants wrote in post #13476046
Ahhhh... I just bought a 50/1.4 off the forums to "upgrade" my 50/1.8 mk1. Way to get me to second guess my purchase, so much buyers remorse right now haha. At least the 1.4 is quieter and looks cooler, I guess we'll see what happens.

Forget what you just read here, the 1.8 IS better in ONE department : sharpness at medium apertures. Too bad it is the one criteria by which most people on this forum judge a lens, because there are a lot of other factors. And for some of these factors the 1.4 is a winner. Here's the two that made me choose the 1.4 when I had to buy a new 50 :
1) the 1.4 has better autofocus, thanks to the larger max aperture and USM motor. I shoot in low light a lot, so it's critical for me.
2) the 1.4 produces smoother background blur at similar apertures. Some people don't care about that, but I often shoot portrait outside, so I want nice bokeh.

So don't listen to people, shoot and see for yourself if you like the lens or not. I personnally like it a lot more than the 1.8 mk2.

I was at the same predicament when I went from the Canon 50mm 1.8 to the 1.4, it was only marginally better. One big thing was the build quality of the 1.4, it didn't feel like a plastic toy compared to the 1.8. Even still, I didn't enjoy the lens as much. After some research, I took a chance and went with a Sigma 1.4. From reviews, the Sigma 1.4 performs similar to the Canon 1.2L. I haven't regretted the decision since.

I was also a bit disappointed to find my 1.8 to be sharper than my 1.4. But, the benefits of the 1.4 made my upgrade worthwhile. For me, it was the faster and more reliable AF, build, and of course bigger aperture.

I have realized the same.

paperpants wrote in post #13476046
Ahhhh... I just bought a 50/1.4 off the forums to "upgrade" my 50/1.8 mk1. Way to get me to second guess my purchase, so much buyers remorse right now haha.

Don't worry, when you upgrade with more expensive lens your pics will look much better

kin2son wrote in post #13444348
you will be even more disappointed if you upgrade from either one to the 50L.

Marginally better at best, cost 15x of the nifty and 4x over the 50 1.4....

Sigma 50 all the way!

Do you get a lot of vignetting on the FF camera and the sigma 50?

Without reading the whole thread, I'll put in my $.02
I thought the nifty was a really nice lens and got lots of nice shots with it, but when I got my Sig 50 (and finally got it correctly calibrated ) I couldn't have been happier. If nothing else, it gives richer color, which was my main complaint with the 50...

update: I got the 50/1.4 and loved it... then the AF died and I returned it and bought a Sigma 50/1.4, hopefully the focus is spot on.

My 50 1.4 would give my 35l a run for its L price from f2.0 and up. However below f2.0 the 35l wins hand down. I keep 50 1.4 to use with FF as a walk around lens. It is so light.

dunkman23 wrote in post #13452745
i am with some of the prople on this thread. I have used the 1.4 and i own the 1.8. I dont think the 1.4 is worth 3x the price of the 1.8. the 1.8 is pretty darn sharp.

bah it always depends... i owned the 1.8, it was a fantastic budget lens ( i think every canon user need to have it) but with the 1.4, no ****y feeling about the build, far more faster than the 1.8 and of course... more interesting in low light

I just got my 50mm 1.4 yesterday, I never even bothered trying the 1.8, so I cant compare

But after reading this thread, I'm really starting to regret settling (I originally had my heart set on the Sigma 30mm 1.4)
Which, I think it would be a sharper lens with a bigger front element

But I honestly don't hate this lens, the bokeh is sooo nice.
Then again, I still wish I had the extra little bit of cash to get the Sigma instead

Kennykid2002 wrote in post #13547495
But I honestly don't hate this lens, the bokeh is sooo nice.

Wait until you try the sigma 50....

The difference in price is bugger all....

I returned my copy of the 50 1.8 recently. Aside from the fact that the chip would occasionally not register on camera (showing as 0.0 aperture), its AF was not very accurate in low-light. Thinking about either the Canon 50 1.4 or the Sigma 50, but the reports about the Canon's fragility are putting me towards the Sigma.

Kennykid2002 wrote in post #13547495
I just got my 50mm 1.4 yesterday, I never even bothered trying the 1.8, so I cant compare

But after reading this thread, I'm really starting to regret settling (I originally had my heart set on the Sigma 30mm 1.4)
Which, I think it would be a sharper lens with a bigger front element

But I honestly don't hate this lens, the bokeh is sooo nice.
Then again, I still wish I had the extra little bit of cash to get the Sigma instead

I realllly liked the Canon 1.4 but after it broke on me in 2 days and I returned it I rationalized my purchase of the Sigma by factoring in the possibility of having to repair the canon out of warranty ($100ish) later on. Also the Sigma looks way cooler, its so big haha.