Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, reviewed by Reservoir Dog

Here some pictures...

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Tulum

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Stealth Guardian's Temple

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Mayan Pyramid

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Thanks for the review - I have been thinking about the 50 1.4, and the robustness has always been a question for me. Great to see the sample pics shine on picture quality, however.

Reservoir Dog wrote in post #17304036
The focusing system is very fragile, if the focusing barrel is out or partly out when you put the lens cap on, you will, unconsciously, push it a bit, and other the time it will lead to send the lens to Canon for repair because the focus system does not work anymore.

The Big tips here to not have problem later with the years, is ... before to put the lens cap on :
1) turn the swith AF on MF on the lens (it's a full time manual focus, but ... we never know )
2) turn the focus ring until the barrel is fully inside the lens.
3) put the lens cap on the front element.
4) do not forget to switch back from MF to AF mode
And you will keep the focus system safe for long ....

I've had this lens in my hands and agree with the fragility point, the first link below to the AF gearbox, showing the nasty little nylon on steel shaft gears, if one of those gears splits or loses a tooth as they are want to do, then you get AF that won't go past a certain point. The other link shows the slot in the mount tube is so near the edge the part is very weak, a knock on the front of the lens bends this which means it no longer moves easily. That then causes the gearbox to strain as you use the autofocus and before you know it you need a new motor/gearbox too.

see: https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=NTu00wgJgRE @4.02

and

see: https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=ED0DQpVnTuM @5.46

I beleive part of the problem is the weight of glass being moved. With most lenses only a small proportion of the glass moves, but in 50mm lenses often 100% of the glass moves, which is that much more demanding of the AF.

This was the first lens I purchased after I got my T4i kit. The cost-to-quality ratio for this lens is very good. The build quality on the 1.4 is better than on the 1.8, and the glass is much better on the 1.8 as well. The 1.8 is still a great lens, especially if you are on a tight budget, but if you are in the market for a 50mm and can afford a little more, this is a great (and fun) lens to have.

I love this lens

I just got this lens. Inexpensive but great shots. Many don't believe they need a 50mm...I disagree.

This lens is great!!! Great review......

Thinking about upgrading my 1.8 to this lens, thanks for the review.

I highly recommend buying a lens hood for the 50mm f/1.4. You can get a 3rd-party hood for as little as $12 on eBay and it will protect the fragile AF mechanism better than anything else. Always leave the hood on and don't reverse it for storage. You may need to get a center-pinch lens cap too.

Very nice pictures. My experience with this lens was never quite so positive. I've found that images shot at 2.0 and wider are nearly unusable for their lack of sharpness. More so, I tend to shoot into light for effect, and this lens has a great deal of chromantic aberrations when shooting into the sunlight - say through a window behind the subject. Unlike the 85 1.8 that manags this aberation far better, it cannot always be removed in post. I have since moved onto the Sigma Art and it has been most stellar from an IQ standpoint...autofocus​, on the other hand, is not it's strongest attribute. I still have both and debating if I should sell it or make it my permanent film lens.

CamaroSS wrote in post #17364880
Very nice pictures. My experience with this lens was never quite so positive. I've found that images shot at 2.0 and wider are nearly unusable for their lack of sharpness.

Do you have some pictures to show us how bad it was ?

Here is my son at ... > f/1.4, ambient light, photograph taken on the fly and my shutter speed was very limit (my son, can't stay a second without moving), very thin DoF but i got his eyes ... and for me it's sharp enough for this DoF/Price/Quality range (it's just a $ 350 lens ) and at F/2 it become insanely sharp

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I am surprised about the CA, if wide open there is some, they are very well managed by any software and stopped down a bit they disappear, i use the 50mm in diving, i got many pictures with the torches directly pointed to the lens and i got no problem at all.
I think You might have gotten a bad copy

Anyway you have the Sigma, and i read a lot of good thing about it, even it's so sharp that this lens might be just behind if not equal to the Zeiss otus 55mm, which is a far higher "Category"

Reservoir Dog wrote in post #17366444
Do you have some pictures to show us how bad it was ?

Here is my son at ... > f/1.4, ambient light, photograph taken on the fly and my shutter speed was very limit (my son, can't stay a second without moving), very thin DoF but i got his eyes ... and for me it's sharp enough for this DoF/Price/Quality range (it's just a $ 350 lens ) and at F/2 it become insanely sharp

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forum: Lens Reviews

I am surprised about the CA, if wide open there is some, they are very well managed by any software and stopped down a bit they disappear, i use the 50mm in diving, i got many pictures with the torches directly pointed to the lens and i got no problem at all.
I think You might have gotten a bad copy

Anyway you have the Sigma, and i read a lot of good thing about it, even it's so sharp that this lens might be just behind if not equal to the Zeiss otus 55mm, which is a far higher "Category"

I'll have to dig through my hard drive, but I last used it at a party I shot early last year end never used it again because of that particular scenario. I doubt it's a bad copy, as I've found my results to be typical of what the lens is capable of. Granted, I shot with the lens very seldom up to that point and was relying on it wide open - was a bad idea.

I'll dig through later tonight or tomorrow.

Great review! Another tip I've read on how to preserve the lens is to keep the hood on it at ALL times. This prevents the front element from getting pushed in while in your bag.

This is a great lens. It's the slightest bit soft wide open but, in my opinion, that gives the lens a unique quality and a bit of an artistic look. A lot of fun and excellent value for the price.