my 50 1.8 is not consistent :|

all these were taken today. these were cheap paid shoots just really covering my gas to drive to the different locations. was able to give both girls plenty of sharp photos to chose from but of all the sharp ones there were twice as many soft ones. today was better than other day where sometimes my 50 just misses focus completely but that happens most under really bad light conditions.

i just dont understand if maybe my 50 is bad. this has gone on a while but i just now am addressing it. but basically sometimes the photos are sharp as a tack but a lot of the time they are just a little soft which i understand when shooting at f2.2 or 2.5 especially with glass that is only $100. but i dont understand why it is sooo inconsistent. i dont expect much and i am ok with photos being a little soft for the price i paid but sometimes its worse. none thankfully today were tooooo bad. i had like maybe 10 out of a total 130 shots taken today that were just not usable.


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sorry that is a lot to read. for those that dont want to read it all. my 50 1.8 is not consistent and i dont understand why it can sometimes take really sharp photos and sometimes just ok soft photos and sometimes just miss focus completely and give really soft photos.

all shot at f2.2 with center point auto focus single shot auto focus.

I don't think anyone's 50mm f1.8 is terribly consistent with focus. You kinda learn to check focus in the viewfinder and refocus a time or two before each shot.

thats what i did with a few that i noticed came out sharper than the others by pushing the focus button more than once. i assume that honestly its a $100 i just wanted to make sure i wasnt the only one experiencing this. as i have not had the pleasure of working with nicer glass other than my 28-135. and i am looking into buying the sigma 30 1.4 and wanted to make sure that buying another fast prime that i wont experience the same issue

The 50mm 1.8 can produce tack sharp images. Sounds like a bad copy or user error.

Fairly typical of the 50/1.8... If you feel the need, upgrade to the 50/1.4... Canon or Sigma.

It is pretty amazing how good the 50/1.8, though, at it's price.

yea i want to upgrade to the 1.4 because from what i understand it will produce a littler sharper images more consistently, but its a lot of money.

Nickc84 wrote in post #12679191
The 50mm 1.8 can produce tack sharp images. Sounds like a bad copy or user error.

"Can" being the operative word here. Certainly try to rule out user error, especially if you are new to photography, but this is a lens known for a very spotty AF system. As I said, you can learn to kind of work with it so you get a higher keeper rate.

Nickc84 wrote in post #12679191
The 50mm 1.8 can produce tack sharp images. Sounds like a bad copy or user error.

Sounds more like the inconsistent focus of the 50mm 1.8

Bad copy. I wouldn't even bother with the nifty. Get the 1.4 or something else. LoL.

thanks yall for the price i can deal with the issue under controlled shooting with a person but it sticks to miss focus on shots you only get one chance to get like when i shoot basketball with it.

my next buy is the sigma 30 1.4 then a 50 1.4

try making it focus in low light haha.

I usually have it setup for center AF and then use the center box to focus on the subject (in those case, the face) then move the camera around until I get the entire subject in the frame while holding the shutter button halfway down. Then once I'm reason, I snap the pic.

CountryBoy wrote in post #12679207
Sounds more like the inconsistent focus of the 50mm 1.8

+1 the 50mm f/1.8 really suffers from AF. The 50mm f/1.4 from canon and sigma are better. Perhaps time to upgrade OP~!

honestly you shouldn't be missing more than half the shots...i'd think something is wrong somewhere...i'd say maybe 1/20 of my shots with the 50mm aren't focused where it should be...