Canon 50mm f1.4 - first impressions

Yes, I do.

i do too

I decided after reading a lot of good reviews of the 50mm f/1.4 that it would be my first lens in the DSLR world.

This thread is giving me second thoughts. boo.

aIpha wrote in post #2134290
I decided after reading a lot of good reviews of the 50mm f/1.4 that it would be my first lens in the DSLR world.

This thread is giving me second thoughts. boo.

dont have second thoughts, it is a stellar lense

This thread has generally been a demonstation of the lenses' weaknesses. It is an excellent lens. Very few can match its performance from f/2 to f/8 or so. It's very good at f/1.4 but care must be taken as to the situation in which it is shot wide open.

Plenty of fast lenses have similar issues when used in very bright light. The 35/1.4 has them, though to a lessor degree (and it costs 3X as much). The 85/1.2 is a bit dodgy wide open in bright sunlight as well.

it's been a bit of a learning process here, but it would be difficult to find a better fast 50 mm lens at this price. Especially one with autofocus. There's some good ones, for certain. Perhaps one or another that are a bit better. Generally, those are either expensive, or must be used manually on Canon cameras.

when shooting wide open, dont take far shots in bright light and you will be ok...thats my experience anyways

Thanks guys, faith on the lens has been restored. Heh.

Seems like about 60% of people get not-so-good results at f/1.4 but it is a shame that there is such a fluctuation in quality for one product. It's kind of like a computer being advertised at 4GHz but there is a fine print that says '* 4GHz is the maximum overclock speed" except in this case we don't even get a fine print.

1.4 works fine in most situations, just don't use it for range

here is another at F1.4 (sorry, blew out the rims ) the focus is on the rims.

aIpha wrote in post #2134544
Thanks guys, faith on the lens has been restored. Heh.

Seems like about 60% of people get not-so-good results at f/1.4 but it is a shame that there is such a fluctuation in quality for one product. It's kind of like a computer being advertised at 4GHz but there is a fine print that says '* 4GHz is the maximum overclock speed" except in this case we don't even get a fine print.

I'm not sure that there is fluctuation in the quality of this lens.

Has anyone actually said they don't get CA when shooting wide open??

aIpha wrote in post #2134544
Thanks guys, faith on the lens has been restored. Heh.

Seems like about 60% of people get not-so-good results at f/1.4 but it is a shame that there is such a fluctuation in quality for one product. It's kind of like a computer being advertised at 4GHz but there is a fine print that says '* 4GHz is the maximum overclock speed" except in this case we don't even get a fine print.

From this thread I wouldn't be making a claim that "60% of people get not-so-good results at f/1.4" and assume that it has anything to do with quality or design of the lens. Poor focus results can also be due to user error or a problem with the camera itself. I think the only thing that can be concluded in this thread is that the lens suffers from CA wide open in bright light ... which is no big surprise.

curiousgeorge wrote in post #2135585
I'm not sure that there is fluctuation in the quality of this lens.

Has anyone actually said they don't get CA when shooting wide open??

I get minimal to none when shooting wide open at close objects...especially indoors.

blam wrote in post #2136093
I get minimal to none when shooting wide open at close objects...especially indoors.

Shoot through a tree though against a bright sky and I bet you will. That's what I was trying to establish - whether it affects all these lenses wide open. And I'm pretty sure it does now. And it doesn't mean the lens is faulty.

Just to clarify, I wasn't making a global statement of hate against the 50mm f/1.4. I plan on still getting the lens since all the photos I see shot at 1.8 or above look simply stunning. My "60%" statement was simply from this thread alone and is not at all a sophisticated statistic. If you think you can shift my personal statistics to a lower number (let's say 0% )than please post some good shots at 1.4 and provide tips on how to take good shots at 1.4.

curiousgeorge, thanks for bringing this up. Interesting thread indeed.

blam wrote in post #2133634
blah, dont you hate when you post and it doesnt work
here is my 50mm @ F1.4 at a distance
http://members.shaw.ca​/br.l/50mm.htm

up close, no problems.

George: I get tons when I shoot outside from a distance...check the link I posted on the last page.

I get lots of CA....pretty much anywhere lines and curves exist....not as apparent on the scaled down verion though. I've had worse as well. I just made a quick comparison yesterday since my car was clean

blam wrote in post #2134205
dies anyone use a hood on their 50mm 1.4?

Allways, it does make a difference in my experience, better contrast etc.