A brilliant lens for anyone looking to up their photography game!

Every photo you take with this lens between an aperture range of 1.8 to 3.2 will have the nice depth of field which makes the subject pop in any image.

I had to do photography for my cousin's engagement and all I had in my arsenal were a Canon SL2/200D (crop sensor), 18-55mm Kit lens (28-80mm in crop sensor) and a 75-300mm telephoto lens (120-480mm in crop sensor).

I knew very well that these lens and camera combination were not the best for a event photography. (trust me! I've tried! The results were not so great) and I was sceptical about renting lenses as I could not be as light headed as I usually am with my own lenses.

So, I ordered the 50mm f/1.8 lens on 26th April, 2019 and got it on 27th April, a day before the engagement ceremony (Kudos to Amazon delivery).

I tested the lens a day before the engagement and on the day of the engagement, 90% of the photoshoot was done with the 50mm prime lens with 18-55mm lens used only for wide angle group shots. The absence of image stabilisation is not an issue as the lens is light in weight.

So, yes, the nifty fifty is a one size fits all kind of lens. However, my camera had a crop sensor (1.5~1.6X), which means the 50mm was actually giving me the field of view of an 80mm focal length. This meant that I had to physically move around a bit to get the framing right. If you have a full frame camera, 50mm would have the field of view of a 50mm.

This field of view difference had me over thinking about whether to buy the 24mm f/2.8 (38mm in crop sensor) or the 50mm f/1.8.

I finally pulled the plug on the 24mm, bought 50mm because of the 1.8 aperture and decided to compromise on the field of view. Also, the 50mm STM had 7 aperture blades which meant the bokeh would be nearly rounded.

In the end, the pictures came out great and had that 'Professional Photographer Click' look to it, everyone loved it. This made the investment totally worth it.

The only drawback with this lens would be the auto focus. While it is silent because of the STM motor, it is not the fastest.

I did the entire day's photoshoot with Manual focus and the results were really good. So, I would suggest that you use this lens with manual focus only.

So, in conclusion, if you are person who wants a relatively inexpensive lens with nice bokeh and depth of field, this lens is just hard to beat.

(I will not be sharing photos from the engagement to protect the privacy of the people involved. But, I will share some unedited sample photos to give you an idea about the quality you get from the 50mm prime lens.)

First of all thanks to Amazon and the seller for quick delivery.

Now let me tell you a little about myself .I am an hobbyist photographer . I have a Canon 500D with Standard Zoon 18-55mm kit lens and a 55-250mm Telephoto lens. This is my first prime lens.

If you have a standard 18-55mm kit lens you might have always felt the need to have a larger aperture to get good low light shots.

Canon's EF 50mm f/1.8 lens fulfils that need at a very reasonable price.

Just 1 month back Canon released this lens. So, now if you want a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens ,you've got two options , either get this lens with a Stepper Motor for autofocusing or get the earlier version of Canon's EF 50mm lens that had a micromotor.

I will compare this lens(EF 50mm f/1.8 STM) with the previous version(EF 50mm f/1.8 II) based on different reviews I have read and based on my personal findings:-

Pros of this lens : -

1 - The build quality of this lens is very good compared to the previous lens and this lens has metal mount and therefore more durable and it is smaller in size too.

2- The lens is Silent while focusing if you compare it to the previous lens and the autofocus is a bit faster to lock on an object. It is not very silent if you compare it to 18-55mm STM lens

3- If you shoot mostly video then this lens is very good , it focuses faster and makes much less noise while focusing

4- The Bokeh of this lens is much better looking than the previous one , its much rounder and softer and gives smooth transitions when you change aperture in video mode.

5 - If you half press the shutter button in the one shot mode , you can adjust the focus ring and therefore in a way you get full-time manual focusing with this lens which you dont get in the previous version.

6- This lens is a bit sharper at the widest aperture and also uses Canon's modern Super Spectra coating, to avoid lens flare

Cons of this lens:-

1- The only negative point I could find while comparing it with previous lens is that the manual focus works only when the camera is attached to the lens and is switched on and not in sleep mode which is true with every lens with Stepper Motor. So , if you're using normal extension tubes for macro photography then this may not be very helpful but you could always move the lens near and far to the object to achieve the focus but it would not be hassle free. So, for this purpose the previous ver lens is much better.

In Conclusion , this lens is much better than the previous one , So go for it without even thinking.

I didnt had much time to use this lens but attaching a few pics I have taken so far with this lens.

Edit 1- I made a timelapse of Clouds with this lens , find it here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zez3j9uZ8Q&fb

Best result lense

The Canon EF 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM is the third lens in the 50mm line for Canon, the original having been released in 1987 and updated in version II in 1990. Twenty-five years later, the lens has been overhauled with the new STM focusing system and a new look, but otherwise the optical design is unchanged.

The lens was designed to fit the EF (35mm) mount, and will also work on the EF-S mount for 1.6x cropped sensor bodies, as well as Canon's existing APS-H (1.3x crop) bodies. On these bodies the equivalent field of view is 80mm and 65mm respectively.

The lens is available now for approximately 8k

Sharpness

Used wide open at ƒ/1.8 or ƒ/2, the lens exhibits substantial corner softness. On a sub-frame camera like the 7D it's not quite as noticeable as on a full-frame camera like the 1Ds mkIII, because the sensor doesn't capture the entire field of view offered by the lens. Either way, at ƒ/1.8 there's only a small area of sharpness in the center of the frame, which quickly gives way to softness going out towards the corners.

Stopping down to ƒ/2.8 improves sharpness dramatically: on the sub-frame 7D, images produced are almost tack-sharp corner to corner, with a light amount of softness in the extreme corners; however, on the full-frame 1Ds mkIII there is still some corner softness to contend with. It's not until ƒ/4 that we see true corner-to-corner sharpness, which improves negligibly as the lens is stopped down to ƒ/8.

Diffraction limiting sets in at ƒ/11, but you won't see any practical impact on sharpness until ƒ/16 and ƒ/22.

Chromatic Aberration

The Canon EF 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM is very resistant to chromatic aberration: there is a slight amount present when the lens is used at its widest apertures, but as it is stopped down it is less prominent.

Shading (''Vignetting'')

With the Canon EF 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM mounted on the sub-frame 7D, there is a slight amount (1/3EV) of corner shading that disappears as the lens is stopped down past ƒ/2.

When mounted on the full-frame 1Ds mkIII, the lens produces some impressive corner shading when used at ƒ/1.8 or ƒ/2 - the extreme corners are one and a quarter stops darker than the center. Stopped down to ƒ/2.8, this corner shading becomes just a half-stop differential, and at ƒ/4 and smaller, corner shading becomes negligible.

Distortion

The Canon EF 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM produces images with a small amount of barrel distortion, less noticeable on the 7D than on the 1Ds mkIII: on the latter camera, images show +0.5% distortion in the corners. This is easily correctable in post-processing.

Autofocus Operation

The Canon EF 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM employs an autofocus system called a "Stepping Motor", which allows the lens to provide smooth and quiet autofocus operation -- particularly beneficial during video capture. The lens took around a second to focus from infinity to close-focus. It offers full-time manual operation by just turning the focus ring after autofocusing. Attached 49mm filters will not rotate during focus operations, making life easier for polarizer users.

Macro

The lens' minimum close-focusing distance is just over thirteen inches, and at this minimum distance it provides a magnification of 0.21x - not great for macro work, but not terrible, either.

Build Quality and Handling

At just over five ounces, the new 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM is actually slightly heavier than the 50mm ƒ/1.8 II, which weighed an ounce less. The new lens sports a satin black finish, and uses a metal mount to attach it to the camera, however it uses 49mm filter threads instead of the more common 52mm size. The lens is devoid of any ornamentation other than its identification badge - there is no distance scale or depth-of-field markings. There's only one control switch on the lens, to enable or disable autofocus. The diaphragm is made up of seven curved aperture blades, compared to the previous version's five, which should make for more pleasing bokeh results.

It was a toss-up between the YongNuo and this one. But I am glad I did not choose the cheaper one to save a little money. (The difference is not much now, though the performance blows the cheaper one out of the water). The overriding factor was the motor noise. This one is close to silent, not the Yongnuo. The older version of the Canon 50mm seemed pretty much equal to the Yongnuo in performance as well as build quality. In fact, the older Canon actually had less-perfect Boken than the new version or the Yongnuo. So this is a major change.

The primary purpose was video shooting, but the still photography, especially portraits, is fantastic with this one. The attached photos were taken in pretty low light conditions. Although I am no expert photographer, even an amateur like me ended up with great looking shots which were otherwise impossible with the kit lens.

For beginners, coming from kit lenses, this might seem a little baffling to move closer to or farther from the subjects to get proper framing, so the temptation always exists to reach for the lens and rotate it to focus. Maybe it will improve the photography skills too. The Bokeh is pretty much what I expected it to be, although the colour tinge shows up slightly on the warmer side. Great for portrait photography.

The build quality is also great. It does not feel plasticky or cheap at all. Video shooting is pretty good, but the focusing is slow at times. Pretty much follow the rule of Shutter, ISO, frame rate and you are good to go to make great movies. I might add, even with non-professional lighting.

I might have regretted buying the YongNuo, but I am so glad that I decided against it. This might be something that is tempting to most cost-conscious buyers, but go right ahead and take the plunge. This one is worth it! And the difference in cost is not so much now, but the difference in results is nothing short of amazing. Go for it- highly recommended by just another amateur photographer.

PS: About the attached photos. The cat pictures were taken in almost completely dark conditions, with only a night lamp for illumination. The outdoor photos were clicked in overcast and dark, rainy, cloudy weather. How beautiful the low-light photography seems even with inept skills!

Very good build quality, appearance, small in size also easy to use, sharpness is very good with my 200d ii and clicks a very good quality images in both low light and day light, since it can go upto f1.8 a large aperture ISO always stays minimum and also get enough shutter to click a sharp images, to click long exposure you may need a nd filter in day light,

Since it is a full frame lens, while using it on my canon 200d ii which has a APS-C sensor of crop factor of 1.6 the lens act as an 80mm (50×1.6), i need to go little lot further to click a photo of group of people.

Also the STM focus is very fast in proper light conditions if there is over exposure or underexposed area the auto fucus may struggle since lots of light or no light to focus on or it can't determine where to focus,

Even for moving subject the focus is fast and captures correctly on eye or whatever you intend under f1.8

Last thing is this is a great purchase, now I'm not sure I'll use my kit lenses(18-55 & 55-250mm) again or not

for more information you can visit my !nstagram

anwesh_photography

Let's start with the build quality. It's a very well built piece of kit, and feels solid, though it's made of plastic. It brings back the metal mount from the first 50 mm f/1.8 from 1990 and adds to it a silent and decently​ quick STM motor for autofocusing. The manual focus ring is no more of that flimsy plastic found in the mark ii version. It's very easy to grip, and is broader, and hence allows for precise focusing. One thing to bear in mind is that since the manual focus ring is coupled to the STM motor, you can manually pull focus only when the shutter button is pressed halfway down. Rotating it at any other time will do nothing.

Moving on to the most important thing. It's optics and the picture quality it produces. Well, there's no difference between the picture quality back from the mark i and the mark ii versions. However, I have found out that the STM version produces pictures with slightly lesser colour fringing / chromatic aberration as compared to the mark ii. But apart from that, it's all pretty much the same.

You'll be very impressed with the way it makes pictures, especially portraits look and feel so professional. Picture quality is way better than the 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, to say the least. Also, you get a much more blurred out of focus background, thanks to the maximum aperture of f/1.8. What this also means is that you'll get much better low-light performance as compared to the kit lens.

One final point I'd like to make here is that the lens' focal length and maximum aperture is advertised as what it would be on a full-frame camera. To find out what would be its APS-C (cropped frame) equivalent, just multiply both, the focal length and the aperture by a factor of 1.6 on Canon cameras and by 1.5 on Nikon and Sony cameras (just for reference). So, what we end up with on an APS-C camera is an 80 mm f/2.88 ~ f/2.9 lens. While f/2.9 isn't the brightest of apertures, it certainly produces nice and smooth bokeh as you'd expect. And now that the STM version has 7 curved aperture blades as compared to the 5 straight edge ones found on the mark ii, you get much rounder bokeh balls when the lens is stopped down, say to f/2.8.

To conclude, let me tell you that if you've had your kit lens for sometime now and have learnt the basics of using the DSLR, this really should be your next purchase if you're looking to step up your photography game. And while getting a zoom lens for about 2-3k more sounds pretty tempting (something like the Tamron/Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6), trust me, you can't go wrong with this one. Go for it, you won't regret it. :)

HIGHLIGHTS: excellent image quality, compact form factor and affordable pricing, but with few concessions in build and AF performance.

CONSTRUCTION: Slightly smaller and heavier than the prior model, EF 50 1.8 II, aka nifty-fifty, but with significantly better build quality. Improvements include metal mount, sturdier barrel and AF/MF switch, larger focus ring, grippy matte finish and stepping motor (STM). Unfortunately, it has an odd filter size, 49mm, rather than 52 or 58mm common to small Canon lenses.

OPTICAL QUALITY: It's the same optical formula as the nifty-fifty, but with tweaks to lens coatings and improved close focus ability. Wide open it's tack sharp center frame, sharper than my nifty-fifty. Corners on full frame, e.g., 6D, are darker and softer than center but equalize by F2.8. On APS-C cameras, e.g., 70D and Rebel, there is little corner darkening or softness since nearly half the image circle is cropped out. Optimal sharpness is at F5.6. Chromatic aberration (CA) is mild and reduced over the nifty-fifty. In short, image quality is excellent open wide, even better stopped down and one ups the nifty-fifty in both sharpness and control of CA.

BOKEH: I love the soft whirl of a defocused background, and this seven-blade diaphragm does not disappoint, rendering smooth bokeh and pleasantly round specular highlights. The smooth bokeh combined with pin sharp center frame really make subjects pop at larger apertures. This a great portrait lens!

AUTO FOCUS speed and reliability is markedly better than the nifty-fifty. It's accurate and rarely misses focus even in low light. Focus is achieved by front element extension (nested barrel. The STM motor is quieter than the prior model, albeit not completely silent.

VIDEO FOCUS on a 70D is not as fast as STM zooms but buttery smooth and great for touchscreen pulls and Movie Servo. Focus noise, while low volume, was recorded by my 70D's built-in mic during quiet video clips. The workaround is to use an external mic or prefocus.

MANUAL FOCUS is focus-by-wire: the ring merely activates the focus motor and is not mechanically coupled to the lens. Manual focus is smooth, but control isn't as good as a mechanical ring. The MF ring is thin but wider than the nifty-fifty's ring and better positioned. Like USM lenses, it has Full-Time Manual (FTM), allowing AF override without flipping a switch: simply turn the MF ring. Unlike USM lenses, FTM is only active when the shutter button is half-depressed.

HOOD: The groove on the barrel is for the Canon ES-68, locking bayonet hood. It attaches to the outer barrel, protecting the protruding inner barrel from frontal impact and flare. It's pricy but a worthwhile investment. Update (8/16/2015): The JJC LH-68, a clone of the ES-68, is now available at less than half the cost of OEM.

FINAL BLURB: The natural perspective and fast aperture make the EF 50 1.8 STM ideal for low light, travel and street photography with a full frame camera (6D). On a cropper, e.g., Rebel or 70D, it's a short telephoto and perfect for portraits, indoor sports and stage. Canon got everything right with this redesign: accurate and snappy AF, sturdy build and, most significantly, vivid and sharp images wide open.

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I'm a "prosumer" photographer, and until now, most of my work has been landscapes. Recently I wanted to branch into portraiture and whilst most of my glass is from Canon's "L" series, there was no way I was going to hand over £1K+ for the L series 50mm prime lens, for an area I'm only dipping my toe into.

I was lucky enough to have a kind friend to let me try out his EF 50mm 1.8 MK II (the predecessor to the STM version of this lens) and I was pretty impressed with it, although the build quality of that pervious version leaves a lot to be desired (all plastic including lens mount and the focus drive is clunky, noisy and a bit hit and miss).

This new STM version though, is nothing short of superb value for money!! Using the centre-only focus point on my Canon 77D, I was able to capture beautifully sharp images, time and time again. The focus is smooth, quiet and most important accurate and although not quite as rapid as the USM focus mechanism, still more than adequate and impressive for a lens of this budget. The bokeh on this new version is also lovely and circular, thanks to an additional 2 aperture blades compared to the previous version.

It does suffer from a little CA and fringing in areas of high contrast (backlit detail near the edges of frame for example) but even my L glass exhibits this and with Canon's Digital Photo Professional 4 software (or the appropriate lens profile uploaded to the camera), this can be well controlled.

I've seen good reviews of the cheaper, Chinese brands that compare with this lens and I'm sure they can produce good results. But for me, I prefer to stick to a brand I know and trust, and generally I've been happy with Canon lenses and did not want to diverge from the brand. I'm glad I didn't as this new version of an already great value lens ticks all the boxes, and for me, solves all the shortcomings of the previous MKII version.

With the exception of focus speed, I also think the STM focus drive has almost all of the advantages of the USM mechanism, hence why I didn't consider the more-than-twice-the-price 1.4 50mm USM from Canon, which seems to get mixed reviews.

The focus ring on this lens is fully electronic, which means there is absolutely no mechanical connection between the focus ring and the focus drive mechanism. Instead, the ring sends a proportional focus control signal to the camera body, which then in turn proportionally drives the auto focus gear in accordance with the ring movement. This makes the focus ring beautifully smooth, seamless and continuous, and also means it can be complete disabled in the camera software (assuming your body supports turning off manual focus override) which means you cannot bump the focus whilst handling the lens during shooting.

If like me, you want a lens to take beautiful portraits with, I can only sing this lens's praises. As the cheapest lens I own, it also now ranks as one of my favourites and it's very easy to forget how inexpensive this lens is, when you see the quality of images it can produce!

Prima lens voor portretfotografie! Zeer content mee.

大好き

The product is fine

Amazing lens. Paired with my canon EOS1200D it takes some really stunning photos. It opens extremely wide and for the price it is very hard to beat. the STM motor is fast but it does make a bit of sound as it focuses. It seems like it performs sharper when you stop it down to f4 so if you have ample light its a great option. It performs well throughout the range all the way from f1.8-11 provided you have enough light. A really good first upgrade from a kit lens that comes with your camera.