Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II review
Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II was released back in 1990 and is still very popular today. It is one of the most affordable, lightest and most widely used prime lenses for Canon EOS cameras. Photographers call such lenses “fifty dollars” (because of the focal length of 50 mm) and they joke that every photographer should have “fifty dollars”.
In terms of use, the Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II is a standard (in focal length) lens with a good aperture and good value for money. On cameras with an APS-C sensor, it is often used as a portrait and creative lens. On full-size Canon cameras and Canon cameras with an APS-H sensor, it can serve as a regular fixed-lens for every day.
Important! Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II lens exists in two subversions:
- Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II Canon INC. ø52mm Made In Malaysia (made in Malaysia, such as in this review)
- Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II Canon Lens Made in Japan (made in Japan)
Optical design Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II. 6 elements in 5 groups, Planar type scheme
Main technical specifications Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II
| Review Instance Name | Near the front lens' Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II Canon INC. ø52mm ', mount side' Canon INC. Made In Malaysia '+ 8-digit serial number. |
| Basic properties |
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| Front Filter Diameter | 52 mm, plastic thread for filters |
| Focal length | 50 mm
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| Zoom ratio | 1 X (this is a fixed lens, it does not have a zoom) |
| Designed by | for full-format film cameras. Lens fits all Canon EOS SLR cameras |
| Number of aperture blades | 5 not rounded petals |
| Tags | bayonet mount and hood mount label, MDF label |
| Diaphragm | F / 1.8 to F / 22 |
| MDF | 0.45 m, maximum magnification ratio 1: 6.7 |
| The weight | 130 g |
| Optical design | 6 elements in 5 groups. The lens does not use special optical elements in its optical design. The image of the circuit is clickable. The same optical scheme is used by lenses:
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| Lens hood | Hood ES-62 with a special Hood Adapter 62, a hood is not included. The adapter is screwed into the thread of the front filter, after which the hood is snapped onto it. The hood can be installed in the opposite direction for transportation or storage. |
| Manufacturer country | Made in Malaysia.
There are lenses made in Japan with the inscription LENS MADE IN JAPAN. |
| Period | From December 1990 to 13.05.2015/XNUMX/XNUMX, later replaced \ supplemented by the model Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 STM |
| Instructions | View -> |
| 3D view | View -> |
| Price |
Before Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II (the so-called MKII version) there was a model Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 (the so-called version MKI), which began to be produced back in 1987. Optically versions I and II are same lens. Detailed version differences are described. here.
Focusing
Auto focus on the lens is fast enough. Even though the lens uses a regular motor for focusing, the focusing speed of the lens is high. Due to the use of a conventional focus motor, auto focus is quite noisy. Focusing accuracy depends not only on the lens, but also on the camera itself. When I use the lens on Canon EOS cameras 600D, Canon 350DCanon 5D 450D the lens often missed focusing. There is only one switch on the lens, which is responsible for the focusing mode. AF - automatic, MF - manual.
Be sure to switch the AF \ MF switch to the MF position when focusing manually. If this is not done, then the auto focus mechanism may be damaged. I write about this because in AF mode the focus ring is not locked, it rotates and cannot be touched.
In manual focus mode, the focus ring rotates less than 45 degrees. The focus ring travel is very small. Given the fact that the focus ring itself is very narrow, plastic, without rubber inserts, then focusing manually is hard enough. I shot the first test shots for this review in the winter, with gloves on and wearing a hood, it was extremely difficult for me to focus manually. Typically, lenses have a wider focus ring and are located in a more accessible place.
Lens does not have internal focus, when focusing, the 'trunk' of the lens extends forward about half a centimeter, while the front lens does not rotate. You can use different kinds of filters without any problems. By the way, the diameter of the front filter is a very popular 52mm. The closest focusing distance is only 45 cm, while the maximum magnification can be obtained for macro photography of 1: 6.7.
Sample Photos
All sample photos in the gallery below were shot using a Canon EOS camera. 350D and Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II. Photos without processing, only the size is reduced to 2MP and the data from EXIF. Part of the photo was helped by my friend K.M.
More examples of photos (with processing) for this lens for Radozhiva kindly provided Alexander Frolov.
Image quality
The lens showed good image quality. Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II is sharp enough even at f / 1.8, when closed down to f / 2.8 the sharpness is significantly increased. On the APS-C camera, there is almost no distortion, but vignetting at open apertures is slightly noticeable to the naked eye, disappears at values from F / 2.8. HA insignificant. The lens has normal color rendering and contrast. Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II has good bokeh at f / 1.8, but when the aperture is closed it comes into play 5 blade aperture, which creates classic 'nuts' in the out-of-focus area. In general, the image quality is not bad.
Features Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II, which are worth paying attention to:
- The lens does not have a depth of field scale.
- The overall build quality is low.
- The lens can be used on full-frame Full Frame cameras, and on APS-H cameras.
- Not a single full-format zoom lens for SLR cameras will give aperture F / 1.8.
- The difference in aperture between F / 5.6 (for whale lens) and F / 1.8 (for Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II) is approximately 10 times
- because of crop factor, when used on cameras with an APS-C sensor, EGF lens will be 80 mmwhich is good for portraiture. Given the good aperture and the lack of strong distortion, the Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II often serves as a portrait on Canon APS-C cameras.
- With automatic focusing, the lens produces an annoying buzzing sound, as it uses a conventional micromotor.
- Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II is easy to achieve blur background On the photo.
- The lens has no special grooves for quick installation of the hood.
Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II front and rear view
Personal experience
I really love fifty rubles, personally I had as many as 4 of them at one time. The Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II is a wonderful little lens that can help budding photographers and hobbyists take great photos. Professionals already know that fifty dollars is a very useful thing. The lens is really very light, you can take it with you without any problems. It just so happened that usually a fifty-kopeck piece of class 50 \ 1.8 becomes the first high-aperture lens after whale.
Fifty is a thing often needed in any photographer’s backpack. Recently, I still think the best budget fifty dollars YONGNUO LENS EF 50mm 1: 1.8. Often, a fifty dollars is bought to just 'play around' with aperture optics. YONGNUO LENS EF 50mm 1: 1.8 for 'games' with F / 1.8 will be enough for the eyes. If you need fifty dollars for work, more serious things than amateur photography, then the Canon system has several other solutions.
Alternatives
Below is a list of fifty-fifty lenses and lenses that are very close in their focal length to 50 mm, which support auto focus and are suitable for full-frame cameras Canon EOS.
Canon:
| Canon Lens EF 50mm 1:1.8, version with a focusing distance window and metal mount | March 1987 | View price |
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Canon Lens EF 50mm 1:1.8 II, the second version without a window of focusing distances and a plastic bayonet mount. This lens exists in two subversions: Subversion fundamentally no different |
December 1990 | View price |
| Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.8 STM | May 2015 | View price |
| Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.4 Ultrasonic | July 1993 | View price |
| Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.2 USM Ultrasonic | January 2007 | View price |
| Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.0 l Ultrasonic | September 1989 | View price |
| Canon Compact macro Lens EF 50mm 1:2.5 | December 1987 | View price |
| Canon lens RF 50 mm F1.2 L USM | September 2018 | View price |
Tamron:
| Tamron SP 45mm F /1.8 Di VC USD F013 | September 2015 | View price |
Sigma:
| Sigma 50mm 1:1.4 DG HSM EX, this lens exists in two versions with a different type of body coating | March 2008 | View price |
| Sigma 50mm 1:1.4 DG HSM A (Art) | January 2014 | View price |
| Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 Macro | 1990 | View price |
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Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 Macro EX, there was a copy of this lens under the name Quantaray 50mm 1:2.8 Macro |
1998 | View price |
| Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 DG Macro EX | June 2004 | View price |
Tokina:
| Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 FF | February 2018 | View price |
Yongnuo:
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There are several sub-versions with different spelling of the name near the front lens
Subversion fundamentally no different |
December 2014 | View price |
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There are two options, depending on the color of the case: the black or white |
May 2018 | View price |
| Yongnuo Lens 50mm 1:1.4there was another prototype Yongnuo Lens EF 50mm 1:1.4 | May 2018 | View price |
Lens prices
Lens prices in popular stores can look at this link, or in the price block below:
Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.
Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II and Voigtlander Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL N / AI-S
Conclusions
Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II attracts with its low price and good image quality. The disadvantages are the flimsy body construction and nut-like bokeh on closed diaphragms. Generally - I recommend this lens as a supplement to the standard 'dark' zooms.
Update: reviews of inexpensive analogues appeared: Yongnuo Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 и YONGNUO LENS YN50mm F1.8 II.
Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram
practical advice on choosing:
try 3-4 pieces on your camera. I didn’t buy myself, I have enough Zenithar-M (and generally fifty dollars like that is not very loubl)), but there was a case when a friend asked for help.
What's the point of such selection? correctly noted - ugly build. therefore, there is a serious problem with alignment. And you need to choose the one that most accurately gets into focus.
On 7D, a focus adjustment was barely enough to make the curve of the tested instances work correctly.
Thanks for the helpful addition.
Excuse me of course, but it seems to me on 7D is no longer the case to buy glass for $ 91 it's just ridiculous)
Eugene White simply meant that when set to the 7D “... the focus adjustment was enough ..” By the way, is this adjustment only available on the X-series?
At 50D there is
This lens on any camera is GREAT !!! And the price categories are your personal prejudices. You need to try all the lenses, and not just test one day. Then you find out what is capable of what !!!
these lenses have a significant drawback - too delicate execution. on impact, the inner ring bends and focus is jammed or difficult to rotate. repaired, of course, but still unpleasant.
Yes, there is.
You are confusing it with 50 1.4. There really, when falling, an internally wide ring made of soft metal such as duralumin is deformed. And this lens breaks the plastic clips when dropped. “… It is being repaired, of course, but still unpleasant.”
In general, I would not recommend taking it on a camping trip. It is better to fasten something washing, manual.
What do you recommend, EF 50mm F / 1.8 II or Canon EF-S 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6 III and what are their differences !? Please answer, I will be grateful in advance!
The first lens is fast but not universal. The second universal, has a 3x zoom, but not aperture. If you are asking questions of this kind, then start at 18-55.
Better yet, the EF-S 18-135 mm f / 3.5-5.6 IS
With its weight and proportions, the strength is sufficient, there were no problems with the adjustment, apparently it was successful. Frustrated by the lack of distance scales and depth of field. I didn’t beat or drop (I work in a mine, so I’m used to looking under my feet and controlling the environment at the same time).
So don’t drop it and the problem is settled !!!!! =) Such things must be handled carefully and accurately, for example, I have been working with it for 2,5 years and have not failed!
And on which lens does not bend when hit does not pour glass and so on, call me directly interesting !!
Do not confuse the moisture and dust protection of the top rulers of manufacturers with shock resistance.
With me, at one buffet, a drunk fotik stuck his little one with some Elka on the floor so that the flash current remained intact (it is not clear why). From 2 meters, the optics in the dust mount on the carcass as much concave.
Thanks for the review, very interesting. There are stories about his “tenderness” =) For example, how someone broke him by clenching him in a fist. I would say that basically this is not such a big drawback, since I am used to the technique with care, but still I feel flimsy.
it is necessary to try to break Helios in a fist :)
although no, of course, if you wish, you can kill with helios ...
Helios are different.
Rather, you break your hand than the lens = D (except in some cases)
Interesting article, thanks Arkady! How to make photos more vibrant at night and day? camera Canon 450D (amateur photographer).
Set the maximum parameters of contrast and saturation on the camera, shoot a little scene in +, modify it in the editor. In general, the bright juicy pictures that are on the Internet are mostly computer-based revisions.
not always. I do it with a long exposure, it also works fine, I don't even need to edit. Well, if not enough there is another option - HDR.
Do not squeeze strongly so that the juice does not leak)
Please tell me, in thought, which lens is better to take the Canon EF 50 mm F 1.8 II, or the Kaleinar 5H in full kit and excellent condition, the Canon 550D camera, the kaleinar offer with a 42 mm interchangeable shank, the lens is needed for both portraits and everyday shooting, manual focus is not scary, I have experience. Advise.
Kaleinar will be a more interesting lens than fifty dollars
if efficiency of shooting is important (children or animals) - definitely Canon 50 1.8
Only ef
What do you recommend from two options: Nikon D5100 + Nikkor AF-S 35mm f / 1.8G DX or Canon 600D + Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II. I plan to use the first time as regular. I bow to Canon, only the ability to use the Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II indoors confuses me, is this possible?
Fifty dollars in the room is complicated because of the narrow angle on the crop. Perhaps, but a little complicated.
Why has it become fashionable to blur the background? At weddings, especially, photographers do not even know who is sitting with whom and single out one person in the dances or what is worse at the table, without thinking about the fact that they “muddied” their wife, husband, relatives, friends-girlfriends, as a defective one, there is no such photo to buy desires.
I have a CANON 60D. Advise what width is better to get for shooting clear frames throughout the picture. I would like to capture where I was, what I saw, show my friends myself against the background of clear landscapes and beautiful pronounced buildings, and not on smeared obscure objects.
Like s-t 24-105(but it’s heavy, and will he give a picture to my ft), and 10-22 (will he round the frame too much)
Enlighten please blur the background or foreground depends on my desire or is it a pattern of lenses?
PICTURE on Crop will give
1.Canon EF 17-40mm f / 4L USM (28-62mm in terms of 1.6)
2.Canon EF-S 10-22mm f / 3.5-4.5 USM (16-35mm is already ultra wide angle)
This is if you need a wide angle and then if you want to switch to full-frame equipment, you don’t have to sell lenses read for crop.
If all the same, the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f / 2.8 IS USM station wagon is specifically for crop.
The answer to the question - depends on everything
1. Lens - wide-angle standard telephoto
2. Focal length
3. Aperture
4. DOF lens
5. The very desire to blur something
In short, study the materiel)))
Arkady, you are living proof that the photographer will take! I am amazed at your enthusiasm for testing and praising mediocre glasses, and I enjoy your photos too. Good luck
Thanks. A person really takes pictures.
For an ear of corn, you can’t think of anything more beautiful. You can write a bagato about the first half, but in one є one great plus, the whole price. From truth with focus, there is a big problem, sometimes navigating tricks, especially when taking portraits, if it’s important not to waste a moment.
Yes, it’s especially annoying when in the twilight he thinks that he has enough light to focus, he doesn’t turn on the assist lamp on the flash and blunders godlessly.
The lens does not solve anything at such moments, the carcass is joking at you ... =)
I take 3 months to buy a replacement whale, from the first shots I noticed a big difference, And when there are times to take pictures on a whale, I understand that it was necessary to take 50mm from the first day of buying the camera! There is a minus, it is not a zoom, the angle is narrow on the crop is very noticeable! The lens can be said creative!
as a staffer I took Mir-24N 35 2.0 (m42 + adapter m42-EOS) I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the picture, at a price cheaper than 50 1.8
I want to buy a fifty dollars, a Kenon600d camera, take a table to check the focus of the lens, I tried 2 lenses in the store, from 5 times 1 time the correct focus. Tell me the case in the lens or camera?
You are right, his focus is a bit floating, someone wrote above that it is very annoying in the portrait. I often switch to live view and manually bring it .. they all work like that, a lot with a front / back focus of 10 times I get 6-7 times and everything else is different. It is simple and disheveled but very cheap) and the quality of the covered is not bad.
Who cares, look for an article on the network (I dig somewhere on the forum) about how focusing on canon works .. and all questions will disappear .. but the bottom line is that there are cross sensors, vertical and horizontal (you can see the viewfinder), they work in different planes , only the cross more accurately and equally perceives both mountains and vert contrast lines (I do not know how to put it correctly)
And the sensors themselves are much larger than their "outline" in the viewfinder, that is, if there is an object near the focusing point that is more contrasting than the one that you are trying to catch, the camera will catch it.
I will find an article, send Arkady, let him express his thoughts on this)
the fact is that amateur cameras allow autofocus to miss within the flu, and most of them with aperture optics do not work correctly, close the aperture to 3.5 and everything will work out
Interesting article. As I understand it, with careful use, the lens is just wonderful for the money.
Tell me if there are adapters on my Olympus PEN E-PL1 camera (http://rozetka.com.ua/ru/products/details/39926/index.html) to this lens ?? And will autofocus be preserved when using the adapter ??
Thanks in advance for your reply.
I think that the camera is still stupid, on manual glasses the same trouble the chip puts out of focus,
the camera evaluates incorrectly in different settings, live view corrects everything. I use 50 1.8 about
years and very pleased with him, his money is worth.
I had a pocket on my waistcoat for him. It is convenient and always at hand. So I don’t know, or pressed inadvertently but stopped switching AF-MF. The truth is stuck on AF, but without a manual it’s bad and inconvenient. Maybe someone has come across or already poked over him?
In my opinion, the lens is one of the best in terms of price-quality ratio. Only it is impossible to open the diaphragm completely. Limit - 2,8
A comparative analysis for wedding photography can be found here:
http://v-mishakov.ru/Teorija/Optika_sv/optika_sv.html
I woke up the Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II before shooting the helius 44th frankly tell me he was tired of aiming at moving targets, I was pleasantly pleased with this best option for replacing, I came across a good instance (tortured sellers, selected, tested) although the design is worse than at the tamron and it focuses funny as a robot robot but the pictures pleased.
he has image stabilization has a Canon EF 50mm F / 1.8 II
The manual focus mode switch stopped turning on. The last time I barely turned it on and without clicking. Who faced this problem?
Everybody dreamed of buying one. Brought to try - g ... but terrible. It feels like you are holding a sooo cheap Chinese craft in your hands. I took off the test charts - Helios 44 is much better.
in fact, Helios 44 is much better than most lenses.
For me, Helios 44-2 and Canon 50 1.8 work on an equal footing, but I like the Chinese craft more in terms of color rendition, and as I said, if you close the aperture to 3.5 - 4, then the sharpness is stunning and the color rendition falls off. I have an amateur Canon 1100D.
The picture quality with the Canon EF 50mm f / 1.8 II is better than with the Helios 44-M4. Autofocus is not as bad as they say. Sometimes the focusing accuracy is affected by the light spectrum - with incandescent lamps there are misses, with natural light there are almost no misses. Tested on Canon 600D.
Today I took the 1st version of this lens (it is also called the grandfather) so this is what I will say in comparison 1 - the version I is many times better, the lens is a rarity, but it is worth taking. It has more accurate autofocus, a sturdier build, a metal lens mount, a focusing scale (which is missing on the 2nd version) and it also has the usual focus ring like on old Soviet lenses.
Well, guys, it’s enough to compare the Soviet tins with the Boot a !!!
Not a single Helios Zenitar and other Soviet fakes can be compared with the type of cheap low-cost half-bus for 3000 rubles, not only for the convenience of work, but for example the number of lines!
Here many write about the inconvenience of focusing ...
I shot back in the time of the 400th Boot, I was happy with almost everything and the modern xxx series squeezes everything out of it completely.
Flimsy - yes!
What is all the plastic finally - of course !!
Oh, and the bayonet is not metal - but what did you want for 3 kilo rubles or your hryvnia lope there ???
He shoots well and for his money, just Lake in experienced hands.
The m42-eos adapter ring costs $ 3. metal mount looks about the same. there is simply a disregard for the company to buyers of its products.
And by the way, as practice has shown, it differs from its fellow 1.4 only in body and faster focusing.
QUALITY OF THE IMAGE IS THE SAME.
But 1.2 is a completely different story….
Well, guys, it’s enough to compare the Soviet tins with the Boot a !!!
Not a single Helios Zenitar and other Soviet fakes can be compared with the type of cheap low-cost half-bus for 3000 rubles, not only for the convenience of work, but for example the number of lines!
Here many write about the inconvenience of focusing ...
I shot back in the time of the 400th Boot, I was happy with almost everything and the modern xxx series squeezes everything out of it completely.
Flimsy - yes!
What is all the plastic finally - of course !!
Oh, and the bayonet is not metal - but what did you want for 3 kilo rubles or your hryvnia lope there ???
He shoots well and for his money, just Lake in experienced hands.
According to the resolution in the center, Helios and this Canon are almost the same, at the edges of the frame Helios is worse, but the edges go into the bokeh zone, and on the crop, the difference at the edges is generally scanty. Canon has a 5-blade diaphragm, Helios has 6-8 blades. So it is not necessary to pour crap on Soviet optics like that, especially since AF is not so important.
If you compare this lens with the Soviet Zenitar-M 1,7 / 50, what is the difference in image quality? Which is better?
All Soviet optics were designed for film, without taking into account the features of digital matrices. Modern lenses are more digitalized. Soviet lenses, as a rule, are made of metal and glass, but manual ones and with a wide range of quality, low-contrast, are afraid of backlight (the picture is whitened). Canon Lens EF 50mm 1: 1.8 II is a very good lens for its price. On the open, it is not consistently in focus; - with coverage up to 3.2 will please you with sharpness, color, contrast. Handle carefully; - is afraid of frontal blows. The picture quality is better than many more expensive zooms, and Zenitar is definitely no match for it.
What is the original Canon EF 50 f / 1.8 II lens ???
tell me, but this lens is suitable for Canon EOS 1100D!) thanks
Yes, it does.