This is a beautiful lens with beautiful results! It is the equivalent to 80mm on a crop sensor like my 70d, which makes it a great portrait lens. At f1.4, it is fast and great for low light and natural light. Auto focus is fast, quiet, and accurate. I purchased this lens at a bargain price due to a damaged focus cam. Fortunately, I was able to repair it without purchasing parts. This leads us to the one weakness of this lens; Since the entire optic group moves out when focusing on a near subject, it is susceptible to damage if something bumps into the objective end. This is easy to avoid with a little care. I recommend storing the lens with the focus ring turned to infinity. This is quick and easy to do, as the manual focus can be turned regardless of switch position. Another plus is that the focus ring does not rotate when auto focusing, so no worries of interfering with auto focus when holding onto the lens.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes
I bought this as an upgrade to the Canon 50mm 1.8. In two years, I may wish that invested in the 1.2 L instead- but for my specific need, I wanted a 50mm better than the 1.8 and I wanted it fast!! All around, this is an amazing lens for daily use. It's quiet, compact, and the focal length is great for a magnitude of uses on a full-frame body. I do a lot of weddings, and it's really a great length for group portraits and single portraits, but also can be used for a medium-wide all over shot. Perfect for prime candids, too. The images are sharp, and you can definitely shoot at 1.4 without much concern...except for the purple fringing is a little extreme at 1.4 . It really lightens at 1.8 and 2.0, and IS recoverable wide open, but it's definitely something to be aware of.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I purhased this lens specifically to shoot indoor weddings, where using a flash can be distracting and sometimes not allowed. I love the light that this little lens lets through...with an ISO of about 400 you can achieve an excellent indoor shot without using your flash. If you want less noise, dial the ISO down to 250...depending upon the amount of available light in the setting, you may have to photoshop your brightness/contrast levels at ISO 250, or filter out a little bit of noise at ISO 400. With that said, it's a good little lens if you can't get your hands on the f/1.2, which would probably shoot at ISO 200 with no trouble, thus eliminating the need to adust photo lighting or remove noise from higher ISOs. This lens is very well built, light in your hands with just a little bit of stable 'weight.' The cons: I had hoped to have better close range wide angle option. To shoot the group photos I have to move beyond the 50mm range, thus loosing light and "focability." I have switched back to shooting groups with either my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L glass or my 70-200mm f/2.8L glass, depending upon how large the group is. My conclusion, the 50mm f/1.4 is fabulous for shooting portraits and head shots, but not versatile enough for weddings, at least not for my needs. I've found my 24-70mm to be a real all-around camera lens, and highly recommend it for weddings. I also use the Canon 85mm f/1.8 on occasion with wonderful results. In fact, I've heard from several of my fellow photographers that the Canon f/1.8 50mm is a top notch lens, almost comparing to the 50mm f/1.4 at about $200 cheaper. Thanks for reading and I hope this advise was helpful, but remeber it is only MY opinion...it's your opinion that matters, and everyone has their own preferences. Be sure to visit me on the web at www.fpp.exposuremanager.com. ShawnaRead full review
It is well known that a 50mm prime lens is a near essential piece of gear even for amateur photographers like me. This is a well built, solid lens that is a step up from the $100 "nifty fifty" Canon f/1.8. I've used it primarily for indoor sports photography so far with good results, though I stayed away from the f/1.4 limit so as not to overly narrow my depth of field. I have some upcoming portrait work, so I may push the aperture limit for that. But my prelim test shots at 1.4 look great so far. Would certainly recommend this lens.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I have both the 50mm 1.8 and now the 1.4. The Bokeh on the 1.4 is noticeable. It is less noisy and seems to pick up focus slightly faster. Is it worth the upgrade from the 1.8? I think so. The lens is more robust and just looks more professional; I don't mind the added weight. If you are becoming a more serious photographer, this lens is worth the upgrade if you can't afford getting into the L lenses. I can't. The benefit of sticking with the 50mm 1.8 is still a great lens if you're starting out and can save you some money so you can get another pancake lens. I may even keep the 1.8 to keep on me and let that take the beating from everyday use vs. carrying the 1.4 and also to maybe save weight. Hope this helps. In summary:The 1.4 is worth it. If you need a wide lens, purchase the 1.8 and also get the 24mm pancake.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is a great lens for the enthusiast. I upgraded from the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens and it captures the image so much better. It's a bit heavier than then the f/1.8 but the f/1.4 will have more glass, better build materials (more metal and less plastic) and the focus ring is a proper manual one and not electronically coupled with the camera.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Amazing performance in night mode! This is my first prime lens and I would recommend it to others who are looking for a lightning fast focusing lens with a huge aperture, without breaking the bank. For video recordings, you may want to use an external mic, as the lens makes clicking sounds when focusing. This is normal for all lenses, but is picked up by the in-camera microphones. I'm shooting on a Canon 80D.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
A great little lens most of the time. Sometimes it thinks it's in focus when in fact it's not. But when it does get it right, which is most of the time, the rendering is really lovely and it punches way above its price tag. I use it with an adapter on my Fuji GFX and although wide open there is vingetting it's easy to remove. If you're thinking of buying one of these don't hesitate as you should be really happy with the images
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is my first lense purchase ever and I am very satisfied with it! I had read many reviews and I am glad I made this purchase. The quality that this lense produces is exactly as described by many others. The lense is easy to use and the pictures are very crisp. I was debating on buying the 50 mm F/1.8 USM lense but spend the extra money and bought this one instead. What a great lense!
I have had the 50mm 1.8 (with the metal ring), and I believe the 1.4 is much faster focusing, sharper image, and not as noisy. Yes at 1.4 the corners are soft but this lens will produce beautiful photos. I highly recommend
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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