Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens user reviews

Pros Very fast! You won't need a flash in low light.
Great way to get portraits/still life/scenery
Very inexpensive! Great glass for the money - very simple so it's very unlikely to malfunction.

Cons Plastic mount - would prefer metal but for the money you would have to pay double!
Noisy motor - could potentially scare away animals

Summary This lens is the holy grail of lenses. Why? Because you can do almost anything with this lens! For APS-C size cameras like the XS/XT etc. this is a great portrait because it is more like 70mm. You can stop down to f/1.8 (go a couple higher though for sharpness) and get a great subject with a beautifully blurred background (called "bokeh"). Want to do 1:1 macro? Get a reverse mount for about $15 or a bellows for $50+ and you can get REALLY close to things - and... because it is really fast, you can get a great picture. I have cool pics of leaves/moss/oranges and they are life size and great! I have this lens on almost all the time when I am shooting in the city or the country. Zoom lenses will have distortion at either focal length - unless you can afford the L-series lenses from Canon. I totally believe that this lens is the ideal lens for amateur photographers and after mastering this lens you will become a great artist!

Pros Great lens with excellent background blur

Cons Wish it was USM

Summary This is the lightest EF lens of all at a mere 4.6 oz. (130g). Compact and high-performance, standard lens. Its Gaussian optics provides sharp delineation from near to far focusing distances.

The color balance is excellent for a standard lens.
This lens performs great in low light conditions, close ups and portraits.

The 50mm f/1.8 is also know for the beautiful blurred background also known as (bokeh ). I have owned this lens since April 28, 2008 and have used it in low light; shooting headshots, before and after beauty makeovers for my salon and performance was great.

The only thing I wished that it was USM like the 50mm f/1.4. The lens is more bangs for the buck, but has a plastic feel to it. I am in the cosmetology field whereas head shots are used as posters, calendars and shop catalogs and the 50mm really is a winner.

I would certainly recommend this lens to all my friends and colleagues in the beauty and photography field.

Pros $80!!! Very, very low distortions

Cons All cheap plastic construction, tad slow focus at large apetures

Summary My first prime lens purchased due to it's f/1.8 abilities. Yes; it's all plastic and it's not a nice plastic. Yes, it was only $80 brand spanking new. Yes, it looks more like a wart than a lens on my Canon 40D.

That said...

It takes very sharp pictures (center=excellent and borders=very good). It focuses quickly under most circumstances, but is a bit noisier than the USM lenses from Canon. It's a lens for full-frame cameras so vignetting isn't an issue even at f/1.8.

Long story short: it rocks.