Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens Review

30 Nov

Posted by Jayce as Hardware, Photography, Review

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens was introduced back in June 1993. It is an old lens but many photographers still like it included me. It is sharp, light, and fast. It contains two high-refraction lens elements and one Gaussian optics. It becomes 80mm equivalent with attach to 1.6x crop SLR camera with APS-C sensor like Canon EOS 400D Digital or his brother Canon EOS 40D Digital. It is a wonderful portrait lens.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens

Features
- Superb lens featuring superb quality and portability.
- f/1.4 speed makes it perfect for available-light shooting.
- Ideal lens to accompany a zoom when shooting in low-light conditions.
- Compact and affordable.
- Only lens in the EF System to combine the extra-small Micro USM and still provide full-time manual (FTM) focusing.

Specifications
Focal Length & Maximum Aperture - 50mm 1:1.4
Lens Construction - 7 elements in 6 groups
No. of Diaphragm Blades - 8
Minimum Aperture - 22
Diagonal Angle of View - 46Â°
Focus Adjustment - Overall linear extension system with USM
Closest Focusing Distance - 0.45m / 1.5 ft.
Filter Size - 58mm
Max. Diameter x Length, Weight - 2.9″ x 2.0″, 10.2 oz. / 73.8 x 50.5mm, 290g

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens is soft at f/1.4. However, it starts to perform with f/2 and onward on 1.6x crop SLR camera. It is a value lens with good quality image. Its focusing is silent and fast. However, it is slightly slower than ring type USM lens.

Below are some photo samples taken with Canon EOS 400D Digital.

f/2 1/100 ISO 100

f/2.8 1/50 ISO 100

f/2.8 1/60 ISO 100

f/4 1/200 ISO 100

f/2 1/640 ISO 100

f/2 1/100 ISO 400

f/2 1/320 ISO 100

f/2.8 1/200 ISO 400

f/4 1/200 ISO 100

f/2 1/4000 ISO 100

f/2 1/200 ISO 800

f/1.4 1/60 ISO 400

f/1.4 1/1250 ISO 100

f/1.4 1/800 ISO 100

f/2.8 1/60 ISO 100

Conclusion
You will love Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens. It is fast and suitable in low light environment. The image quality is great too.

Buy Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens at B&H Photo Video

Related topics:
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

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14 Responses

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aprilcherrie

December 4th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
1

wow.. looks cool.. how much you bought for this?
Jayce

December 4th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
2

I could not get it from Penang last time. No body had stock in Penang. So I brought it from B&H Photo Video for around RM1400 with B+W 58mm MRC UV Filter.
I love this lens very much.
BlurOne

December 4th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
3

Has a lot of pleasant bokeh. Do you think this lens is ok for wedding shots?
I mean, when a shot session required indoors and low light conditions?
I got de XTi (400D) and i’m still wondering wich lens is the correct for a sharp picture, i got two bad lenses, the one wich came with the cam, and the 75-300/4-5.6 usm. This lenses take soft pictures, and i’m looking for the correct lens for indoors and low light conditions, but sharp and fast (not so expensive like the primes lenses, of course, but a begginers)
Jayce

December 5th, 2007 at 9:49 am
4

Hi BlurOne, prime lens (not L lens) is less expensive than zoom lens and has better image quality. However, you need to have a lot of prime lens due to focus length. And you need to walk around a lot with prime lens.

50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 are the prime lenses good for low light condition in your case. I am still conform with 50mm for portrait. But it is not wide enough for group photo.

If you have more money. You can go for 17-55mm 2.8 IS and 70-200mm 2.8 IS. They are great lens but expensive.
abi

December 5th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
5

Awesome work man! Ive always been a fan of photography but never got a chance to explore that bit! For now im stuck with my olddd digi cam just to capture images..Sad, i know but one day im gonna come running to you and you gotta help get me addicted to this!
Jayce

December 5th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
6

Thanks abi. I also love photography for long time. I had taking photo using my first digital camera for last 7 years. I waited for so many years until I got the chance to upgrade to SLR camera from point and shoot camera.
I do love SLR camera very much. Going to full frame SLR camera in the next 5-10 years. It is an expensive investment but it worth the price.
shutterspeaks

December 9th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
7

fwahh… very nice, i want one. but the price so much different with f1.8 :-O
Jayce

December 9th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
8

It worths the price. Trust me. It is better than f/1.8 model.
KOKahKOK

March 12th, 2008 at 11:43 am
9

not bad! i found another kaki for EOS400D…..I am waiting 450D to realease in Mlaysia market n se teh price if expensive den will go for 400 D…..like urs! anythign to recomemend me ah?
Jayce

March 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
10

Which model are you using now?