Well I have been enamored with my Canon 7D. I have used a variety of lenses and been amazed at the quality of stills and HD video the camera is capable of. I recently decided to pick up some prime lenses.
I began with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 for a mere 100 bucks, you may be able to find cheaper used. A nice fast lens. You can check out my low light film shot with this lens below.
Quiet Night from Tej Babra on Vimeo.
Now as good as this lens appeears to be, I was very disappointed by the build quality. Well you pay for what you get, the focus ring is all but usless becuase of its location and it extreme slim design. Frustrated, I began to look for a replacement …
Enter the Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM.
Just holding the lens you can feel the difference in build quality. The 1.8 felt like it could be easily broken, unlike the 1.4 which feels much better in your hands. The focus ring is more easly accessible and not as thin as the f/1.4. The lens features an Ultrasonic focus that can be manually overridden, a simply fantastic and must have feature especially in low light situations. The lens may only be slightly faster than the 1.8, however it is optically superior justifying the higher price tag. The f/1.4 has a beautiful depth of field creating beautiful foreground/background blur.
While shooting stills on my 7D, the image quality was outstanding , providing exceptional color and sharpness. It is a great lens for shooting portraits.
When shooting video this lens proved to be a much better lens. Not only is the lens better optically, but the better build provides a wider focus ring situated on the barrel. This is a very nice advantage over the 1.4, especially when it comes to critical focusing. There is a switch on the lens that allows you to switch from auto focus to manually. However, you can easily just manually focus immediately without having to switch, a great bonus at this price range.
The 50mm f/1.4 is a much better lens than the 1.8, and well worth money. I recommend spending the extra money on it, you won’t regret it. It is become quickly one of my favorite prime lenses for my 7D… until I can get the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4.
**Update to see a film shot with the 50mm f/1.4 click HERE
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Tej Babra is a film maker and editor working with broadcast giants like Bell Media, CTV, Rogers, MTV, and Much Music, as well as a variety of film production companies. Tej is also a proud associate member of the Canadian Cinema Editors.
I feel the same way about the 50mm 1.8! The focus ring is just not made for manual use in my opinion.
And the 1.4 is a good investment because the price is still quite good for a fast prime lens. For sure 1.2 is even better, but also a lot more expensive.
Th 50mm 1.4 is the next lens I am planning to buy, although with the cropped sensor cameras it feels more like 80mm, which makes a nice portrait lens.
Jan
It is definitely worth the extra money. Excellent lens for the money. The 1.2 is better build quality. However, I did find the 1.2 was softer than the 1.4. But fantastic for portraits especially in your line of work.
Great write up. We will see a film using this lens?
after reading this I guess I will be grabbing the 1.4
That Zeiss 50mm looks great. I want one of those aswell.
I agree, I really like the feel of my Canon f/1.4 50mm and my Zeiss f/1.4 50mm. But I use both in different situations. Like you mentioned, the Canon has a good sturdy feel to it but what I really like about it is the ultrasonic focus. If I ever need to quickly focus on a run & gun situation, it’s nice to have it focus so quickly! The reason I have my Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 though is because I find it a little sharper and the focus is extremely smooth and well dampened. Really nice for pulling.
Nice write-up Tej!
Justin,
Thanks! I love how the Ultrasonic works. In a pinch you can quickly gain focus and also manually override if necessary. I would like to get my hands on the Zeiss glass. I may have one sooner rather than later.
I can’t figure out why Canon made this so good for so cheap, compared to its other offerings, but that is what has happened.
Bottom line … this is a portrait and moderate distance lens needing lots of indoor space for group shots on an APS-C EOS body. Outdoors, you can distance yourself as needed. In either case, the results are knock-down gorgeous where the f/1.8 aperture really opens up the capability of your Rebel, et. al. If all you have used to date is the EOS kit lens, this one will cause you to pucker in delight.
Some folk claim to use this as a walk-around, single lens, but that’s got to work a body silly trying to get the right range in what equates to an 80mm film camera lens on an APS-C EOS body. For an EOS 35mm film camera, it’s probably dead on perfect for walk-a-round. In either case, you should eventually own this lens. The housing is cheap, but with care it will last just fine.
I hope you will keep updating your content constantly as you have one dedicated reader here.
I’m actually thinking if I should get a 50mm f/1.4 or a 50mm f/1.8.
After doing some research, all customer reviews pointed to the Canon EF-50mm as the best lens to get.
Canon EF 50mm f-1.4 USM
This EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens from Canon is a standard length lens featuring superb quality and portability. Its f/1.4 maximum aperture makes it very effective in low light situations and able to provide shallow depth of field focus. Two high-refraction lens elements and new Gaussian optics eliminate astigmatism and suppress astigmatic difference. Its ultrasonic autofocus motor (USM) enables fast, smooth and silent autofocus action and full-time manual focus override allows for the precision of manual focus even in One Shot AF mode
Read more : http://webcamerawebcamera.com/detail.php?id_detail=52