Canon EF 50mm Lens

Why is it worth it?

The Canon EF 50mm lens is one of the best lens ranges offered by Canon with the same 50mm focal length. The EF 50 lens first came out in 1987 with the f/1.8 with the most recent model, the f1.2/L USM coming out in 2006. The lenses are Double-Guass i.e. the lens is actually a combination of various lenses which gives the ability to take pictures at different focal planes with optical aberration or blurring. The zoom range of the lenses varies from 0.7 feet to 2 feet. The EF 50mm range consists of six lenses each with an EF Electro-Focus mount due to which all communication between the camera and the lens takes place through electronic transmission rather than plungers and levers. The six versions of the lenses include the f/1.2L USM which is a replacement of the f/1.0L USM; the f/1.4L USM; the f/1.8L II which is a replacement of the f/1.8L and the f/2.5 Compact Macro.

Features of the Canon EF 50mm Lens

The USM lenses are professional lenses with auto focus technology. The f/1.2 USM is weather sealed with 8 lenses while the f/1.4 USM has 7 lenses and also offers manual focusing with the front part of the lens extending out during focusing. Both these lenses use the Canon L Lens which is top notch Canon technology which is both pricy and provides an extremely immaculate picture quality. The other lenses are more economy level such as the f/1.8L which has a plastic mount instead of steel as was the case in the professional lenses. The Canon EF 50mm lens offers great depth of field i.e. when a picture is taken, the elements in focus are separated very well while blurring out the background. The f/2.5 is the most basic of the six lens range with a zoom of only 23 cm. The camera is more suited towards capturing larger objects such as products rather than wildlife photography i.e. taking shots of insects.

Pros & Cons

According to reviews from www.amazon.com, the advantage of using the Canon EF 50mm range is that there is something for everyone i.e. from household range lenses to professional photography. The f/1.8 II lens is cheap however the images taken through it are sharp, have very limited color blurring and the distortion during picture taking is minimal. In addition it is very light weighing 4.6 ounces and has been termed as Canon’s toy lens. The advantage of using the slightly expensive version of the f/1.4L USM is that it is more of an investment because of the metal mount, it is more sustainable to wear and tear and in addition allows for the perfect focus i.e. the auto focus does most the work and with the added manual focus aspect, you can take pictures that would blow your mind!

As a con, there sometimes seems to be a minimal difference in the picture quality of the f/1.4 USM and the f/1.8 II and therefore people usually end up buying the latter. The f/1.4 USM is a little more expensive and serves the purpose if you are looking for a camera for the long run with regular snapping sessions. The only way to overcome this is to know your preferences, your aim and your budget because, like mentioned earlier, there is something for everyone.

Getting the best price

Visit Amazon to check out the deals on all the Canon 50mm EF lenses available. Amazon provides the best prices on all camera equipment including the Canon range, for example, the price of a new f/1.8 II lens is around $200 however on Amazon you get it for half price, that’s right, HALF PRICE (at the time of writing)! Read the reviews and if you’re running a bit low on money, you can always go for the slightly used models although if you ask me, new is always better. The f/1.4 USM costs around $640 for a newer version which you can get for $340; now that’s what I call getting a good bargain. You should keep in mind that there are only 28 new models available so if you want to get one, get one quick. For professional photographers looking to get a good price on the L-series f/1.2 L USM should visit the website and can buy the lens for almost 50% off i.e. the lens costs $2600 if you go buy it on the market but on Amazon you can get it for 1373.55; what more can you ask for!

Canon EF 50mm Lens