canon50mm

Carsten Schlipf

Battle of the Nifty Fifties: Canon’s 50mm f/1.8 Lenses

This year, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, also called the "Nifty Fifty" celebrates its 25th birthday. Yes, that's right: this lens was released back in December 1990 and is the second oldest lens that's still in production. Yet it still dominates the list of the most popular Canon lenses, and for good reason: it's cheap, it's fast, it's small and lightweight, and it offers good performance for the price, which makes it the first prime lens for most Canon owners.

But of course, being such an old lens does have its downsides, so Canon has just released the successor to the old Nifty Fifty: the new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM.

Michael Zhang

Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM Focus and Sound Comparison with the Old ‘Nifty Fifty’

This week Canon announced its new 50mm f/1.8 STM, a followup to the popular and cheap "Nifty Fifty" 50mm f/1.8 II. Aside from a better build quality and a metal mount, the new lens also features Stepping Motor (STM) technology for
smooth and silent autofocusing.

If you'd like to see how the focusing sound and smoothness compares between the new lens and its predecessor, check out the comparison video above.

Jay Leavitt

Comparing the Optics of the $40 Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 and the $125 Canon 50mm f/1.8 II

I recently did a simple review that compared Yongnuo's new $40 clone of the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II. Today I will dive a little deeper into how the two lenses stack up optically.

There’s only so much that can be tested in home without fancy gear (MTF charts and the like) so I did a few tests that gauge common aesthetic qualities, using techniques that are often recommended for testing at home.

Michael Zhang

Using the Rare Canon 50mm f/1.0 and Its Bokehliciously Thin Depth of Field

The Canon 50mm f/1.0 was the fastest SLR lens in production before it was discontinued in 2000 and replaced with the f/1.2. There aren't too many copies of this lens floating around on the used market, so photographers who want to use the ridiculous aperture it offers must pay a hefty premium in order to purchase one; the lenses commonly sell for two or three times the original retail value.

When reader Bryan Soderlind switched from film to digital a while back, he decided to splurge and go "all the way" by buying a 50mm f/1.0 for a little over $3,000 -- a relative bargain. The lens was in "impeccable shape" and was in focus even when using the razor sharp depth of field at f/1.0. Here are some of his thoughts on what it's like to use the lens, and some sample photos from his shoots.