Review: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
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This was the second lens I bought for my digital SLR. I've taken over 6,000 photos with it. I've found it especially good for portraits and, because of its wide aperture, where the lighting is poor.
Good points
- Very inexpensive: about £60 new
- Good aperture
- Focal length is good for portraits on 1.6x crop bodies (e.g. 400D)
- Excellent image quality from f/2.2 onwards
- Front element doesn't rotate, so you can use a circular polarizing filter without trouble.
- Small and light (though some would argue this is a disadvantage)
Bad points
- Soft at f/1.8, you need to stop it down. Only sharp from f/2.2 onwards.
- Focusing is noisy (non-USM) and a little slow.
- The front extends as you focus closer.
- Bad bokeh - not smooth like on better lenses - the 5-blade aperture may be to blame.
- Large minimum focus distance (45 cm) - no good for macro photography.
This lens is the best value item in my camera kit - I highly recommend it!
Sample pics
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