Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is a mid-range prime lens that was first introduced in mid 1993 as a standard lens for full frame cameras. Today, this Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is more widely used as a short portrait telephoto lens.

Design

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens has an excellent build quality with a metal lens mount and plastic barrel. Its front element also sports a 1cm recess from the filter thread, providing protection against stray light regardless of focus distance. The entire lens also moves to and fro by approximately 8mm when focusing.

This mid-range prime lens is a tad larger than most of its counterparts in the same class due to its AF system, but certainly smaller than the monstrous Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM. Considering its small size and feather weight, it balances well with most Canon digital SLRs and is great for carrying around and travelling, even in a jacket pocket!

This lens also sports the all-electronic EF mount. Hence, it will fit all Canon digital SLRs, APS-C, APS-H or 35mm full-frame formats. Also, the 58mm filter thread and focus ring do not rotate during AF, which will certainly suit polariser users as well as provide accurate manual focus.

Actual user review:
“This 50mm is amazing. I truly love it. I debated a long time between the 1.8 and the 1.4. In the end, I figured I’d never replace it again so get the 1.4. I love it – the images it makes are staggering. Still – it’s pricy compared to the 1.8 – but not to L series lenses. I think it’s worth it. I read online it had barrel distortion wide open – and it does if you really study the image – but that’s perfectly OK with me for the 1.4 shallow depth of field. Normal people will never see that at all. One drawback you may not think of is that beautiful wide open 1.4 aperture is not available to you if there is much light. It’s so fast it’s easy to overexpose – even with 1/4000th of a second shutter. It takes awesome portraits – awesome landscapes. This is a must have lens in every EOS owner’s bag. Don’t get the 1.8 and wish you got this one. Get this one and start taking great photos.” – S.Rose (USA)

Features

The lens owns a 37-year old conventional optical design with 7 elements in 6 groups, with 2 of the 7 elements made from high-refraction glass. It also utilizes the unique micro-type Ultrasonic Motor (USM) autofocus system which features full-time manual override. While AF is speedy and accurate, it is certainly not as quick as most ring-USM-based lenses.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens boasts an 8-blade diaphragm and maximum aperture of f/1.4, allowing it to create shallow depth of field effects.

Performance

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is possibly Canon’s most useful 50mm lens, permitting users to capture moving targets in almost every light condition. While background bokeh from this lens isn’t great at wider apertures, producing distinctly soft and ‘dreamy’ images, it does great at apertures of f/2.8 or smaller. It also displayed low distortion, minimal vignetting and virtually no lateral chromatic aberration despite its susceptibility to flare.

Considering the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens was made originally for 35mm full frame cameras, it naturally does best there though it is not to say it does not serve up the same fine image quality on the newer APS-C sensor formats.

Bottom Line

There is no doubt the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens has a superior build quality and AF system, especially when in comparison with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II AF lens.

Also taking into account its rather small and light weight and excellent performance, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is a must-have! It is the perfect companion to full-frame digital SLRs and an ideal portrait lens on APS-C cameras.

Average User Rating:

• “This lens is amazingly sharp and one of the fastest focal ratios in the Canon lens lineup. Its metal mount and rugged construction make it well worth the added expense when compared to the f/1.8 version. The effective 80mm focal length on D10, D20, and 300D cameras make it the perfect portraiture lens for people not willing to shell out for an old 50mm f/1.0L ($$$!). I do a fair amount of astrophotography and this is truly the test of optical quality for a lens. Trying to resolve point sources of light on a black background will truly bring out any aberration and coma that are present. With this in mind, I tested this lens on a star field and looked at stars in the corners of the frame while stepping up the focal ratio from f/1.4 to f/5.6 and found that it is more or less fully sharp by f/2.8. Many lenses I use for astrophotography only get as fast as f/2.8 and I have to step them all the way down to f/5.6 to get rid of the aberration. This lens can operate extremely fast and still be optically wonderful. Most terrestrial photography won’t need to worry about this, but you can rest assureed that your photos will be sharp as tacks from f/2.8 on up.” – R.B.Williams (NM,USA)
• “Right before I got this lens I thought that the best lenses were ones that offered, say, 28-105mm or 70-300mm or some other kind of broad zooming. Why would you be stupid to get a fixed-focal-length lens when you could have a large range even cheaper? Well here’s why. This lens. f/1.4. Yes, there’s f/1.2 but it’s $$$ expensive. This one is definitely worth its price. For the sharpness. The colors. The bokeh. The speed – both of focus and the fact that you can get a higher shutter speed when the aperture is wide open. A lens that helps me not use a flash is my friend. With the megapixels going these days, you can make up for the zoom by cropping. Or walk closer or further away. Granted, you’re not going to get many shots which require a 17mm lens but what you can fit to this lens will be nearly perfect. This was the lens that rejuvenated my interest in photography. The kit lens (17-55mm) on the Rebels nearly killed it. Be sure to get a hood and a lens filter (high quality, a super multi-coated, no less). Besides reducing unwanted light from sharp angles, they will also gladly sacrifice themselves should you fall or bump your lens.” – M.Laxmikant (USA)

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