I used to do my general photographic work with a 35mm film Nikon with a 50mm f1.4 lens, so I needed to get the same for my Cannon Rebel Digital. It's the best for the kind of picture I take.

not the sharpest 50mm lens. Some says that the plastic 50/1.8 is even sharper than this one. I don't shoot test charts, but this lens is just fine with me. I get the fast-accurate AF, and it's still produce usable images wide open. Build quality is somewhat nice.

fast f/1.4; fast AF; USM; build quality

soft wide open

Very fast and effective AF; nice bookeh and shallow dept of field

Struggles to focus in low light

Produces very crisp and vibrant photos. Great for low light photos. Easy to use

I use this lens all the time for portraits in the studio. Absolutely brilliant, clear and focuses brilliantly on the subject. Works well at night/ less light situations as well. I would totally recommend this lens to any photographers.

50mm is a very popular focal length for wide-aperture prime lenses, and this Canon ‘nifty fifty' features a maximum f/1.4 for superb bokeh in out-of-focus areas, bringing your portraits to life...

. I skipped past the cheap plastic body (and now carbon ring? I think?) F/1.8 and landed on this one. After messing with this lens I found the focusing to be too soft, or as others have said, not consistent.

Very good quality for this money

Still a bit noisy even with USM

"I will admit that I am on the fence regarding this lens. I love shooting with 50 mm prime lenses, and this lens is a good compromise between price and performance. The image quality is excellent stopped down, but wide open I find it can be disappointing.

Canon users are blessed with a choice of three 50mm primes offering maximum apertures of f/1.8, f/1.4 and f/1.2. The middle lens is reviewed here, but Canon also sent the f/1.2 lens so it too has been commented on in passing.

Fantastic MTF figures

AF is slightly unrefined