Ask a bunch of photographers what their favorite lens is - and you will likely hear the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens mentioned. It is sharp, small, light, inexpensive and with an f1.4 aperture, fast . The 50 f/1.4 finds a home with many photographers - from pro to casual - for several reasons.

I only wish the same optical quality was found in other wide angle lens from Canon in the same price range. Not as wide as you would like with a digital SLR, but it produces really good photos. tack-sharp. Great for portraits..

Everything

It doesn't have a 24mm twin sister for the same price

Overview ------------- The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 sits in between the cheap-o f/1.8 mkII version and the ridiculously expensive f/1 .2 L-series version. There was a crazy f/1.0L lens at one time but this seems to have been discontinued (presumably as nobody could afford it).

Low light performance; sharpness; colour saturation and contrast

Plasticy construction and poor feel of manual focus ring

The pictures below illustrate the angles of view on 35mm full frame and APS-C camera bodies:

Excellent image quality when stopped down; Essentially no lateral chromatic aberration; Fast and accurate autofocus with full-time manual override

Distinctly soft and 'dreamy' at wider apertures (F1.4-F1.8; Bokeh chromatic aberration; most visible at wide apertures; Vignetting at wide apertures on full frame (essentially disappears by F2.8; Somwhat susceptible to flare

Canon's 50/1.4 is a bit heavier than the 50/1.8 but it gives you simultaneous AF/MF because of its USM focusing motor . It is one f-stop slower than the 50/1.0 but much lighter weight and less than one-sixth the price.

It is no surprise that the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM is a very popular choice among Canon users when it comes to choosing a standard lens. It offers probably the best compromise between quality and price here. That said it's not a flawless lens when used on a full format DSLR.

This little beauty shines! I have owned the $100 50mm F/1.8, and it is a usable and good starter prime. I have also shot with the 50mm F/1.2 L, which will run you $1600. I purchased this lens as a fine cost/value compromise.

Immaculate image quality without "L" investment

you will want to pick up a lens hood.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM should probably be considered the best alternative among Canon's four 50mm lenses (in terms of value for the money, overall performance and capabilities). While not as fast as its more expensive 50mm f/1.2L USM variant, this lens performs as well (if not better) pretty much...

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is a pretty unassuming-looking lens. It's not big, it's not flashy and it's not particularly expensive for a fast prime lens. Indeed, the light weight and the plastic finish do give it a faintly cheap feel.

A 50 mm lens is one of the most classic devices in the assortment of every advanced photography enthusiast or every professional photographer. In days of analogue photography it was an instrument which gave you the same picture scale as the human eye does so it was commonly added to amateur reflex...

good frame centre sharpness (apart from the maximum aperture); very good frame edge picture quality on APS-C; good frame edge picture quality on full frame; well corrected astigmatism; low chromatic aberration; lack of distinct geometric deformations at frame edges; fast; silent and accurate...

by f/1.4 the image is distinctly „soft"; very high coma; susceptibility to flares; visible distortion on full frame; very high vignetting on full frame