Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
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Product Specifications
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- 50mm focal length and maximum aperture of f/1.8
- Great for portraits, action, and nighttime photography
- Minimum focusing distance of 1.15 ft. (0.35m) and a maximum magnification of 0.21x
- Stepping motor (STM) delivers near silent, continous Move Servo AF for movies and smooth AF for stills
80mm effective focal-length on APS-C cameras, 50mm on full-frame cameras.Lens Construction:6 elements in 5 groups
Product Description
Style:Lens Only Product Description Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
From the Manufacturer EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Compact and lightweight—an outstanding walk-around lens Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is a great entry into the world of EOS prime lenses. With an 80mm effective focal-length on APS-C cameras, 50mm on full-frame cameras, it’s an excellent prime lens for portraits, action, even nighttime photography. Its bright maximum aperture of f/1.8 helps it not only to excel in low light, but also to capture gorgeous, sharp images and movies with beautiful background blur thanks to its circular 7-blade design. An updated lens arrangement with new lens coatings helps render images with excellent color balance, plus minimized ghosting and flare. Performance is brilliant, with a stepping motor (gear-type STM) to deliver near silent, continuous Movie Servo AF for movies plus speedy, smooth AF for stills. A redesigned exterior with improved focus ring placement makes manual focus adjustments a breeze. Canon’s most compact 50mm lens, the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM has a rugged metal mount, plus an improved minimum focusing distance of 1.15 ft. (0.35m) and a maximum magnification of 0.21x. Offering sharp performance for the best in movies and stills, it’s a fixed focal length gem—the perfect lens for photographers and moviemakers to expand the creative possibilities with their EOS cameras.
Specifications Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 50mm f/1.8 Lens Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups Diagonal Angle of View: 46° Focus Adjustment: AF with full-time manual Closest Focusing Distance: 1.15 ft. / 0.35m Filter Size: 49mm Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: Approx. 2.7 x 1.5 in. / 69.2 x 39.3mm, Approx. 5.6 oz. / 159g Sample Image
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Product Reviews
Wonderfully sharp, fast focusing and petite
HIGHLIGHTS: excellent image quality, compact form factor and affordable pricing, but with few concessions in build and AF performance.CONSTRUCTION: Slightly smaller and heavier than the prior model, EF 50 1.8 II, aka nifty-fifty, but with significantly better build quality. Improvements include metal mount, sturdier barrel and AF/MF switch, larger focus ring, grippy matte finish and stepping motor (STM). Unfortunately, it has an odd filter size, 49mm, rather than 52 or 58mm common to small Canon lenses.OPTICAL QUALITY: It’s the same optical formula as the nifty-fifty, but with tweaks to lens coatings and improved close focus ability. Wide open it’s tack sharp center frame, sharper than my nifty-fifty. Corners on full frame, e.g., 6D, are darker and softer than center but equalize by F2.8. On APS-C cameras, e.g., 70D and Rebel, there is little corner darkening or softness since nearly half the image circle is cropped out. Optimal sharpness is at F5.6. Chromatic aberration (CA) is mild and reduced over the nifty-fifty. In short, image quality is excellent open wide, even better stopped down and one ups the nifty-fifty in both sharpness and control of CA.BOKEH: I love the soft whirl of a defocused background, and this seven-blade diaphragm does not disappoint, rendering smooth bokeh and pleasantly round specular highlights. The smooth bokeh combined with pin sharp center frame really make subjects pop at larger apertures. This a great portrait lens!AUTO FOCUS speed and reliability is markedly better than the nifty-fifty. It’s accurate and rarely misses focus even in low light. Focus is achieved by front element extension (nested barrel. The STM motor is quieter than the prior model, albeit not completely silent.VIDEO FOCUS on a 70D is not as fast as STM zooms but buttery smooth and great for touchscreen pulls and Movie Servo. Focus noise, while low volume, was recorded by my 70D’s built-in mic during quiet video clips. The workaround is to use an external mic or prefocus.MANUAL FOCUS is focus-by-wire: the ring merely activates the focus motor and is not mechanically coupled to the lens. Manual focus is smooth, but control isn’t as good as a mechanical ring. The MF ring is thin but wider than the nifty-fifty’s ring and better positioned. Like USM lenses, it has Full-Time Manual (FTM), allowing AF override without flipping a switch: simply turn the MF ring. Unlike USM lenses, FTM is only active when the shutter button is half-depressed.HOOD: The groove on the barrel is for the Canon ES-68, locking bayonet hood. It attaches to the outer barrel, protecting the protruding inner barrel from frontal impact and flare. It’s pricy but a worthwhile investment. Update (8/16/2015): The JJC LH-68, a clone of the ES-68, is now available at less than half the cost of OEM.FINAL BLURB: The natural perspective and fast aperture make the EF 50 1.8 STM ideal for low light, travel and street photography with a full frame camera (6D). On a cropper, e.g., Rebel or 70D, it’s a short telephoto and perfect for portraits, indoor sports and stage. Canon got everything right with this redesign: accurate and snappy AF, sturdy build and, most significantly, vivid and sharp images wide open.
A massive upgrade from the 50 1.8 - if you have one, it’s time to upgrade :)
BUILD QUALITY: Let’s first talk about the build quality of this new lens. The 50 STM has had a massive upgrade in this area, and feels absolutely fantastic. From the moment I picked up the lens, I knew that it was a complete redesign from the old model, and it sure needed it.On the rear of the lens we now have a metallic mount, something I’m so glad to see. Moving up from the plastic mount has increased it’s weight slightly, but also hugely increases the longevity of this lens. On the front we’ve now got a 49mm filter thread, which is even smaller than the old 52mm thread.And even the little things like the AF/MF switch has gotten an upgrade. It’s no longer a little button that seems like it could break easily. Which is just great to see.FOCUS RING: One of the old nifty fifty’s worst parts was it’s focus ring. It was small, fiddly and in the wrong posititon at the end of the lens.And fortunately on the new 50 stm it’s all been changed. The new focus ring is fantastic. The new focus ring is very similar to the ones used in the 24mm STM and the 40mm STM, and is wider now making it very easy to pull focus with. Something that was almost impossible to do on the old version. It’s still a focus by wire system, but I quite enjoy that these days. Not only that, but it’s now also full time focus which means no more breaking the lens when you forget to take it out of Autofocus.MACRO: Now this is definitely not a macro specific lens, but one area in which they did upgrade this lens is it’s minimum focus distance, which means you can get a little closer to your subject. Where as on the old nifty fifty the closest you could get was 45cm away, now the new model you can take photos from around 35cm. And paired up with a crop sensor body like the Canon 70d, you can really get some nice close up shots with lens before investing in a dedicated macro solution.BOKEH: Now even though the nifty fifty was a cheap lens, it still produced some fantastic images with a very shallow depth of field. It’s bokeh was a little funny though because it only had 5 aperture blade. On the new 50 stm this has now been upgraded to 7 rounded aperture blade and I’ve found that it produces some lovely bokeh. It’s very smooth and very creamy, and because it’s not a funny shape, it’s also not so distracting. Now to me it’s not a huge deal because I didn’t mind the old 50’s bokeh shapes, but I guess it is a nice upgrade.AUTOFOCUS: Of course one of the biggest new changes to this lens is the inclusion of an STM or stepping motor. Now I’ve used the 24 stm, 40 stm, 18-135 stm and I’ve been impressed with them all. And I can safely say the 50mm STM is just as good, it’s very fast and snappy and a massive upgrade from the old version.IMAGE QUALITY AND SAMPLES: So it’s all well and good to talk about the lens, but I always think it’s good to take a look at a few sample images to see just how good it is. Please take a look at the attached images on this review to see. From my testing I’ve got to say I’ve been so impressed with this lens. Especially for $125.The bokeh looks fantastic, chromatic aberation has been greatly reduced compared to the old version, and vignetting if almost no existent.Once you knock it down to around f2.8 this lens is about as sharp as you’d get for any lens around this price range.Colours are handled very well as well and can really pop if you get them in the right conditions.So overall I’ve loved the new 50 STM, what a brilliant lens.
I’m so pleased with the new STM version
I just ordered this lens and I tried it out right away!! I’m a portrait photographer and I’ve always had a 50mm 1.8 in my bag! My older one was dropped and so I needed a new one! I’m so pleased with the new STM version!! GORG colorful, crisp images!
Must-have lens.
This is a fantastic update to the venerable “nifty fifty”. Image quality is actually better than the 3x more expensive EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. If you’re used to USM lenses with full-time mechanical manual focus, STM lenses are a bit of an adjustment - you have to depress the shutter half-way in order to manually focus… the mechanism is electrical, not mechanical. The 49mm filter size is a bit of an outlier compared to other comparable prime lenses, but that’s a minor annoyance.
Excellent little lens
Excellent little lens. I carry it in place of my L lenses to any situation where the compact size and speed are beneficial (indoor events and parties).
It takes some great close up photos and I’m still experimenting with all …
As my first prime lens, I really am enjoying what you can do with it. It takes some great close up photos and I’m still experimenting with all of the things that it can do. For the price, I can’t see how you could go wrong and I’m glad that I made the choice. You just have to remember when taking shots that because its a prime lens you move to or away from the subject as there is no zoom. You are the zoom. The STM works great with my Canon 70D and I’m looking forward to using it much more.
Awesome!
Awesome lens! Love it
I recommend this!
Very good product - received quickly, and it works GREAT!!!
The reviews got this one right!
Add one more to the huge list of people that simply love this lens!
Five Stars
This lens is beautiful , I love it . I bought for my canon 70D .
Way more than i expected.
I am a novice photographer usually stumbling around trying to teach myself. And I decided to grab this lens on a whim. Best decision ever!
Five Stars
Great little lens!
Too noisy.
Got this for video recording but it makes too much noise.
Only worked for 7 months. Minimal use.
I’ve owned this lens for 7 months. Minimal use. It’s not working anymore. A bit disappointed because I didn’t expect it to not work this soon.
amazing
this is just amazing,i liked it.
Five Stars
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