Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the company's least expensive lens. It's an excellent value, even if it does have some flaws.

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  Sharp at f/1.8. Lightweight. Silent, smooth video focus. Very affordable.

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  Modest barrel distortion. Slower focus. Can flare. Some fall-off at wide aperture. Omits stabilization. Narrower field of view on APS-C cameras. Hood not included.

It is easy to love a lens with perfect optical quality, best-available AF and first-class build quality. Start dropping any of those attributes and size, weight and price concessions are expected with the amount of the price concession being the all-important factor for many.

This lens is an update to the popular and inexpensive standard 50mm f/1.8 EF lens , replacing the standard focusing motor with Canon's new stepping motor technology, which promises smoother, quieter autofocus performance, which is especially suited to recording video.

This lens is situated as the next Nifty Fifty in Canon’s line-up, offering the popular 50mm focal length at an affordable $125 price point. Of course, on APS-C cameras like the Canon EOS Rebel series will provide a field of view equivalent to an 80mm lens on a full frame camera.

It's probably not as sharp as some people would like when used wide open, but stopped down to Æ’/2.8 or Æ’/4, it's as sharp as sharp gets. For the price point, you really can't go wrong with this lens, and it's a welcome improvement in sharpness over the previous version II of the 50mm Æ’/1.8.

When compared to its predecessor the new Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 STM features several crucial assets. They are especially visible when it comes to the build quality and the casing. With the newer model you get a metal mount, a bit more compact body and a manual focus ring which is actually useful.

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  excellent image quality in the frame centre,, decent image quality on the edge of the frame,, very good control of the chromatic aberration,, moderate distortion,, slight vignetting on the APS-C,, moderate astigmatism,, silent and accurate autofocus,, very good price quality ratio.

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  huge vignetting on full frame,, very high level of coma.

Ask any Canon user what they think Canon’s most popular lenses are, and I can guarantee that most will mention the classic EF 50mm f/1.8. Not only is it the most affordable lens in the EF line-up, it’s also well matched to a wide variety of photographic genres.

This lens is an update to the popular and inexpensive standard 50mm f/1.8 EF lens , replacing the standard focusing motor with Canon's new stepping motor technology, which promises smoother, quieter autofocus performance, which is especially suited to recording video.

Canon's old 'Nifty Fifty' was a popular lens despite its poor build quality as it represented such good value for money. Even though this lens costs more than its predecessor, it still represents great value due to the high levels of sharpness it produces.

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  Very good sharpness in the centre at maximum aperture, Excellent sharpness when stopped down, Lightweight, Silent focusing, Good build quality

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  Sluggish focus speeds, Sharpness could be better towards the edges at fast apertures

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is a slight improvement over the old EF 50mm f/1.8 II - more so mechanically rather than optically. Now the old EF 50mm f/1.8 II was already a good lens actually especially when stopped down.

Great addition to my lens collection.The Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM is an amazing sharp lens which performs excellent in low light.The Canon 10-18 finally gives me a real 'wide angle' since I'm using a crop sensor camera (focal length * 1.6 crop factor).

This is lens is super sharp. I have it on a crop sensor camera and it works great. I love the 1.8, it works really well in low light. Highly recommend this lens as a nice addition to only having a 18-55 kit lens.

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  Super sharpGreat in low lightPrice

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  None

It's a great little lens for stills and video. In a shoot out at 2.0 with a 50L, this lens is just a tad softer (hard to see in some scenes) but has dramatically less CA. The bokeh's very busy, but you can't have everything for this price.

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  Pleasing image quality from 2.0 on up, ok auto focus.

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  Bokeh is a busy, but to be expected at this price.

This is a must have lens to have in your gear bag. It's a great lens to throw on your body (either crop or not) and get right out there and do some incredible portrait and street photography. You will not be disappointed.

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  Excellent portrait lens for both Full Frame and Crop Sensor bodies. Equates to approx. 85mm focal length on Canon 1.6 crop sensor cameras. New STM (Stepping motor) for silent and fast (although not blazing fast) focusing Very sharp lens. Do not let the price fool you.

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  Not really a con, but Smaller filter size (smaller than the standard f1.8 50mm Canon without STM. I recommend bying a step up or step down ring for filters anyways to keep your filter arsenal ready for most any lens in your gear bag.

I'm writing this review for my mother because I'm the one who actually tested the lens out for her before she comes down to visit in a couple of weeks. She had it sent to my house so it would be here when she arrived. I have the old nifty 50mm, so I knew she would like this one.

Canon glass: sharp focus; shallow depth of field great for florals and portraits but the lens is also tack sharp on landscapes; lightweight; outstanding price/value.

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  Canon glass: sharp focus; shallow depth of field great for florals and portraits but the lens is also tack sharp on landscapes; lightweight; outstanding price/value.

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  None

I have always wanted this lens and got is as a birthday gift, and uses it every now and then. I am happy with the visual performance of it but it could have been better when it comes to the sound because it is an STM lens after all

Wonderful, easy to use lens! I just like taking shots of my kids and I love how this lens is so crisp in the front and blurry in the background.

A go to for portraits. The 1.8 is fantastic for astrophotography such as tight star clusters or the Orion Nebula. Not so great for milky way shots due to narrow field of view. The 50mm becomes around 80mm on crop sensor cameras. I'm happy with it for the price.