Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
 Fantastic Prime Lens October 11, 2008
Brian Hamilton (Scotland, UK)
73 out of 74 found this review helpful
This is the first prime lens I have bought and I didn't know whether to go for the f1.8 or this one. After much research I went for the f1.4, the build quality is much better, the focussing is improved and that extra stop counts for a lot.
The simplicity of this lens is such an eye opener, you have to work for your shots now instead of standing still and zooming in on everything. Your legs become your zoom and because of this you are much more likely to raise or lower your normal eye-level view of the world to find a more interesting angle on a subject.
This lens is purely about quality of image, there are no gimmicks, no image stablisation or anything you don't need, you have a focussing ring and an AF/MF switch. That's it.
Like every lens the sharpness is improved by stopping down from maximum, at f1.8 the 50mm is like a razor, even wide open at f1.4 the pictures are still pretty usable. But its the image, the colours are beautifully captured, the contrast is excellent, sharpness outstanding and the bokeh (out of focus areas) are so soft and creamy its like gazing into a pan of melted butter.
This is the lens you've been looking for, it frees you creatively, lets you make those images you could only dream about before. Sure, it takes a bit of work to get the most from this lens, but the effort will repaid tenfold when you see the results possible with this little cracker.
Sure, the f1.8 is a step in the right direction but the f1.4 is the grownup version, built to last and deliver the results time after time.
I am not exagerrating when I say that this lens has reinvigorated my photography.
If you own a Canon DSLR, you need this, its that simple.
great for concert photography November 16, 2008
Sw Hogben
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have recently bought this lens being a recent convert to Canon, and is already one of my favourites! I specialise in music photography, which means high ISO, no flash and low light conditions.
This lens comes up trumps in all departments and for small / midsize venues, Crisp, fast and solid, this really is the only lens you will need.
A Lens That Makes Me Smile! September 1, 2008
MR. Bates (England)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I just bought this lens a few days ago to compliment my 24-105L and Ef 100 f2.8 Macro.
The focusing speed is slower than the 24-105L which is expected, but I'm surprised that it beats the EF 100 2.8 Macro which has a ring USM.
F1.4 is very handy, and on this lens, results are very useable/acceptable. As reviews/forum discussions suggest, you will see halos and purple fringing at f1.4. This occasionally happens to me depending on subject. It gradually decreases as you step down a bit and at F2, the halo is gone.
Image sharpness wise, I can say that this lens is very sharp!
Build quality is good, better than the kit lens. Its comparable to my EF 100 f2.8 Macro. The scary bit about this lens is the extending front element (but it doesn't rotate) when it focuses, It looks like this is a weak spot of the 50 1.4, I bought a lens hood to protect it.
Upgrade from my 50mm 1.8 lens February 9, 2010
Barry Mccarthy (Ireland)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was looking for an upgrade to my 1.8 lens. Something that was as light and small as it was, but with better build quality and resolution. The 1.4 has really delivered for me. The extra bokeh at 1.4 is great and at f4 and beyond the sharpness is as good as anything I've seen. I like the physical size of the lens as it's light and neat on my 5dmk II. The build quality is far superior to the 1.8. The only downside to the lens is when using it in manual focus. The focussing ring seems to take 1.5 full turns to focus from near to far. What would be way more convenient would be maybe a quarter turn, like with my 16-35L lens. Besides that though, I would give this a 5 out of 5. Wish I had bought it earlier.
Far better than I expected April 9, 2010
K. Ahronson (Surrey, UK)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I read loads of reviews about this lens, and I was cautious about being overly-optimistic. I need not have worried, this is a fantastic piece of glass. The bokeh is truely amazing and it almost becomes hard to take a bad photo with it.
My hand kept going to the zoom ring which of course wasn't there, and that will take a while to get used to, but oh how I love this lens. I don't seem to have any of the vignetting that one or two reviews had spoken about - just great, great pictures.
I'm taking photos of stuff under my desk at ISO 100 without flash. Incredible.
Buy this lens, go on, buy it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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