Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II review

The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II may be one of the cheapest lenses currently on the market, but its optics belie its lowly price. As befits a classic standard prime lens, it's very sharp when stopped down (especially in the centre), shows minimal chromatic aberration, and has relatively low distortion; APS-C users will also benefit from extremely low vignetting. In most regards it comes very close indeed to its much more expensive bigger brother, the EF 50mm F1.4 USM, lagging marginally behind in corner sharpness at any specific aperture. The only real blight in imaging terms is the lens's bokeh, or rendition of out-of-focus backgrounds, which is anything but smooth with a distinct tendency to render bright highlights as obvious pentagons (it's a pity Canon didn't choose to use a diaphragm with 7 or 8 blades instead of 5).

Of course getting great optics for relatively little money means that corners have to be cut somewhere along the line, and in this case it's in the build quality. The 50mm F1.8 II may not be the most flimsily-constructed lens ever made, but I can't think of another currently on the market which can rival it for a sheer impression of plasticky-ness. This alone will put off some potential purchasers, who will likely gravitate towards the better-made F1.4 lens instead, but in truth it's just fine for everyday amateur use. Of course the flipside of this is that it's extremely light, and won't add much strain on your shoulder carrying it around all day, so it's a great option to throw in your bag for low-light shooting when travelling.

The other slight fly in the ointment is the autofocus; the micro-motor system is a little slow and therefore not an ideal choice for moving subjects. More problematically, focusing can be inconsistent and inaccurate in low light, something that will be most obvious when shooting at large apertures. There's also no full-time manual focus override for those users who don't like to trust their camera's AF system; again these issues are all reason to consider the F1.4 lens instead.

Andy Westlake

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