Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens - An affordable standard prime lens with a fast aperture, suited to any field of photography.

This lens is by far the best thing I've bought in the past year.Having lost a 40D and 24-70mm lens on a trip to Europe in January, I replaced it with a 40D and Tamron 18-270mm lens which quickly broke and was returned to Amazon with no problems. With the money I received from the refund I was hoping to spend towards a 17-55mm lens before deciding that option was too farfetched for my budget. Being mainly a (bad) travel, food and pet photographer, I decided it was best to save my money until my skills were better honed. The many reviews I've read in magazines and websites regarding this lens were almost universally positive and so I decided to bite the bullet, ignore the complaints of cheap build quality and just go for it, worst comes to the worst, I can always rely on Amazon's top quality returns policy.I've had the lens for about a week now and have taken it with me on a hike with my dog and an evening at a restaurant.First thing's first. This lens does indeed feel like a bit of a cheap Chinese made toy. It doesn't bother me in the slightest though as I have been toting Holgas, Dianas and Seagull cameras around for years before finally accepting DSLRs. The casing is plastic, the autofocus is a little loud but who cares about any of that? You're not hurling it down cliffs or taking pictures of sleeping vampire bats, if you were you wouldn't be buying this lens in the first place. Put all that behind you and just snap away. You'll soon be pleasantly surprised at the great warm colours, the effortless bokeh and very sharp images this lens produces. I don't use photoshop (still a bit stuck in the old days of film cameras) but short of cropping, I don't see why you'd need to edit any pictures you take with this lens. The results are simply flawless.Admittedly I was a bit taken aback the very first time the camera reached its autofocus peak and I heard a loud 'clunk' as the focus ring lunged forward to a sudden stop. I thought the whole thing would fall apart at that very moment and I'd be left sending emails to Amazon for a refund after 3 days. Thankfully that was not the case and I have been able to continue using the camera happily.Hopefully this is not just a honeymoon phase. I've heard professionals using 5Ds say that this is still their go to lens for taking pictures of artifacts for editorials and since its so light, it's also the poor amateurs best friend when it comes to travelling. No regrets here, suits all my needs and very chuffed with my first prime lens. Hopefully it lasts for years but if it doesn't I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another, let's face it, it won't break the bank.

As a keen photography enthusiast i have decided to take a plunge and upgrade my old Sony a200 system (that i couldn't get on with) to a canon 7d - the first mistake i have made was buying expensive body and not having the funds to buy a decent lens. I love photographing people so i thouht a prime lens will be the best choice for me (this is a fixed focal lens ) 50mm lens can basically mimic the perspective seen by the human eye . i felt that this will be the best choice .Also prime lens made me more creative , as i hadn't had the opportunity to just zoom in if i wanted to.I had to move around and try viewing subject from different angles.when the lens arrived i was surprised by the toy feel - its all made of plastic (besides optics) - it felt cheap like it will brake any minute ,there iwasnt any pouch with this lens .just an instruction manual .The lens is very light ( 130g ) and small (2.7" x 1.6"/68.2mm x 41.0mm - WxL ) - it is also a canon smallest lens on the market . before i have decided to review it i thought i will use it for a bit (i have used it for over a year ) .I was a bit doubtful if constant lens change could affect plastic lens mount in any way - but it didn't .On the lens itself there is only one switch AF/MF (Auto focus and manual focus ). Autofocus is driven by a micro motor - that is pretty fast. With a minimum focus distance of 1.5' lens can deliver some good images.My first test shots look terrible , the lens flare that was on the images looked pretty bad and affected the overall quality . Lens flare is created when forming light enters the lens and subsequently hits the camera's digital sensor. I have decided then to buy lens hood and filter (to reduce glare) and try again. i would strongly recommend buying lens hood (ES-62 ) that includes the Hood adapter that threads onto the lens - the hood then attaches to the adapter by pinching two latchesWith everything in place i decided to do a few test shots again on few different light situations and f settings (aperture size are often referred as a f settings .The aperture size determines the depth of field, or zone of sharp focus, that surrounds your subject the smaller the f i.e. f/1.8 - the shallower the depth of field is ). i love the way my images came out - sharp where i wanted them to be , and colours where fantastic .focus worked well on a 4 year old who run around the park like a tornado and because lens is very light i was able to take some decent shots handheld , without the discomfort, or a lense shake..The strongest quality of this lens is sharpness - it produces fantastic pictures , i can honestly say that its sharpest at f/2.8 and beyond on f1.8 it performs also good but not as sharp if the camera is hand held .All depends what you want to shoot . i tend to shot people at f/5.6 (but this depends how much of the subject i want to stay sharp) and landscape at f/8 - as i find this my safe zone , and i know images will come out decent.Autofocus is pretty fast when shooting moving objects ,it focuses quickly witch is handy when shooting kids (that just don't sit still ... ) or fast moving objects .Lens its very good in limited light conditions ( in the house ) - but only if you shooting on wider aperture (smaller f number) .- most of portraits are shot in low light condition and all of them are shot using this lensanother good factor was the lens size and weight -it is very easy to carry around , despite being plastic it is also very robust ,and it can take some serious banging. Just imagine me trying to strap screaming 4 year old into a booster seat with camera still hanging on my neck - it usually bash straight into car paintwork (that did chip)I have grown to love this lens in fact this is the lens and i use in 98% of my images as the lens is very portable and light , so its easier to take hand-held shots without minimal camera shake.most of the new dlsr's on the market come with a standard kit lens either 18-55 or 17-85 . so if you are looking for a nice addition to your camera i can highly recommend buying this lens despite it plastic look , its a very nifty lens with fantastic price tag. , and as i mentioned earlier i would recommend purchasing lens hood and possibly a UV filter ."please bare in mind that im Polish - and English is not my strongest point but i try my best to give as honest review based on my own experience , and i know my grammar is terrible . "