Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM
Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Specifications and Review
Brief Review
Fast 50mm lenses are often among the best value lenses made by a lens manufacturer because it's a pretty easy lens to design and it doesn't need too many special elements to be good. That means it can be relatively inexpensive. Indeed the Canon EF 50/1.4 USM is one of Canon's fastest lenses, and it's also among the less expensive of the primes. 50mm makes a good general purpose lens on a full frame camera and an excellent portrait lens on an crop sensor camera whiere it has the same FOV as an 80mm lens on full frame. There are currently 3 Canon 50mm lenses. The 50/1.8 II is very inexpensive (~$100), optically pretty good but the construction leaves much to be desired (all plastic, including the lens mount. The 50/1.2L is what you would expect from a fast 'L' series prime. Big, well built, fast and sharp - but at around $1500 you need to be a dedicated 50mm lens enthusiast with a real need for a very fast lens to think about spending that much on a 50mm lens. The 50/1.4 USM fills the gap between these extremes. It's only 1/2 stop slower than the 50/1.2L, but it's over $1100 less expensive. It's much better built and 2/3 stop faster than the 50/1.8 II - and it has better optics. It has a micro-USM autofocus motor, but it's unique in that it also has full time manual focus (FT-M). AF is faster and more positive then the 50/1.8 II. It would be nice if Canon updated the lens to a real ring USM with FT-M but they've shown no signs of intending to do that - and if they did you can bet the price would increase significantly! Optically it's good. Maybe slightly soft at f1.4 but that's typical of really fast lenses. It sharpens up nicely as it's stopped down, but even wide open it's a great lens for portrait work, especially on crop sensor bodies.
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| Model | Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM |
| Link to Current Pricing | EF 50mm f1.4 USM |
Production Dates  |
1993 - current |
| Comments | Though it has USM and FT-M, the 50/1.4 doesn't use a ring USM. It's the only EF lens that has a micro-USM motor and FT-M. Faster and much better built than the EF50/1.8 II, but much cheaper than the EF50/1.2L USM, the 50/1.4 represents a good compromise between cost and quality. The 50/1.4 makes a good portrait lens when used on a crop sensor DSLR. |
| Field of View
(degrees) Horizontal,Vertical, Diagonal Full Frame - 36x24mm APS-C - 22.5x15mm |
Full Frame : H - 39.6 : V - 27 : D - 46.8 APS-C : H - 25.4 : V - 17.1 : D - 30.3 |
| Full Frame FOV equivalent with lens on APS-C body |
80 mm (1.6x multiplier) |
| Full Frame FOV equivalent with lens on APS-H body |
65 mm (1.3x multiplier) |
| Maximum Length | 60 mm (2.36 inches) |
| Minimum Length | 50 mm (1.97 inches) |
| Weight | 290 gm (9.81 oz.) |
| Maximum Diameter | 74 mm (2.91 inches) |
| Lens Mount Material |
Metal |
| Lens Color |
Black |
| Filter Size | 58 mm |
| Filter Rotation |
Filter does not rotate |
| Focusing |
Linear Extension (Length changes) |
| Focus Range Setting(s) |
No, always uses full focus range |
| AF motor |
Micro-USM |
| Distance Scale | Yes, has distance scale |
| Closest Focus | 0.45 m (1.48 ft) |
| Maximum Magnification | 0.15x |
| Canon TC compatibility |
No, Canon TCs can not be used |
| Weathersealing |
Not weathersealed |
| Lens Hood |
ES-71 |
| E-TTL II Support |
No |
| Elements/Groups |
7/6 |
| Diaphragm Blades |
8 |
|
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With the large number of entries contained in the Canon EOS Lens database it's inevitable the some of presented here may not be complete and/or may contain errors. If you find an error or missing data, please contact me and I will add or revise the data as necessary
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