Canon 50s - f/1.4 vs. f/1.8mkII user comparo

[eos 10 fan]

I saw this "50f1.4 vs 50f1.8 mkII" test posted on <a

href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/106804">FM</a>.<p>

 

Centre & corner compared at<br>

f/1.8, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6 and 8.<p>

 

See the results here:<br>

<a

href="http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~stelo/50vs50/">http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~ste

lo/50vs50/</a><p>

 

For those that want to compare comparos...<br>

On Photo.net there is Wee Keng Hor's comparo:<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/ef50/">"Canon EF 50mm ?

F1.4 vs F1.8 MK II"</a><p>

 

--

[tom_burke3]

So it appears that the advantages of the f1.4 are a) that (nearly) extra stop of speed; and

b) its greater robustness.

 

Looking at the first set of comparison shots, I felt that the 1.8

was a tad sharper in the centre, from about f4 upwards, but the f1.4 was sharper in the

corners.

 

Two different lenses, then, each with their own considerable strengths....

[charles.]

its too bad the test wasnt done on a FF body. id like to see the difference in corner sharpness in the "real" corners, the difference here @ f2 & 2.8 is almost shocking. this test also doesnt address the barrel distortion in the 1.4 (it may not even apparent on digital though). sometimes i even liked the bokeh on the 1.8 when i had it, particualrly when say there were little gaps of light poking through whatever was in the background, i actually like those little pentagons. the 1.4 certainly handles better though.

 

all in all though, i think for most people the 1.4 may not be worth the cost if they shoot digital. if they need a little more speed they can just bump the iso up a notch. ofcourse sometimes theres just no substitute for a faster lens.

[PuppyDigs]

I'd pay the extra money just for the nicer MF ring, FTM ability and twist on hood mount. I hate cheap feeling stuff.

[chiba]

I have both. There really is no contest where the feeling of quality is concerned. The 1.4 feels like a lens; the 1.8 feels like a film canister with glass in it. OTOH, although I love the 1.4, I still like the 1.8 very much too. Why? Because I stick it on a old Rebel body and the combo weighs nothing, so it can live in my day-to-day bag. Makes <b>way</b> better images than pretty much any point and shoot, and with 400 film you can live without flash/tripod a lot of the time. Most importantly of all, <i>you only get the shot if you're carrying a camera</i>! There's not a great deal of point comparing the image quality - it's pretty hard to make a bad 50mm prime. Just decide what your intended use lens will be.