EF 50 1,4 - sharpness at large apartures?

[bjorn_tennoe]

I need a fast lens for use indoors. Probably I will choose EF 50

1,4. But I am afraid to get disappointed of the sharpness using it

wide open. Will I get razor-sharp images at f2.0? 2.8? Bjorn

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Sharpness is excellent from f/2.8-f/8; I rarely use it beyond f/8 as there's not much point swapping lenses in that case. It's a bit less sharp at f/2, but if I need that wide an aperture, I don't hesitate to do so; it's still eminently usable. I won't use it wide open as I find it too soft. At f/1.8, it's closer to its f/2 sharpness than its f/1.4 sharpness.</p>

[kanellopoulos]

This lens is very soft at 1.4 but by 2.0 it has already gotten very sharp. Of course the DOF is shallow, but what is in focus is very sharp.

From 2.8 and above it is incredible. I rarely feel the need to pass 4.0 just for sharpness. The motive for going past 4.0 is solely the need for more DOF. Even the difference between 1.4 and 1.8 is incredibly obvious. I love to use this lens at 2.0<div></div>

[alexdi]

Mine isn't soft at f/1.4. It's certainly better in the corners as you stop down, but anywhere near the center of the frame, I see very little change.

 

DI

[pbajzek]

I frequently use my 50/1.4 wide open, and while the DOF is very tiny, the sharp zone is very

sharp on my lens. I may be lucky, but I don't find it to be as soft as often reported. I do,

however, find that the shallow DOF does not always play well with the rather sloppy

autofocus on my 10D.

[sheldonnalos]

I'm with Peter on this one - it's primarily DOF issues that give people fits and have them calling it a soft lens. My 50mm still has good sharpness at f/1.4 in the center of the frame, and gets soft out at the corners until about f/2.8. If you can hit focus with it, there's great sharpness to be had, even wide open.

 

Here's an example shot and crop...<div></div>

[sheldonnalos]

and 100% crop...<div></div>

[jbq]

Usable at f/2, good at f/2.4, excellent at f/2.8. That's my experience.

[pbajzek]

Beautiful portrait, Sheldon. An excellent example of what this lens can do, if used with skill.

[yakim_peled1]

<p> <i> </i> </p>

<p> <a href="http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_50_14/index.htm">http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_50_14/index.htm</a> <b></b> </p>

<p> HTH.</p>

 

<p>Happy shooting, <br>

Yakim.</p>

[praveen murthy]

Chalk me up as one more perfectly satisfied with sharpness at 1.4. Within it's DOF, it is very sharp and usable at 1.4; like others say, the problem is very shallow DOF. Forget about edge sharpness; almost nothing would be so flat that you can evaluate that in real life. If the eye ball is in focus, it's likely the eyelashes won't be. I think most people use focus-recompose and then whine that the lens is soft at 1.4.

[kanellopoulos]

It is not just the shallow DOF at f/1.4! Some astrophotography I did last month shows me so. Focus was at infinity and I assume you agree the whole frame is in focus when photographing stars. The difference between 1.4 and 1.8 was VERY noticeable. At 1.4 there were some luminous "rims" around each star, which made the star look not like a sharp point but rather like a fuzzy circular thing. This was gone by 1.8 . The shots at 2.0 were incredibly sharper, even though the exposure time was double (around 20 secs) and stars move. I would post comparison photos, but it is late evening here and I must go to bed.

[alexdi]

I should have mentioned that. The lens is technically sharp at all apertures, but anything with high contrast suffers from halation at f/1.4. It looks a little like the 70-300 DO under certain lighting conditions.

 

Incidently, I didn't notice this at all until I shot my neighbor's white porch in broad daylight at f/1.4 for a lens test. In portraits and more conventional subject matter, it isn't evident.

 

DI

[lester_wareham]

The slight softness at f1.4 is ment to be good for portraite work. However to be honest it is still quite sharp at f1.4. Its just very very sharp a stop or two down.

[trothwell]

I just got a 50mm f/1.4 from B&H yesterday. Haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet, but so far I'm impressed with how you can make use of <a href="http://www.clearps.com/tjr/photography/misc-photos/viewer.php?pid=chesspieces.JPG">

shallow depth of focus</a>. It does seem kinda fuzzy even for what's in focus, but I don't think it's too bad. Depends on what kind of shot you're after, I guess.