Canon 50 1:18 II tested on dpreview

[kerry_grim]

<p>For those who are interest in the Canon 50 f1.8 II, a lens that is recommended almost every day, a test was just posted on dpreview.com.</p>

[gorasinski]

<p>Finally, to those who did not believe :)</p>

[jim_a]

<p>Links are good:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09012801canon501p8review.asp">http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09012801canon501p8review.asp</a></p>

[keith reeder]

<p><a href="http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_50_1p8_ii_c16/">A link to the actual review</a> is even better..!</p>

<p>;0)</p>

<p> </p>

[des adams]

<p>I'm wondering why it's taking them so long to review the Canon 5D2. </p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Ah, hurrah I guess. The one millionth review of this lens since 1990...</p>

[gorasinski]

<p>To Al:<br>

I think it is beacuse they ove Canon so much and can not get it right, so it looks good compared to D700 ;)</p>

[des adams]

<p>Lukasz .... :)))</p>

[alan_myers]

<p>No surprises in that review at all.... I think it's all been said and written before.</p>

<p>The lens is made of plastic, even the bayonet mount. It's barely got a manual focus ring at all.</p>

<p>And it's amazing how well it performs considering it's price!</p>

<p>Too bad they didn't compare with the EF 50/1.4. That would have shown that while the 50/1.8 is a fantastic value for the money, the 50/1.4 also tends to render slightly richer colors. That's probably due to better overall flare control and higher quality internal coatings in the more expensive lens.</p>

<p>Got a laugh out of their observation that the 50/1.8's five blade aperture doesn't make for the nicest background blur and that it's "too bad Canon didn't put a 7 or 8-blade aperture in the lens". Well, even in the old FD version of the 50/1.8 you'll find a five bladed aperture. It's intended to be a low cost lens, and the minimal design of the aperture helps keep it that way.</p>

<p>Want nicer bokeh thanks to an 8-blade aperture? Ante up a few more dollars and get the 50/1.4!</p>

[bueh]

<p>It is ridiculous all this worrying about the number of aperture blades and how it might affect photography. I have never seen any problems in real-life photography with the EF 50mm f/1.8. Counting lens blades is a sure sign of OCD tech geeks. Many high-end lenses (the Planar of the Rolleiflex 2.8F, several Leica and Hasselblad lenses) have five-blade apertures and show no bad bokeh. It is true that there are some 50mm-focal-length lenses with a more pleasing bokeh, but there are a lot with much worse. Virtually all zoom lenses in this range render a distracting out-of-focus look and by that measure would be very poor aesthetically. But only the EF 50mm f/1.8 gets picked on because "it has only 5 aperture blades"...</p>