Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens

Sure, it may be cheap looking, light and totally encased in plastic, but looks can be decieving. Very. Just look through this lens and you'll be amazed. I use it so much that I rarely take it off my camera. If you pay more than $80 you're being ripped off.

Very fast (f1.8), cheap, very good optics. You cannot afford to not buy this lens. Build quality isn't awesome, but you get a great bang for your buck with this lens.

Canon is a very good camera to use because their pictures and video are so clear and nice. The lens just make the picture more better

As I was trying to collect a budget set for my photo-adventure, I found some shots made with Canon EF 50mm f/1.7 II lens. At first I thought it must cost a lot, like my dream lens - Canon 85 f/1.2 USM for around $2,000. When I checked the price I was shocked - below $100!

So I got it as soon as possible... and here's my opinion after trying it for some time:

PROS - Very cheap. Very light (it's plastic but it doesn't bother me). Beautiful bokeh. Pretty fast (you can shoot in dark rooms without a flash with higher ISO settings). Very sharp, especially in good light.

CONS - Autofocus loud and sometimes slow (especially in low light). With maximum aperture (f/1.8) and close shots you better switch it to manual - the depth of field is really shallow.

Bottom line - for a budget shooter it's a great lens. You won't make such miracles as with the $2,000 lens so if you have enough money - go for better. Otherwise - there isn't any cheaper choice with such a quality!

That is excellent lens. Bright, sharp. Cheaply made plastic case and mount, but at this price it is great deal for prime lens.
Nice to have in a bag with you.

I have only heard good things about this lens. Well, other than the build quality... Yes, it's made of cheap looking plastic. Even the mount is plastic and the front moves in and out and around as it focuses. (Hate it when it sticks out as I put away the lens and have to put it in Manual and retract it.) Still, it takes really sharp photos. Can't go wrong with this lens. For under $100, it is a must have for all who own DSLR or SLR. Unless you own higher models like f/1.2L, f/1.4 or the rare f/1.8 mark I older version with metal mount and ring (internal) focus. I try to use it as much as I can since I know I'll get good results. I change it only when I need the long reach and zoom. It's not for shooting an event since you have to move around too much to get the right shots but for portraits, it's hard to beat. I strongly recommend this lens to everyone who doesn't own a prime lens already.

I would recomend this lens to anyone who is interested in becoming a better photographer. I have loved using it for baby photography. It opens a new world.

This is a great lens to complement a zoom lens with a high minimum aperature. Its images look like an 80mm (portrate lens) from the 35mm film days. It is light and autofocus is adequate. I prefer to use manual focus on many occasions and lens works great that way too - tack sharp. I use it on my Canon 60D with a Promaster Spectrum 7 f/1:4.0-6.3 28-300mm lens. The camera by today's standard is an old timer. But it is an excellent camera for most shooting conditions and this lens really give new life to my package - lightness, faster lens and a great fixed focal length for photographing family. Thanks ebay for making is so reasonalbe and simply to get!

The lens is the best value for money in the Canon lineup. The lens gives great depth of field and I dont even need a flash indoors when using F1.8.
Incredibly sharp pictures too.

A little slow and loud but for $80, I still give it five stars.

i uses one year. i like it very much, small and picture is pretty, i uses cannon D40, suit taking a photograph person. i live at thailand, travel in thailand a lot of pretty seas in Thai.

Wow, what a great little 50mm lens. Control of depth of field is fantastic, shoot in low light with no flash, got to love it. First impression when it arrived was, what a cheap looking lens, then i mounted it on my Canon 30D and its still on it. Great for portraits, super sharp pictures. For the price it can't be beat.

This is a fantastic little lens, very cheap and a HUGE opening (f stop of 1.8). This big opening allows for the dramatic blurred background that you may wonder "how the do that?". It's ideal for people portraits and product photography because of how you can single out the subject.
There are better quality lenses with similar characteristics, but none at such a low price point. It's a no brainer if you want to find out if a prime lense with a bug f1.8 is for you.
Be careful, prime means that this 50mm lens doesn't zoom any more. That's it. It's fixed at 50mm, so if you want larger you need to move closer. If you want more coverage you need to move further back. It's actually a lot of fun despite these "limitations".

This lense is absolutely wonderful. It is priceless for portraits and low light shooting. I haven't had a single complaint with it since I bought it. I had to get used to no zoom, since it's a prime lense, but at a car event, I was taking beautiful clear shots well past dusk with my ISO still set at 100(hand held)...the f1.8 allows for amazing depth of field also. It's a bit noisy but that's because it's older technology. I've totally retired my 18-55. This little baby is my daily lens.
If you're looking for a good quality lens to take portraits with, this little inexpensive, light weight baby is perfect. No canon should leave home without one.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens
Pros: makes really sharp images. Excellent for upclose photos. I recently used this for a wedding, and the bride loved the photos of her and her daughter. The body for the lens is not metal, it is a heavy plastic, but don't let that throw you off from getting it. This is a great lens, I love using it for up close photos of children that I photograph, you get to see all the wonderful glow in their faces, and it blurs the background so naturally. LOVE LOVE LOVE this lens!
Cons: you have to remember the short focal length, if you don't you get a fuzzy shot where you might have wanted a sharper image. This lens is not the full metal body.

Criticism: it feels cheap, not very well built. Reality: It works , and takes a sharp image. Why use it? I was shooting an old beer factury(Schmidt) and I had to go to photoshop to fix some of the lighting and warped smoke stacks, etc having used a zoom lens and my EOS Digi camera. So I bought the lens(50mm) and returned to the site and shot a series of bracketed film exposures with my EOS 650 film camera. And then I put it on my EOS Digi and shot a few images. The results were outstanding very sharp and easy to move and not be on a tripod. So I guess I like to be able to do shots as I move and shots with a zoom. It's a creative thing. I need the lens for hiking around on trails...if it get gets ruined----I will buy another-thanks

Excellent item, great price, awesome DOF, the only thing that could be improve is the resistance. But then again, at that price, there is no better lens!

Great for portraits but for places with low light too.

The two things that this lens has going for it is its price, and its sharpness. I bought this on Ebay a month ago, and I have been amazed at how very fine details such as individual hairs and fabric weave are clear and crisp, all from several feet away with my Canon 40D. The only downside is the small focusing ring on the lens rim. It is usable with some practice, as I have gotten used to it now. This lens also hunts a bit in low light. It does feel a little flimsy and the mount is plastic, but for around $80, if you bust it, its not like dropping and breaking an "L" series lens. All in all, you cannot beat the price/performance ratio of this lens. This is a MUST have for any glass collection.

I love how lightweight this lens is. I use this lens to photograph people in low light settings and the outcome is remarkable.
I have a 28-300 lens that I use for most everything else, but the f 1.8 is definitely my favorite lens.

Very sharp lens! Easy to use, focus's fast. A Pleasure to use if you want crisp sharp digital images. Great seller, fast shipping. As clear as a lens costing 10x as much! I highly reccommend this lens!

I bought this lens after reading several reviews and advice pieces regarding this lens. It seems to focus fairly quickly and has a huge range for depth of field. As with most lenses in this price range/category it is sharpest around f/8 but still its a great lens all around. It is light and really doesn't feel cheap. I would recommend this lens to anyone.

excellent lens. One of the best for ''portrait''. This lens is not expensive. But At that price it's one of the best deal for a Canon lens!! Not too loud, small and easy to find room in your bag. I recommended this lens for everybody. Thank you

The lens has superb sharpness, light weight, great for both film and digital cameras. The 1.8 aperature is great for shallow depth of field. Its very good with night shots specialy due to its fast apature of F1.8. Its VERY GOOD for portraits! Its very light. Perfect for portraits and natural light shooting. A MUST for your camera bag.

I love this lens!! I purchased it because I saw sample pictures taken with the 50mm 1.8 and I love them! For the price you cannot beat the quality. It will give you very sharp images and is also great in low-light situations. The only downfall is that the build feels like plastic, but it won't bother you after a while, just be really careful with and and enjoy taking great shots!

Canon's 50mm 1.8 is their cheapest prime lens, but inside is some decent glass. This is a great lens for portrature.

I've used the 50/1.8 for years because the simple design of the optics produces great pictures. Images are sharp, distortion-free, and the lens is almost immune to flare. It is in fact one of Canon's sharpest lenses when stopped down past f/2.8.

The only problem with the 50/1.8 is that it is so cheaply built, it lacks even the most basic features. The focusing ring is tiny, and flimsy. It is impossible to manual-focus this lens with any accuracy, it needs to be auto focused.

Another complaint about this lens is that the aperture mechanism has only 5 blades. This results in the out-of-focus areas looking a bit harsher than they would with a better lens (an effect called "bokeh"). This isn't an issue when the lens is stopped down enough to keep everything in focus, but for some styles, it just doesn't have that "expensive lens" look in the blurry areas.

Those limititions should not stop anyone from buying the Canon 50/1.8 because at the price there is nothing like it. If you've only used zoom lenses, try this one out, it will help you be more creative.

The lense that I purchased was exactally the lense I wanted and the quick delivery was the fastest I have had through ebay.
Thanks,
Flufffmuffin