By Michelle Nicolosi (Seattle, Wa)

This is an incredible lens, delivering consistently great photos. Auto focus is fast and accurate. Of course, the bottom line is what kind of image quality will it dish up — sharp, crisp, brilliant, excellent. People look at the pix I shoot with this lens and say, man, this looks professional.

The only problem is, I can never back up far enough to get the right shot with this lens. Inside the house, crops are always too close. Walking down the street, if I want to take a photo of a nice house, I have to stand all the way across the street to get the whole house in the frame. I’m using a Canon D20 with the 1.6; that means this lens is a 70 mm or more. The 1.4 is great for natural light photos indoors, but it’s kind of hard to make a semi-telephoto lens work for a birthday party or what have you. After a year with this excellent and beautiful lens, I’m now looking at 35 and 30 mm alternatives, because I can’t make a 70 mm work for my needs.

By Richard Stern “Lazydork” (Miami, FL)

I did a LOT of research before buying this particular lens. I was stuck between this, the 85mm, the 1.8 and the 1.2 versions, and also zoom lenses that covered the focal range I was looking at. I finally decided to go with this one because of the price difference between the 1.4 and the 1.2, and because I take a lot of pictures inside my house, which doesn’t have the best lighting situation. I could not be happier. My images, even in my crappy light, are sharp as can be in the foreground and super smooth and buttery bokeh in the back. It’s incredible, fast, great in low light, and the price is nice. Do yourself a favore and start taking fantastic portraits in any situation.

• Read More About Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Lens

Comments(0) | Add Comments |