Yongnuo, the company that makes some of my favorite flashes for Canon and Nikon, has recently released their own version of Canon's 50mm f/1.8.  Costing just $30, less than a 1/3 the price of  Canon's already cheap 50mm intrigued reader John Witkowski. Here are his thoughts and some comparisons versus the Canon 40mm f/2.8. YONGNUO 50mm f/1.8 lens for Canon cameras. Initial thoughts so far; it seems to be built just a tad bit better than canons 50mm 1.8, not by much. Mount uses screws instead of canons plastic lock tabs. Quick test shots seem to have accurate color and contrast. Not as sharp as the 40mm 2.8 it is very soft at 1.8 and gets better around f4 - f5. Ok bokeh. Motor noise is similar to the canon 50 1.8. Focusing is ok not to bad to get locked in. With that said It does not work in liveview with my t5i. It has trouble focusing and when it finally does come in focus the camera will not shoot. I noticed if it is in live view with the lens on AF it will not fire. If I change the lens to MF in live view it works. Using the viewfinder the lens works fine. So far for $30 bucks its not bad but not great.  See John's Flickr Photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/limesaresweet/sets/72157649727835016

Canon 40mm f/2.8 at f/2.8https://www.flickr.com/photos/limesaresweet/15414584774/in/set-72157649727835016Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 at f/1.8https://www.flickr.com/photos/limesaresweet/16036156502/in/set-72157649727835016/Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 at f/2.8https://www.flickr.com/photos/limesaresweet/15849416238/in/set-72157649727835016/100% comp 40mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8 vs Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8 More samples on his Flickr Page -https://www.flickr.com/photos/limesaresweet/sets/72157649727835016You can order the lens via Ebay (price seems to have gone up slightly) Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 Canon Lens or Amazon (price is higher) My quick thoughts - at $30-$40 if offers a workable alternative to Canon's own prime but you are probably better off saving a little more and grabbing the Canon version, especially when you consider the focusing issues John mentioned along with the serious softness at f/1.8.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments.