Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens

UPDATE: Now Shipping - Mine will be here tomorrow (Friday May 21) Follow on Facebook & Instagram for updates, first look and review.BUY from B&H Photo 50mm f/1.8 STM or Amazon 50mm f/1.8 STM $125Rumored last week and discussed on our weekly podcast, now officially announced. This is a successor to the incredibly popular 50mm f/1.8 often called the nifty-fifty or plastic fantastic because of it's cheap plastic mount.  The new STM version offers a metal mount in a slightly smaller size and 7 aperture blades for smoother bokeh in the background.   All while keeping the cost the same as the current 50mm f/1.8.  I preordered mine from B&H and will have lots more to share when they start shipping May 21st. I do expect it to be noticeably sharper, especially when shooting at the wider apertures.canon50mmSTMCanon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Standard Telephoto Prime Lens Specifications Summary

  • Compact, lightweight, fixed focal length standard lens for EOS cameras
  • Large f/1.8 maximum aperture
  • 80mm effective focal length when attached to EOS cameras with APS-C sensors
  • Canon STM gear type stepping motor technology provides quiet autofocusing to support Canon’s EOS Movie Servo AF function
  • Improved exterior design including new focus ring placement makes it the most compact Canon EF 50mm lens ever
  • New metal mount for stability and ruggedness
  • Super Spectra Coating for minimized ghosting and flaring
  • Circular 7 blade aperture (The current 50mm f/1.8 has just 5 blades and as a result the bokeh is often shaped like small fuzzy pentagons.)
  • 14-inch minimum focusing distance
  • 0.21x maximum magnification

BUY from B&H Photo 50mm f/1.8 STM or Amazon 50mm f/1.8 STMYour use of my links helps support this site and the work I do.They have a lens hood for the news lens too and B&H has the cheapest price at $26.95 Honestly for the more recessed design of this lens, a lens hood is not critical but if you would like to provide more protection and decrease your chance of sun flares you should buy.   Canon is selling a UV filter too. I will just remind you that I rarely recommend UV filters for protection and I certainly wouldn't spend the time or money to put one on a $125 lens.  Read more about filters you should have here.The new STM lens will be better than the current f/1.8, I am 100% sure of that. The real question is how will this lens compare to the Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM.  The 50mm f/1.4 is not exceptionally sharp wide open and needs to be stopped down to f/1.8 or f/2 to get better results putting these two lenses on similar footing.  USM focusing system is different but not really better than STM though USM does provide a more direct manual focusing system experience.   For easy autofocus during video the new STM version is going to be best.  I am struggling to come up with a strong argument for many to pay $200 more for the USM version. I will be testing the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the new Canon 50mm STM along with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 soon. Subscribe to my newsletter, of stay up to date with Photorec.tv announcements on the Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram.  I also suggest you Subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Series Review and Samples

For a crop sensor camera there is no better none-prime lens you can put on your camera and there are very few primes that can match what it offers at any focal length.  The value of this lens is excellent.

 

Lets get the cons out of the way. . . crickets.   Ok, seriously if you want to get picky. .

Its not cheap but you can’t expect a lens this good, this ground breaking to be cheap - it is still in the realm of affordable at $799 - I have seen a few deals that drop that $50 to $100 but I don’t expect this lens to be much cheaper in a year or 2 or 3.

It doesn’t have IS -so what, neither does my $2200 Canon 24-70 f/2.8 USM lens

It is a limited range - now this is a valid concern BUT across that range you get f/1.8 - there are no primes that offer f/1.8 at 18mm.  Basically when you walk around with this lens you are walking around with a bag of primes, 18, 24, 30, 35 all at f/1.8 and all very, very sharp.

The Pros:

Build quality is top notch, metal construction, distance indicator - great for star shots. Focus ring moves so smoothly, offers full time manual focus.  Zoom is smooth and fluid.

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Full size sample images!

Buying the Sigma?  Amazon | B&H | Adorama