Which 50mm Lens is Best for Portraits?
I don’t tend to read a lot of digital photography magazines but recently while sitting in an airport terminal bought myself a copy of the UK Digital Photo Magazine which had a good comparison test of 50mm portrait lenses.
The 50mm focal length is a personal favorite of mine so this was a test that interested me. I love the 50mm range both because on a DSLR with crop factor coming into play it’s the equivalent of a 75-80mm lens (which allows for getting in nice and close to your subject without them feeling like you’re sitting in their lap). Many of them are also really cheap, quite fast and of a high quality (as the test showed).
So which 50mm portrait lens was best according to Digital Photo Magazine? Here’s how they ranked them:
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM (pictured)
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
- Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED
- Pentax 50mm Macro f/2.8
- Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
- Sony 50mm f/1.4
- Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 ZF
The Nikon 50mm f/1.8D beat the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM on the ‘value for money’ category (the Nikon is under one tenth of the price) but the Canon beat the Nikon on ‘features and build’ and ‘image quality’ (after all it is an ‘L-series’ lens which designates it as a Pro lens).
Of course all but the Sigma lens can only really be used on certain brands of cameras so comparing Canons with Nikons isn’t really going to help anyone decide which lens to get!
PS: For Canon lovers - there’s also a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens in their range which is a great compromise if you’re looking for a higher quality and faster lens than the f/1.8 but can’t afford the hefty price tag of the f/1.2. I own both the f/1.8 and the f/1.4 and while the f/1.8 is brilliant for it’s price the f/1.4 is one of my favorite lenses and is always in my camera bag.
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April 27th, 2007 at 9:49 am
You can see an informative six-way test/comparison of these lenses at SLR Gear’s website.
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/zproducts/canon50f12/canon50f12_jt.htm
April 27th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Did they not have the Canon 50mm 1.4 in their tests? I’d have been interested in seeing the comparison between it and the 1.8.
I have the 1.8 version. A little plasticky, but a very good lens. I’ve used it on a few portrait sessions and aside from being really sharp using a prime also forces me to be more deliberate in framing than when I’m using a zoom. Of course the same could be said for any of the 50mm.
Plus it’s hard to beat at 65 bucks.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Also really surprised that they only looked at one Nikon lens.
I thought that the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF was the ONE to have.
I dont own the 50mm f/1.4D, i’ve borrowed a friends and used it a few times,…. fantastic… gotta save that money soon.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
no - they didn’t include the f/1.4 which I thought was odd. While the f/1.2 is obviously a great lens I don’t know too many people who could afford it.
The f/1.4 is a great lens and a step up from the 1.8 (which I love for it’s affordability).
April 27th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
You know what would be great? To see some shots!
It’d be cool if we could see the same model at the same scale in a lot of pictures, all taken with different lenses.
That way we would be able to compare the aesthetic quality of each one in relation to the others.
Really nice to check depth of field, bokeh, brightness, distortion, etc…
April 27th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
interesting that the pentax f/1.4 wasnt included. that is quite an amazing lens. and cheap too.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Apart from the astronomical price tag attached to the EF 50mm f/1.2 (I stay in Malaysia and it costs RM5000++, local currency, so its even worse), the f/1.2 would cause some problems when used with older cameras with different phase detectors. I’m not entirely sure how this system works but I heard that even a 50mm f/1.4 would cause problems on my 300D.
Could anyone explain exactly how this works? Been looking around for this bit of information.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
About the ‘different phase detectors, comment, I don’t know if it has to do with the different wavelengths of coloured light hitting the sensor at a position other than the focal plane, i.e. what colour wavelength do you actually focus for, i.e. where are the light gathering detectors actually placed around the focal plane position on the sensor? Perhaps the wider F-values of 1.8 to 1.2 accentuate this problem? Perhaps too I am talking nonsense.
April 27th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
A very good comparison between the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and f/1.4.
http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/ef50/
April 27th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I picked up the Canon 1.8 on Amazon for $50; admittedly I only have the Canon kit lens to compare it to, but I’m thrilled at the quality of the images I’ve gotten out of it. For those starting out, you could do worse than to drop a nickel on this one.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
The canon 50mm F1.2L is without a doubt the best prime i have ever laid my hands on, huge apeture, fast, colours are superb, i know it’s a lot more money than the rest but it’s the only portrait lens you’ll ever need.
April 28th, 2007 at 12:46 am
I purchased the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II a few months ago. I love it, in fact I need to shoot with it more and experiment with it more outside of portraits. Good post, very informative.
April 28th, 2007 at 5:01 am
What a curious subject for an article… Most photographers wanting a 50mm for their camera would first ask “What’s available that fits on my camera?”
April 28th, 2007 at 6:00 am
I see these tests, and results, but I dont allways beleive them to be fact, I have sony camaras, and I am told that Sony will not give there products out any cheaper, and that upsets the sales side. so I read what others say in these comments, after all, it would not be much fun if we all had Nikon
April 28th, 2007 at 11:50 am
That’s pretty interesting. I figured the Sony lens would have fared better than the Sigma. Although, after buying a couple of Sigmas, I’m pretty impressed with them. The Zeiss really gets me. I thought they had good stuff. I was looking to get an older 50mm lens to use as a reverse lens, and the old Planar 1.4 is still a pricey little piece of glass.
April 29th, 2007 at 1:50 am
On my personal experience, I’m very happy with my Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II… Very cheap and clear. A little plastic, but indeed very light-weight.
April 30th, 2007 at 4:23 am
I’ve made weddding portraits with a 50mm lens, 1.7 Pentax but I still prefer a longer lens like a 135mm when space allows. It compresses the background and the facial features look normal. Not distorted. You need to keep some distance with a 50mm but I still love the ” normal lens”.
April 30th, 2007 at 6:25 am
i agree with Gavin…I think the Nikon 50mm 1.4 is FAR better that the 1.8, although they may have deemed the ultra-shallow DOF too tricky for some? i also think the extra $100 from 1.8 to 1.4 is a BARGAIN for such an amazign lens. Who knows…they missed the boat here by not includign a few more pieces of outstanding Nikon glass here!
May 1st, 2007 at 2:17 am
My 2 cents. Don’t compare apples to oranges, they should have used the Canon f/1.4 lens. At that rate, why not use the Canon f/1.0 lens?
I also don’t consider the 50mm a portrait lens, it is a crop factor, not a maginfication factor on a dslr body. I’ve used it for portraits but the Canon 85mm f/1.2 or the 135mm f/2 or in even the 100mm macro make much better portrait lenses.
My workhorse lens is still the 24-70 f/2.8L, I use it 95% of the time and will continue to.
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 am
What about the Minolta 50mm f/1.7? This is a superb lense, and unbelievably inexpensive. I would think the difference side by side would be negligible, because of the core differences in camera technology. I agree with the above poster, this seems like an odd comparison, apples, oranges, maybe a pear or two.
Crop factor? What’s that? Try a film camera … no worries here.
May 2nd, 2007 at 6:18 am
I have the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM, its currently my favorite lens. It’s fast, sharp, and has good depth of field. If you can afford it, I highly recommend it.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:45 am
….I second that!… Canon f1.4 is currently my fave lens, too.
Still having fun with f1.4
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:57 am
The Nikon 50mm 1.8D is a really nice lens, my father asked me for it (for Christmas) after he had given me his 50mmm 1.4D (which I find very nice) because of the optical quality. Being suitable for both digital and film cameras is a also a nice plus for me :-)
July 1st, 2007 at 4:43 am
the best is Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
http://www.vilbrafoto.lt/get.php?i.1437
it is a little bad that 85 but it is fantastic for bluring portraits :)
February 1st, 2008 at 7:48 am
I wondered the same thing as Gavin. They only used the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 when the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF is a MUCH better lens. I have both the 50mm f/1.4 and the 85mm f/1.4 and both are fantastic lens’.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I love how I fall into this category of questions. I’ve looked around and from what I can tell the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 lens is absolutely incredible. I was wondering how well it would work on a Nikon D80. Any advice?
June 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I read all the praise here about the f/1.4 lens but see it has more distortion (0.5%) than the f/1.8 Nikkor (0.26%), see http://www.photozone.de. Perhaps that is why the f/1.8 lens was chosen as the favorite.
June 21st, 2008 at 5:45 am
I shoot with the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 and it is by far my favorite lens. The dof is so smooth and it can produce fantastic bokah. I also use the Nikon 50mm f/1.4. Those two lens’ are my portrait lens’. I would recommend to people to skip over the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and go straight to the f/1.4