Canon 50mm f/1.8 vs f/1.4

[sartori_b]

Hi everyone,

I have been into photography for about a year now and have been wanting to upgrade from my kit lens purchased with my Canon 450D. I have read reviews about both the 50mm f/1.8 and f/1.4 and was wondering which you would suggest (assuming I was willing to spend the extra money)?

I was told that that f/1.8 produces some bad ghosting/refracitons at night and has poor build quality, but is it worth if for the price?

It was also suggested that instead I look into getting the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM?

Hints, tips, suggestions? All comments are greatly appreciated

[eyalg]

Both the 50mm f/1.8 and the 50mm f/1.4 are great lenses, especially for their price.
The f/1.8 is a true bargain, as it provides relatively sharp results and a nice contrast.
The f/1.4 is all around better that the f/1.8 - it's faster (both in aperture and in focusing),
more accurate in focus, and much more fun to work with. Whether that justifies paying
what is costs over the low price of the f/1.8? That's up to you.
You do need to remember that the focusing mechanism of the f/1.4 is not perfect,
the focusing dial feels fragile in your hand, and it tends to break down.
If you have the money to spend, I would suggest getting the 50mm f/1.8 together with
my all time favorite - the 85mm f/1.8 - now that's value for money. I absolutely love it.

[Glenn72]

I just recently picked up the Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens as I did chose it over the higher priced 50mm 1.4 lens.
The two differences that I see are the lack in build quality and difficulty in autofocus in the dark as it tends to hunt quite a bit.
The noise doesn't bother me at all and the end result in image quality is superb, especially when doing portraits or flowers.

[kstacey]

Originally Posted by sartori_b

Hi everyone,

I have been into photography for about a year now and have been wanting to upgrade from my kit lens purchased with my Canon 450D. I have read reviews about both the 50mm f/1.8 and f/1.4 and was wondering which you would suggest (assuming I was willing to spend the extra money)?

I was told that that f/1.8 produces some bad ghosting/refracitons at night and has poor build quality, but is it worth if for the price?

It was also suggested that instead I look into getting the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM?

Hints, tips, suggestions? All comments are greatly appreciated

Let me start by saying this: Yes the 1.8 is worth the price- It's a fantastic deal considering the optics. the focus ring and noisy af is annoying and it does hunt at times but at 100$... how can you beat that?

That being said, I actually just sold mine and was going to buy the canon 1.4 until I read about the fragile micro usm motor- just do a search for that and you will find out more than you want to know about that subject. Instead I purchased the Sigma 1.4 for about 100$ more than the Canon 1.4

I have had it for over a week and have to say I love this lens! I did manage to get a good copy- some people have complained about Front focus issues but I have throughly tested mine and it is dead on out of the box.

What I did learn is that the dof is razor thin at 1.4. Thin enough that 50% of my shots on the first day were out of focus. I changed my technique and now get tack sharp images from F2.0 on and acceptable images even at 1.4. In addition the bokeh is really nice!

Even though this lens does come at a bit of a premium, it is well worth it and a HUGE upgrade in sharpness from my canon 1.8 especially wide open and well worth the 450$ I paid for it. Heck this lens also comes with a case and hood- that brings it much closer in price to the canon with much better build quality.

One addition- I also have this on a canon 450!!!