I love this lens. There are definitely better quality 50mm lenses but this one is great.

this is my second EF 50mm lens. My first one is has the plastic mount. This one is much quieter and auto focus faster

Using this lens on an old 5D Classic and the focus is spot on 95% of the time even at f1.8. the lens is adequately sharp and is leaps and bounds better than the old 50mm 1.8 II in terms of build and focusing. I even like this lens better than the 50mm 1.4 due to the focus accuracy of this lens. this is the best $125 you can spend if you are a Canon shooter and everyone should own one. Hats off to Canon for keeping the pricing where they did. this lens is easily a bargain at twice the price.

I just ordered this lens and I tried it out right away!! I'm a portrait photographer and I've always had a 50mm 1.8 in my bag! My older one was dropped and so I needed a new one! I'm so pleased with the new STM version!! GORG colorful, crisp images!

BACKGROUND:Let me start by saying I'm a hobbyist photographer and I've been shooting with a Canon Rebel T1i (500D) for the past 10 years. I was heavily budget-constrained, so I rocked my OG Canon 50mm 1.8 (non-STM) version since 2010. For $150 at the time, it was a fast lens that was affordable to most novice DSLR photographers like myself.After recently getting back into my hobby after a couple years of being tied up with other stuff, I noticed my 50mm was producing softer images than I remember. It had never been dropped or otherwise abused, but it just seemed to be not performing the way I expected. The autofocus was reasonably quick, but very loud and lacking in smoothness and accuracy.BUILD QUALITY:Now that I had a little more money saved up, I decided to purchase the updated STM version of this lens and this is a MASSIVE leap from the old version. The build quality and finish, while still being mostly plastic, feels way more robust. The cheap shiny finish of the old version was gone in favor of a beefier, textured plastic. Also, the lens mount itself is now made of aluminum which fits very firmly against the camera body.PERFORMANCE:After testing it out I can say BOY is this thing tack sharp. With my old lens, I had to shoot at F/2.8 if I wanted anything with usable sharpness. This lens is producing razor sharp images wide-open and the autofocus is extremely quiet, smooth and accurate. It is still audible but you really have to listen for it. As far as speed goes, it doesn't seem much quicker than the old 50mm, but is way more accurate and reliable. The quiet STM focusing makes this usable for video, whereas the old version simply wasn'tJust keep in mind the manual focus still uses an internal motor to move the lens elements. With the camera turned off, turning the focus ring doesn't do anything. Also, on an older camera body like my T1i, turning off the camera wouldn't retract the lens barrel. Now that I've upgraded to a Canon 90D, I noticed turning off the camera will auto-retract the lens barrel all the way, making it suitable to store in a bag without damaging the lens.SUMMARY:If you're getting into DSLR photography and have a reasonably modern Canon DSLR body, this lens is a must-have. For $125 at the time of this review, it's even cheaper than the old lens (especially accounting for inflation), while out-performing it in nearly every metric. Prime lenses are the kings of affordable speed and sharpness, and this lens is right up there with the very best primes you can buy for under $500. If you aren't jumping on the mirrorless camera bandwagon, this is an excellent lens for both full-frame and crop sensor Canon DSLRs.

5 stars is not enough for this lens. I've always been a zoom lens person but now this is on my camera 95% of the time. Stop reading reviews and buy this lens!

I'm a huge fan of prime lens and 50mm is one of those sweet spot focal lengths that should be in every camera bag, if not on the camera itself! Canon produced a massive hit with the affordable f1.8 50mm, dubbed the nifty-fifty. It was succeeded by the II, which sadly saw some corners cut in build quality with the transition to a plastic base. (While I have commented in prior reviews that I challenge the "need" for metal mounts in smaller, lighter lenses, I can't help but admit that I prefer a metal mount.). This latest iteration of the venerable "nifty-fifty" sees the return of the metal mount and upgrades the focus mechanism to the silently speedy STM stepping motor!OpticsWhat's not to love about a f1.8 lens? The optics are excellent as you would expect from the reputation of its prior versions. Talk about a fast lens, you can take some pretty incredible shots in poor light conditions with this. Beautiful bokeh! It provides excellent separation of your subject from the background, as if they jump out of the picture. I was very pleased with my results on a recent flower viewing trip. Terrific color representation, minimal chromatic aberration and distortion. It will not disappoint!Focus mechanismIf you haven't tried STM yet, prepare to be amazed. Fast and quiet! Great for video work too. I'm very happy with the Canon STM lineup.Build QualityAs mentioned previously, the metal mount has returned. (I can hear the cheering!). The barrel feels a little less sturdy than the 24mm and 40mm pancakes, but all in all, it's an improvement over the prior version. Considering its price, it is quite an impressive piece of work.PriceCheap, it would be hard to imagine anyone not happy with the priceMy recommendation is to run outside right now and buy this lens. You won't be disappointed.5 stars. Thank you Canon!

Let's be clear, this is NOT the best 50mm prime you can get. It's not even great in comparison to them. Arguably, that crown sits atop the new Sigma 50mm F/1.4 Art. Having used the sigma a bit (admittedly, not a lot), it's at least 200% better. Maybe 300% or more, but you'd have to be really adamant about some of the particulars. Make no bones, the Sigma is a tremendous lens. The thing is, it's also an absolute STEAL compared to the former champion, the Canon 50mm 1.2L, $400 more expensive at $1350. If you're following the math, I'm saying this lens is possibly 1/3 as good as a lens that costs nearly 8 times as much, and is already a bargain at that price. There's a reason it's the best selling lens on the market, for any camera system.Yes, your kit lens has 50mm in its range. But F/1.8 opens a whole new world of artistic expression for the beginning or intermediate photographer over the F/5 or F/5.6 that lens opens to at 50mm, and for the price, you'd be insane not to go for it if that even interests you in the slightest. And if $125 is too much to ask for your budget especially if you're a student, get a body $125 cheaper to make room for this lens.