When I was looking for a fast lens (church shots, Christmas in front of the tree, etc...) I came across the fixed focal length EF 50mm/ 1.4/ USM from Canon. What is important for me is a functioning, fast AF with USM, so that many third-party providers have fallen behind, and a moderate price, a fixed focal length in the standard range is not worth 1,000 euros or more to me. After almost a week of testing on a 5D MKII, I came to the following conclusion: First of all, a fixed focal length is not as bad as it sounds, 50mm is quite suitable for everyday use, if necessary you have to move a bit, I would have imagined it to be worse and will probably add another 24mm in the long term. Let's start with what you get with the EF 50mm - and that's not L-like, but looks a lot cheaper". There is no lens hood - this has to be for 10 (third-party) or 25-30 (original) euros be ordered later - and there is no leather pouch. The lens is made of plastic, but the zoom ring moves fully. On the negative side, I notice that the focus is outwards (approx. 10mm maximum position). After the camera is switched off, the lens does not move in (transport) back to the basic position, which makes it look quite vulnerable. Here I got used to moving back manually for the first few days before I stowed the camera. Regarding the imaging performance - this is significantly worse at f1.4 (even for the layman) than after At f4 it is in no way inferior to my 100 macro, up to f8 I hardly notice a change, from f2 I am already very satisfied.The AF works quickly, quietly and quite precisely (failure rate felt 5%-10%), here I don't see any differences to the colleagues from the L parliamentary group. Conclusion: for 330 euros there is a lens with USM and with an enormous light intensity, which has a very high imaging performance when stopped down a few times. Flowers and portraits are my favorite motifs, and I can now get them beautifully photographed even in diffuse lighting conditions. Other (L) lenses sometimes cost 4-5 times as much, I hardly believe that you can really get that much more out of them. Actually, it's 4 stars due to the weakness with an open aperture and the not quite as robust construction, but since I was aware of both beforehand and the lens is at the top for me in the price/performance comparison, 5 stars are my choice.

bought this lens on recommendation. I was nervous about buying a single focal length lens because I used the zoom all the time on my old camera. It has proven to be my favorite lens. After learning its limitations, I also learned how versatile it is. This lens takes great sports pictures. It opens wide enough to let in enough light even in a dimly lit gym. A side effect of this is that it only focuses on a thin piece. As a result, my sports pictures draw attention to what is happening. It's not exactly the "bokeh" of portraiture, but it's effective. When the subject is close, I can get a real "bokeh" as the background. There are some limitations with this lens. For one thing, it fares poorly with images of the action at the gym. The athletes develop a kind of halo around every white in their uniforms. I don't notice this with outdoor photography so I'm wondering if it has to do with the lighting in the gym? This lens also has autofocus, which is a bit too slow for fast action. I have to be reasonably good at predicting what's going to happen, otherwise the plot might not be in focus. However, lack of zoom is not a limitation. Instead, I've learned to be creative about where I position myself for images. I also learned that when this lens is attached to a good camera, I can crop images and still get good results. In landscape photography, this is a great lens when I have a specific subject: a waterfall, church, etc. It's bad for broader landscapes, especially when they're large. I live in North Dakota, so my landscapes are often large. In these cases, a wide-angle or zoom lens seems to work better. However, if you want a truly versatile lens, this 50mm lens is a great tool to have in your pocket.

As expected, a great lens. Can only recommend it compared to the cheaper one (f/1.8) because this lens shows fewer image errors, especially hardly any aberrations. The fixed focal length also forces you to move around more when taking photos and explore your surroundings, I can only guess. But be careful, check again exactly what format your camera has, because with KB the 50mm almost looks like an 85mm. It is recommended to buy the lens hood at the same time. I mostly use it for portraits in bars because the aperture is wide open and the mood can be captured nicely. It's also good for outdoor shots, but for architecture I'd recommend a wider-angle lens if you don't have enough space around you. I dropped it once, but it didn't get scratched. Due to the robust "housing", this lens can withstand a small fall, but of course, as with all lenses, it shouldn't happen. I would be happy to recommend.

Haven't had a chance to try the 50/1.2L yet... but it can't be that much better than its little brother here. I like using this lens on my new 5DM3 and just as much on the 1DMK 4. A feast for the eyes on both cams in terms of image quality. The AF is sufficiently fast thanks to USM and also sits precisely. The weight is pleasantly light and therefore easy to handle. Low-light shots indoors, even in candlelight, are easily possible outdoors. There really isn't much else to write. The price is definitely acceptable for this quality. A lens hood is a MUST, especially for outdoor shots! Unfortunately, as with all Canon NON-L PRODUCTS, this has to be paid for separately. An unreserved purchase recommendation from me.

Advantages: + Beautiful bokeh + Very high light intensity + High sharpness Disadvantages: - Slight color fringes at 1.4 aperture. (Optimal use 1.6 or 1.8) Application: - Portraits: I use the lens as a portrait lens on a 500D. The crop factor of 1.6 makes it the ideal 80mm portrait lens with a very nice cropping when the aperture is wide open. Due to the high light intensity, I can also take pictures in adverse light without any problems. The lens is also very well suited for outdoor shots of whole people, provided you are at a certain distance. I've had the lens for a month and haven't even looked at any of my zoom lenses since I'm so impressed with the image quality and speed. Alternatives: - Cheaper: Canon 1.8 50 mm (-worse image quality + much cheaper) - More expensive: Canon 1.2 50 mm (+ better image quality + slightly higher light intensity - completely different price range.) - Third-party manufacturer: Sigma 1.4 50 mm (+ slightly better image quality - should often have focus problems) - third-party manufacturer: Planar T* Zeiss 1.4 50 mm (-no autofocus +-image quality comparable +Zeiss)

I've been using the Obkeltiv on my 5dMarkii for a number of years and I don't want to be without it anymore. It is a constant companion and a truer at that. Attached is a photo of my cat in the summer.

This was the lens I always loved to take photos with. The bright 1.4 aperture allows wonderful gimmicks with the depth of field and the imaging angle corresponds approximately to that of the human eye. The image reproduction is also extremely good and the focus is nice and sharp (everything is simply crispy sharp with a high f-number - there's nothing to complain about). Of course, a fixed focal length is not as comfortable as a zoom lens, since you have to "zoom with your feet", but in the end that also makes the qualitative difference in the images (no sliding lens elements and therefore more optimal, well-adjusted light refraction). So this lens is probably the right choice for professional results. In my case it was used for all sorts of commissioned photography - I photographed some weddings almost exclusively with the 50 and the results spoke for themselves. There will certainly be numerous quality junkies who have something to complain about with the lens, but I recommend them without hesitation. She has served me well in the professional field for many years and she remains my favorite.

I am happy with the purchase. Good optics, especially when shooting with a tripod