50mm F1.4 or F1.8?

[Data_Dog]

Hi all,

I'm planning my next buy and am curious to hear other peoples opinions on whether the nifty fifty 1.4 is worth the price (£300) in comparison to the 1.8 at £90. Is there a significant amount of difference in the optics?

I was in a local shop and the salesman actually recommended I go for the 1.8 over the 1.4. I know the build quality is not as substantial but I'm very careful with my gear and if the optics are up to the job, I would err towards the cheaper lens.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[chris-p]

Hi Data Dag, welcome to the forum

Firstly, it sort of depends on what camera you'd be screwing the lens to and also what sort of things you're shooting, your level of experience etc.

Assuming your a relative newcomer, I'll assume you're not shooting with pro grade kit and that you shoot a bit of everything. If thats the case the f/1.8 is the way to go. In fact, it almost always would be anyway.

Personally, I'm a fan of the slightly shorter focal length on a cropped frame camera as it more closely approximates the "normal" focal length but 50mm is still popular.

[Data_Dog]

Hi Chris,

Yeah, I should have mentioned, it's a 500D i own. I'm still experimenting with different genres of photography but I am keen to do some portrait.

The idea long term will be to move on to a full frame body and some "L" series lenses but that might be some time off just yet!

Thanks for the reply though.

Steve

[chris-p]

Ah, a Canon user... in which case the 50mm f/1.8 is definitely the one to go for.

As I said above, I personally like a wider angle for APS-C cameras as it's more "normal" (by both definitions of normal) but Canon don't really offer much at the APS-C normal focal length, and what they do offer is top money (like the EF 35mm f/1.4 L which is over £1100).

[matt wilson]

1.8 all the way .It's known as the plastic fantastic.You can get for it £89.00 in some places .The money you save can be used elsewhere in your photography .Ok it lacks the metal lens mount and isn't as robustly built but it still turns in very good images.

That's from someone who spent a lot on an L series zoom .

[Data_Dog]

Thanks for the feedback Matt. I think that pretty much seals the deal. I could certainly do with using the spare cash on other accessories!

Cracking pics in both your gallery and Chris' by the way.

Your website galleries are tremendous Chris. Gives me something to aspire towards.

[donoreo]

As an owner of the 1.8, I recommend it fully. It is great. I did a little project recently, nothing but the 50 for two weeks no matter what. They were all great. I purchased mine used off Craiglist for $90 CDN. Here (Toronto) they are about $130 new.

[anglefire]

Build quality of the 1.4 is much better than the 1.8. And overall is a better lens - works well wide open which the 1.8 softens a fair bit.

But, £ for £ the 1.8 is hard to beat.

Not that I use mine very often. Only when I really have to as I don't like the FL particularly

[MrBuk]

I bought the 1.8 as its really good value - at the price its worth having in the bag

[neil_ross]

im looking at buying my next lens after having upgraded from a 20D to a 7D at the moment i have a canon 18-55 and a sigma 70-300 do you think the 50mm 1.8 would be a good one to add next?

i dont have much cash at the mo but it would be nice to see what the new camera can really do, and everything i read seems to rant and rave about how good this lens is, any advice would be more than appreciated.