Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens test, review, comments, shots

(10 votes, 5.00 / 5)

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The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens a.k.a Nifty Fifty… My 2nd lens, my Trigger’s second glass. \m/

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens

Good image quality and very cheap price… The 2 reasons why I bought this lens. I’ve scored this one on Canon D Zone around 5000 bucks and a lens hood that costs 1300 PHP. Doin’ a little math here, you can have a Prime lens, a very good quality image and a large 1.8 aperture for a small price of 6300 bucks. How good is that?! If you don’t have a lens like this, I suggest you should go and get one! Make no mistake about it, you’ll get much on what you’ve pay for. This lens simply rocks! \m/

Here’s my nifty fifty test shots on Streetscape, Food and Portrait under low light condition. No image alteration, editing and brightness/contrast adjustments… In short, no post processing (except for image resizing and watermarks). Check this out!

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens on Streetscape

These shots were taken at the Ayala Triangle Park. Using ISO 800 on both shots produces nice and noiseless image.
Streetscape shots #1 and #2 Settings:
ISO 800
f/2.5
1/20 sec

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens on Streetscape

This photo below was taken on the streets of Makati. A nice place to test the lens on street lights. Notice the blue spots? Yeah, this is one major problem with this lens. It casts flares/ghosts easily even if you have your lens hood attached.
Streetscape #3 Settings:
ISO 800
f/3.2
1/15 sec

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens on Streetscape

Food shooting trip time! Here’s a shot of an ice cream on a low-light resto bar. Image quality is very good and sharp without post-processing.
Food Shot Settings:
ISO 200
f/2.2
1/10 sec

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens on Food Shot

Portraits… Let’s see what this lens can bring on ISO 800 and Flash On under Florescent lights.
Portrait Settings:
ISO 800
f/5.0
1/125 sec
Flash On

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens on Portrait

After taking these series of shots, I give you the Pros and Cons, Positive and Negative, the Good and Bad Points of this lens.

Good Points:
1. Very Nice Image Quality
2. Good in low-light conditions
3. Noiseless on ISO 800
4. Large Aperture (f/1.8)
5. Cheap and Affordable
6. Durability – Trust me man, even if it’s plastic built, this lens has a lot of durability! Here’s a proof:
This lens fell off, bouncing 4 steps down on the stair that I was sitting. So how’s my nifty fifty after that? Well my lens hood got wrecked and the rear cap received deep scratches, but the lens itself was all good. And that folks is how you test the durability of the nifty fifty! This lens rocks! \m/

Bad Points:
1. Ghosting/ Flare – See Streetscape Shot #3.
2. No IS – Since it is an EF lens, it has no Image Stabilizer feature compared to 50mm L lens. Shooting hand held with this one would be a problem specially If you’re hands were shaky. Solution? Set aside your laziness and bring your tripod!
3. Hard to Focus – Watch your distance from your subject.  Make sure you have 0.45m/1.5 ft distance and above from the subject to the lens to achieve your focus.
4. Noisy on Focusing – This is one thing noticeable but never bothers me.

Recommendation: Hell Yeah! I would recommend this lens if you’re planning to buy one.
Ratings: I’ll give 4/5 horns for this lens! \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Oh by the way, make sure you’ll listen to Pantera’s Walk before goin’ out and grabbing a lens! \m/

That’s it folks! Thanks for dropping by to my Nifty Fifty test. By the way, if you like this post, you can drop some comments and rate it. Just click those stars and gimme a hell yeah! \m/
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Gears Used:
Canon EOS 1000D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens