Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Review of Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM standard lens. Review created 2007, latest update 2013.

catza.net photos: Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

  • a great lens for those that need something better than Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
  • estimated retail price 380 EUR
  • in my use from 7/2006 to 11/2008
  • was the most used lens in my setup for two and half years
  • good image quality: nice colors, high contrast and good sharpness
  • usable even at f/1.4 (although better at f/2.0)
  • has a reliable and quiet autofocus
  • small
  • lightweight
  • has a tendency to show green and purple color shifts in out of focus areas as its sister lens Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
  • shows some chromatic aberration on high contrast edges
  • after tens of thousands of shots started to show an issue on iris control: the blades wouldn't return to fully open state resulting “Err 01” on the body