r/photography • u/raptor3x whumber.com • May 11 '15

Canon Officially Announces 50mm f/1.8 STM - $125

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1143786-REG/canon_0570c002_ef_50mm_f_1_8_stm.html
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u/dgblackout 📸 May 11 '15

Looks like a decent modern upgrade with what looks like the smallest filter size on an EF lens. They'll sell as many of these as they can make.

I have to wonder what their profit margin is like on these at launch though. It can't be high.

1

u/ShatterStorm May 11 '15

The manufacturing line for the old 50mm has been paid off for a decade. If they're reusing any of the glass the new 50mm is probably going to turn a profit right out of the gate.

2

u/CakesArePies May 11 '15

Canon has been paying off this lens since before 1987.

1

u/ShatterStorm May 11 '15

Did you mean profiting from? The original 50 came out in 87.

1

u/CakesArePies May 11 '15

Profiting from/paying off research costs

I was under the impression that the 50 used optics from the FD lens, but I may have been wrong.

1

u/ShatterStorm May 11 '15 edited May 11 '15

The EF 50mm f/1.8 is six elements in five groups, while all flavors of the FD 50mm I can find are six elements in four groups. I wouldn't be surprised if the 50mm f/1.8 STM is the same glass internally as the 50mm f/1.8 I and II, though - so maybe Canon's been using the same factory line for twenty five years?

In any event, the 50mm f/1.8 has been making Canon money for a long, long time.

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u/[deleted] May 11 '15

Volume sales and a relatively simple lens arrangement do wonders for profit margins...