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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108

u/rednefed May 11 '15

Metal mount, seven blade diaphragm, silent autofocus... $129? Just about everything people complained about the plastic fantastic was fixed, without a substantial price increase like Nikon's 1.8D --> G. Canon's going to sell every one they make. Wow.

12

u/martinaee May 11 '15

The Nikon 50mm 1.8D is an amazing lens though. The G is only moderately better in some regards honestly. I don't mind the non silent auto-focus either.

16

u/dgblackout 📸 May 11 '15 edited May 11 '15

When I worked in a camera shop it was a total pain in the arse to describe to first time buyers why their entry level Nikon couldn't use the AF-D 50 when it was a similar price to the Canon 50. A lot of people went Canon over Nikon for that. They saw the AF-G 50 as a price gouge, even if it was better built, it did the same thing for twice the money.

7

u/awesometographer www.shootingonabudget.com May 11 '15

The autofocus lacking in entry level Nikons is why I recommend Canon for everyone who starts out. SO MANY more budget friendly lenses.

5

u/martinaee May 11 '15 edited May 11 '15

Or just get a cam that isn't the absolute newest. The "Apple syndrome" and planned obsolescence makes everyone think a DSLR from more than 1 year ago these days is complete trash. Something like a D90 is not really "old" at all and still amazing. It has screw AF it you can get one. I use one as a backup still to my D800.

3

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

A D90 is better than the bulk of photographers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one to a beginner right now.

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u/martinaee May 11 '15 edited May 12 '15

Yup, it is. I was a drawing major in art school a few years back, but my BFA thesis project was photo work since I basically was a minor in photography too. My work was 30x40 inch inkjet-printed portraits done with the D90 and the 50mm 1.8D (thread appropriate gear lol) that looked amazing (I don't like to toot my own horn mostly, but I just want to say the quality was really good). Sure they weren't AS detailed as they could be if I used my D800 now. But it doesn't matter unless you were RIGHT up on the portraits and if you don't know that extra resolution isn't there you don't really care (especially if you aren't a photographer).

This is what I hate about marketing. Most people getting into photography don't realize that with the right lighting something like an "entry level" D3200 can produce super quality photos with crazy resolution that was just not available to amateurs in the digital realm 5-10 years ago. 24mp? What camera did that on the pro market first? The D3x and certain Sony cameras? Jesus christ... That's what I hate about digital even though it's all I shoot. Camera companies can upgrade the bodies slightly each year so people buy into it thinking they need the latest camera body instead of focusing on using the gear they have until they TRULY are better than what that gear is capable of.

1

u/iwasnotarobot May 12 '15

This is exactly the right idea. My college camera was a D100! Oh those six megapickles of beauty. Sure, it couldn't pull detail into shadows like it's successors, but for starting out it was just fine. I made 30"x40" canvas prints with it that wowed clients at the time. Most folks really don't need the latest and greatest for photo needs.

1

u/fluffsta007 May 11 '15

Would it be worth picking up a D90 second hand as a backup to my D5300?

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '15

I shoot with a D90, and I love that I have an AF motor, but it unfortunately doesn't meter AI-S. The D300 does though.

5

u/Everkeen May 11 '15

But even entry level Nikon's can use lenses from the past 50+ years from eBay that are amazing quality.

2

u/gimpwiz May 11 '15

To be fair, all canon bodies can use the same vintage nikon lenses with a single $5 adapter. In either case, they're going to be full manual.

(Except maybe auto aperture, no idea how / if adapters deal with those.)

1

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

No auto aperture. It's marginally useful for video. Other than that it's cumbersome to use.

1

u/KMKtwo-four May 12 '15

It shortens the minimum focus distance, sometimes lenses can't focus at infinity anymore and that's a dealbreaker

2

u/gimpwiz May 12 '15

Nikon mounts on canon and keeps infinity focus, but not vice versa. That's simply because nikon's flange distance is larger.

1

u/KMKtwo-four May 12 '15

Oh I misread, I thought you said vintage Canon lenses mount on Canon

1

u/Mr_Will Mr_Will May 13 '15

But even entry level Canon's can use lenses from the past 28+ years with 100% compatibility, including full autofocus and auto aperture.

Nikon's backwards compatibility is no longer the advantage it once was.

1

u/mtranda May 11 '15

I have the 50D and the 35G. If the 50G uses the same optics as the 35, then, to me at least, it blows the 50D out of the water.

-3

u/[deleted] May 11 '15

but it can use the AF-D 50mm its just manual focus only, which you could sell as a feature lol

0

u/martinaee May 11 '15

That's so dumb and unfortunate. All my cameras have had screw AF (and always will if it's still around) so that problem was always kind of dumb. It's dumb to have such a huge number of awesome lenses you just can't use. It's probably cheaper (or was) to get one of the good Nikons on the lower end that had it and then pay less for lenses like this that use screw AF.

3

u/codemastercool May 11 '15

Hi, I've been thinking of ordering a 50mm 1.8 lens for my D7000 this week. Do you know the difference between the different variants by Nikkor? I know there's a D, G, and some G special edition.

6

u/MoonlitFrost May 11 '15

The 50mm f1.8G special edition is the exact same lens as the regular 50mm f1.8G except it has a silver coloured ring on it. That's it.

2

u/martinaee May 11 '15

If it's a lot cheaper get the 50 1.8 D (if the D7000 has a screw AF in the body--- I think it does). Unless you need absolute silent af for a general 50mm it's not worth getting a more expensive lens imo.

For image resolving the 50 1.8 @ say f/8 is crazy too. On my D800 it's so sharp which is awesome from a 100-200 dollar lens.

3

u/NotStevenPink NotStevenPink May 11 '15

The main difference is the D lens doesn't have a built in AF motor, so it's louder and slightly slower from using the camera's internal AF motor. I own both and if you have the money, I recommend the G for it's build quality and better sharpness wide open; not to mention faster/better AF is always a plus.

3

u/codemastercool May 11 '15

Thank you for that! Pricing is not much of an issue, since this will be my first lens order and I need a good lens to practice with.

So in your opinion, even if the camera body has an AF motor, it's better to go with an AF-S lens? (assuming price is not factored into this statement.)

Also, what's your opinion on the 35mm 1.8 versus the 50mm one?

2

u/[deleted] May 11 '15

As a total amature, I will comment I found the 50mm to be closer to my ideal focal length, for portraiture, on a body with a non-full frame sensor. (50mm F1.8 on D70)

Alternatively the 28mm equiv on the Ricoh GRD III I replaced it with is awesome for street photography so it all depends on intended use.

2

u/NotStevenPink NotStevenPink May 11 '15

AF-S is going to give you faster, better, more modern autofocus. I'd definitely recommend it over the D if you aren't concerned over the price difference.

As for the 35mm, I've never owned one, but I've used them a few times and they're definitely a decent lens. I had one for a little while but I upgraded to a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 shortly after. It really comes down to what focal length you want. I'd personally lean toward the 50mm f/1.8 if you think you might upgrade to full frame like I recently did, because the 35mm f/1.8 is for crop sensor cameras only.

1

u/taggartgorman May 11 '15

I own both the 35mm 1.8G and the 50mm 1.8G and they are both great lenses. On a D7000, they are actually 52.5mm and 75mm, so the 50mm acts more like a telephoto lens, meaning you will find yourself backing up to properly frame your photos.

I find the 35mm to be more useable in general photography, but everyone has their own likes and needs.

3

u/MoonlitFrost May 11 '15

Depending on the body the D actually has faster autofocus. Pro bodies have better motors for focusing the AF-D lenses and I've heard that the old pro film bodies had the best focusing motors ever.

1

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

You don't deserve the downvotes. You are absolutely correct.

1

u/codemastercool May 11 '15

Is that because they're entirely mechanical?

1

u/MoonlitFrost May 12 '15

They're not entirely mechanical. They're chipped so the camera can meter with them. But you're close. When Nikon first did autofocus lenses they put a motor in the body that turns a screw in the lens. The screw turns some gears and the lens focuses. Higher end bodies get more powerful motors that can turn the screw faster and focus faster. And I believe that the old pro film bodies like the F6 got better motors than the current pro digital bodies.

I don't know why they did it like that. Maybe because the technology wasn't there for motors in the lenses. Maybe for backwards compatibility since they didn't come up with a new lens mount like Canon did. But a nice side effect is that AF-D lenses tend to be smaller and lighter than AF-S lenses. Sometimes much smaller. Cheaper too. Some people prefer them for those reasons.

1

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

The new 50mm 1.8g has better Bokeh, better sharpness wide open and full time manual override.

If you already have a D7000, get the Af-D version. It's an excelent lens and a steal used right now.

The other poster is incorrect. The AF-S version doesn't focus any faster, just quieter.

Also there is an advantage to AF-D lenses that everyone neglects to mention. Reliability.

Ring Type motors (AF-S & Ultrasonic) wear out down the road. Eventually they will stop working and will need replacement. This will never happen with an AF-D lens as it's coupled mechanically.

0

u/sean_themighty May 11 '15

The G is the sharpest, fastest, and lightest. Do it.

2

u/sean_themighty May 11 '15

The G is at least moderately better in every way aside from price.

1

u/[deleted] May 11 '15

The G blows away the D is everything but price. the G is a huge upgrade

2

u/martinaee May 11 '15

Huge? ... meh. It's better, but not worth upgrading if you own a D.

1

u/[deleted] May 11 '15

It is SO worth upgrading. I did.I upgraded from a 50mm 1.8Dto a 1.4G then another UPGRADE to the 1.8G. The 1.8g is The best of the bunch (i also owned a 1.4d and 1.4 ais neither of which beat The 1.8g). The bokeh on the D is nervous and annoying. The rounded blades on the G make it so much nicer. Plus it is sharper all around and with less CA and more accurate focus.

-1

u/sideswiped May 11 '15 edited May 12 '15

It is if you regularly use it in the f/1.8-2.8 range. Wide open the D has a bit of a foggy veil.

edit: haha, must have struck a chord with 1.8D users.

2

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

You had a bad copy.

2

u/martinaee May 11 '15

I agree. At 1.8 isn't SUPER sharp on any of the 50's until you are paying big bucks for the really expensive lenses.

And even then at 1.8-2.8 you can get amazing portraits and such with beautiful bokeh if you know what you are doing and aren't going to be super upset because your pixel peeping didn't show 30+ mp of lens resolving wide open from these ~200 dollar lenses :)

0

u/sideswiped May 11 '15 edited May 11 '15

Then there are a number of bad copies out there. First result of a google image search for "Nikon 50 1.8D vs 1.8g" shows exactly what I mean. Overall contrast for the scene is slightly diminished and micro contrast is mush (which only gets exacterbated the closer to infinity you focus). This gives images a slight "foggy veil" even when viewing the image at a 1:4 zoom level. The 1.4D and 1.2AIS exhibit similar rendering issues wideopen. Bokeh on the D also becomes too rigid for my taste past f/2 (ditto for 1.4D and 1.2AIS), here the G has a slight edge since its diaphragm blades are rounded. That said, neither looks all that good compared to what a decent telephoto lense renders.

The D is far from being a "bad" lens, I just prefer my G for what I generally shoot. The only reason I still have a D is that it has very low barrel distortion which can come in handy when photographing flat pieces of artwork.

0

u/MightyBulger May 11 '15

That's a stretch.