Previously here on Digital SLR Guru we’ve waxed lyrical about both Canon’s 50mm f1.8 and the f1.4 lenses. In our review of the f1.4 version and the original f1.8 review we discussed a few of the advantages but we never really did a full comparison of the two lenses. In this article we’ll compare the lenses side by side with the aim of making it easier for you to pick between them.
Ok, so here are what we see as the key differences between these two 50mm lenses.
Now let’s take a look at some of these areas in more detail.
Build Quality
Read any review of the Canon 50mm f1.8 and you’ll come across references to the cheap build quality. Sure the f1.8 is made almost entirely of plastic (apart from the glass elements obviously) and feels cheap, almost toy like don’t let this deceive you. It still takes pin sharp pictures, the crappy build quality is the reason that Canon manages to keep the price so damn low.
As you can see above the f1.8 weighs a meager 130 grams, amazingly light for a lens capable of producing some stunning images. At such a cheap price point (just over $100 at the time of writing) it really is remarkable value considering the quality of images it produces.
While the f1.8 is almost entirely plastic the f1.4 gives you a metal mount, rubber focus ring and much more sturdy feel. This all adds up and the f1.4 weighs in at more than double the f1.8 at 290grams.
Sharpness
One of the reasons I’m such a big fan of 50mm lenses is they just seem so sharp. I have used both of these lenses extensively for the last few years and have to conclude that there is very little to choose in terms of sharpness.
Both lenses are said to be a little bit soft when wide open but as with all lenses this is to be expected. Stop down a couple of f-stops and they are both razor sharp. That said, the portrait shot below was taken with the 50 mm f1.8 wide open at f1.8 and in my opinion it is about as sharp as sharp is!!!
While the f1.8 might take a little longer to focus (more on that later), but when it does it is as sharp to the f1.4 as you can see in the above shot.
Bokeh
One of the things that I love about both of these lenses is the bokeh that the large apertures produce, particularly when shooting at night with lights in the background.
The f1.8 version of this lens has only five aperture blades versus the 8 in the f1.4 version. What this means is the bokeh produced is not as smooth with the f1.8. As you can see in the photo above the bokeh of the Christmas tree lights appears as a pentagon (the photograph was shot wide open at f1.8).
The same shot taken with the f1.4 would have had a more rounded bokeh as it would have been an octagon shape but slightly rounded as f1.8 is not wide open on the f1.4 lens.
Focusing
This is one area where these two little 50mm lenses vary quite a bit. The f1.4 version comes with a ‘micro USM motor’. USM stands for Ultrasonic Motor and is Canon’s advanced focus motor technology. What does this mean? Well it means USM lenses like the f1.4 focus much faster and quieter than lenses with Canon’s standard micro motor found on the f1.8.
The micro-motor USM mechanism found in the f1.4 is one step down from the ring-type USM found on some of Canon’s more expensive lenses (mainly the L-series professional range), the difference being it doesn’t have ‘full time manual functionality. This means you can’t manually over ride the auto focus at any point – in order to manual focus you need to switch from auto to manual focus using the switch on the lens barrel. While nice to have ring-type focusing isn’t essential and is only really relevant if you like to focus manually a lot of the time.
In addition the focus ring on the f1.8 50mm is not in the middle of the barrel casing as with most other lenses but is instead right on the end of the barrel as shown in the photo below. This takes some getting used to and can easily lead to fingers appearing in the edge of shots when you manually focus. In addition to this, the focus ring on the f1.8 is made from hard plastic as opposed to the soft, grippy rubber on the f1.4.
image by mayhem
All in all the focus mechanism of the f1.4 lens is much better than that of the f1.8. The f1.8 can hunt around a bit in low light and is quite noisy when doing so. If you’re into manual focusing then you’ll definitely want to opt for the f1.4 as the f1.8 really is designed mainly for auto focus work. Even when manual focusing the f1.4 offers a nice smooth resistance and much more professional feel than the f1.8.
Aperture
The best thing about these lenses for me is the big aperture they offer. Once you start shooting with one of these 50mm lenses you’ll discover how much better your pictures are when you don’t use the on-board flash on your DSLR.
I tend to shoot a lot indoors, at night time in low light so it was a revolution when i started shooting at apertures of around 1.8.
Obviously the f1.8 gives you an additional f-stop compared to the f1.8 meaning that when it is wide open it can soak up twice as much light as the f1.8. Unless you shoot indoors a lot you may not really need the additional stop.
The above shot of the candles was taken hand held in the darkest corner of a bar with the 50mm f1.4, (shot at f1.4) and an ISO of only 800. The ability of these lenses to shoot like this in the darkest of conditions is their most attractive feature to me.
Key Differences
* Build quality
* USM versus micro motor
* f/1.4 versus f/1.8
* More aperture blades (8 vs 5)
* Slightly better optics in the f/1.4
* Cost!
*Position of Focus Ring
1.4 vs 1.8 Summary
Despite owning quite a few L series lenses I have to admit that my 50mm f1.4 is the lens that is attached to my camera about 80% of the time. Both the f1.8 and f1.4 lenses are great. The image quality if very similar between the two however the f1.4 excels in a couple of areas;
- Far superior build quality
- Quicker and faster focusing
- Softer, richer bokeh
In our opinion ether of these lenses will serve you equally well and both represent great value for money when compared to other lenses in Canon’s range. However if you can afford it we’d recommend you go for the f1.4 version. If you buy the f1.8 you’ll probably fall in love with it and end up upgrading to the f1.4 version anyway like I did!
Check out the latest prices of both the 50mm lenses on Amazon.
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