Pros: Inexpensive (under $70), great image quality for price, sharp at smaller apertures
Cons: Build quality, non-USM autofocus, AF won't work in odd lighting
The Bottom Line: A great starter lens for EOS/Rebel cameras. Relatively sharp stopped down, fast maximum aperture, and very light. Recommended over cheap standard zooms.
suffocate's Full Review: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens
The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II is a great starter lens for Canon EOS/Rebel cameras. It is discreet and very light. I would suggest this lens over the normal 28-80 or 28-90 lenses that come packaged with certain cameras for a first EF lens. The sharpness is far superior and the fast 1.8 aperture is a great asset.
The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II is great for creating background blur (with apertures 1.8 - 2.5) and creating decent depth of field (with apertures 11 - 22). The sharpness at the wide end is not excellent but for a starter lens is fine. If stopped down to about 3.5 the sharpness will far surpass that of a cheap zoom also at 3.5, and both cost about the same price. From experience I find that this lens is sharpest at around 9 or 11, as with most lenses.
One problem that I encountered with this lens was the fact that autofocus does not properly work in overly bright or dark scenes or where backlighting is extreme. The autofocus is also outdated and slow compared to newer EF lenses but this never was much of a problem since it wasn't designed to photograph fast moving objects (if the main subject you photograph is either sports or birds this lens will not give you great pictures, a mid-range telephoto zoom is probably your best bet then) and I don't photograph fast subjects with this lens.
The built quality of the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II isn't up to par with many other EF lenses. The lens casing is made completely of plastic which, while making the less heavy, also makes this lens less durable. You shouldn't have a problem with the lenses build quality unless you are shooting on rough terrain, or are a professional in which case you most definately would desire a more expensive "L" series pro lens. The lens mount is also made of plastic which is a bit more of a problem is you are going to be removing this lens frequently under extreme conditions. If you are careful enough with removing and attaching this lens this shouldn't pose a huge problem.
In closing, this is a great starter lens for the Canon EOS/Rebel series of SLR cameras. While not superior in build quality and autofocus capabilities, it is (in my opinion) a better choice for a first lens than a cheap standard zoom being sharper and having a large maximum aperture.
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