Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens

I am getting great images with this lens.You can't beat the price.I just don't have much to gripe about.I won't dare complain about it feeling cheap,it was cheap,I knew that when I ordered it.Bottom line is it takes great pictures,if I break it because it is plastic I will buy another one.Also if I do break it, I'll be glad it was plastic.

Yes, it's noisy focusing, made of plastic, but takes great images! I bought it mainly for it's low-light capability and have not been disappointed. It's always a balancing act indoors trying not to use flash, but keep the ISO low enough as not to degrade the image. This lens fills that void nicely for me. Now it's just trying to keep the shutter speed high enough to freeze action indoors.

No photographer should be without this lens! The price is amazing and the quality superb.

Pros: Great for low light shooting. Small and lightweight. Price. Very practical for shooting faces indoors and outdoors. The bokeh is really neat (not everyone thinks so, though).

Cons: It's all plastic (but it is sturdy enough for its size). slow focus in low light. the focus ring is very small and not too precise- it is usually better to leave it on autofocus (and just focus with the middle focus point in the camera).

Overall, this is a superb lens and it should belong in the camera bags of all photographers that are at least somewhat interested in photography!

I have owned this lens for only 3 days yet... and this is my second DSLR lens to the Canon 28-105mm USM one.

Regardless, I can already see the difference in image quality when I compare the two. This lens is far better in sharpness and color rendition at an equivalent focal length. It is amazingly sharp around 2.8f.

I wish I had bought this one in the first place... and then I wont have bought the 28-105 one so soon.

To sum up:

Pros:
- A great lens for starters.
- Very sharp around f2.8, sharp even otherwise.
- Very good for low light conditions.
- Light weight, not bulky in size.
- Vibrant colors.

Cons:
- Auto focus isnt very handy.. and struggles sometimes in low light conditions. But thats expected I think.
- Focussing is noisy.. no ultrasonic gizmos in there.
- Manual focus wil need some skills... the grip threads arent very easily grip-pable.

In the end, I would actually cross off all the cons from the list considering the price you pay for it: a sub-100 bucks lens that gives excellent image quality. People who complain about the build quality probably care more about a solid body than about the end result: image quality.. and will be happy to pay 10 times for a lens that isnt as sharp... so let them pay the extra bucks if they can. I speak from personal experience since I paid about 4 times as much for a USM lens and this one still beats the expensive one by a long margin!!

Recommendation: I highly recommend this lens as a starter lens. I would in fact advise you to get this one instead of the crappy kit lenses that no one would buy otherwise.

This is a great lens for the price. However the 50mm is a little too powerful for some things. I do have a digital with the 1.6 conversion factor, so a 30mm would of been much better. That being said for less then $100 (tax and shipping) you can get a 1.8 lens that works very well. If there was a 30mm at the same price I would swap, so I have not. This is currently the lens I shot 80% of my shots with.