Canon Lenses
I looked at upgrading my Canon 50mm f/1.8 II this month, a lens I don’t recall seeing in the lens kit of professionals, or, in recent years, hobbyists. 50mm is a standard focal length for 35mm SLR’s, and f/1.8 a common aperture that goes with it. The 50mm f/1.8 was once the standard kit lens as well, boxed with your SLR from the 60’s to the mid-80's—but that disappeared with the infatuation with zooms. Canon introduced the EOS model in 1987 with the first EOS film cameras. In 1991 they dumbed the lens down and cut the price to $70 (today it’s $99). The 50mm f/1.8 II has the original’s glass, but with a cheap plastic body and mount that also lighten the lens to 4.6 oz. The distance meter is gone; autofocus is a low-tech micro motor; and the manual focus ring, re-located at the front edge, is a bit hard-to-grip and focuses coarsely. The simpler 5-blade diaphragm distorts blurred highlights into weird-looking pentaprisms. The surviving attraction is the optics, still sharp, and the speed—an f/1.8 is 2-1/3 stops faster than f/4.
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
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