Clearly these aren’t scientific tests. I looked at a few factors that would sway me in deciding whether to get a lens or not.The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L ( affiliate), as you might expect, is a somewhat of an outlier – it gives a unique, if sometimes subtly different result than the other lenses. It really holds its own, and is the best value for money for those wanting to buy a 50mm lens. Next in line, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 ( affiliate), is surprisingly good. Hopefully, some of these mysteries will unfold in this review which concentrates on sharpness, which follows up on the review of how the lenses’ bokeh appears.įor those who are the kind of people who flip to the last page of a book to read the ending first, here’s the final summary …Ĭonsidering both the sharpness and the bokeh, for me, the Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART lens ( affiliate) has that perfect intersection between price and quality. What would the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens ( affiliate) offer that the f/1.8 lenses don’t? And would the f/1.8 lenses still appear good value when compared to the more pricey lenses? Yet, it might also be a good way to see what each lens offers in each price bracket. With such a wide range in price (and build quality), it might seem slightly ridiculous in a way to compare these lenses. With that in mind, let’s compare these 50mm lenses for Canon: The 50mm focal length would appear to be a design that is less complicated than ultra-wide angle lenses or zooms, so we could expect crisply sharp results from any 50mm lens. So I do believe that a 50mm lens will find its way into your camera bag at some point. Still, a 50mm lens is often the first lens that people buy when stepping up from a kit zoom lens, wanting to explore the shallow depth-of-field that the wide aperture allows. It could be argued that 50mm is a less thrilling focal length – not wide enough for scenic views, nor long enough to compress perspective. Clearly, there is more to deciding on a lens than just sharpness, and we discussed one of those aspects in that article on bokeh. Often it comes down to a balance between your budget, and what you expect from the lens – but usually, image sharpness is the key factor. Review: Best Canon 50mm lenses – lens sharpnessĬontinuing on from the review of the bokeh of Canon 50mm lenses, let’s have a look at image sharpness.

Sharpest vintage lens