Overview

Before digital, the 50mm lens was the standard. Moreover, it’s generally said the image produced is similar to what’s seen by the human eye. This made it a starting point from almost all photographers since it was easy to visualize the photograph before wasting film.

Digital has changed all of this; the introduction of crop sensors changes the lens’s field of view and increases the apparent focal length. Even then, the lens’s low cost still makes it a popular choice among many photographers especially those looking for a fast lens.

Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 II is the second generation of Canon’s EF-mount 50mm f/1.8 lenses, though its design inherits a legacy that dates to the late 1800s. Its f/1.8 aperture makes for good low light performance and shallow depth of field as well. Did I mention it’s also the cheapest lens in Canon’s catalog?

Build and Construction

Optically the EF 50mm f/1.8 II has 6 element 5 groups and appears to be a double Gauss or modified double Gauss design. The double Gauss lens design dates back to the late 1800’s and is simple, well understood, and very refined. This lens’s optical design starts from a solid foundation. Further, its slow speed, for 50mm primes at least, tends to yield better sharpness and less distortion.

It’s not only the optical design that makes the EF 50mm f/1.8 II inexpensive, Canon has cut out every possible feature from its construction.

The body and lens mount are plastic. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the only things that were plastic in this lens were the glass elements and the electrical system. The build does make the lens incredibly light, 4.6oz (190g), though I’m not sure that makes much of a difference. That said, somewhat surprisingly the lens doesn’t feel nearly as flimsy as it sounds.

Unlike its predecessor, the mark II there is no distance scale. Though it’s nice to have distance scales, they are becoming increasingly useless on auto focus. Especially as features, like aperture depth of field marks, are omitted from designs.

The EF 50mm f/1.8 II also uses a cheaper micro-motor focus motor instead of a micro-USM or ring-USM focusing motor. The motor choice, however, doesn’t really affect autofocus speed, even with the lens’s overall linear extension design[i] there simply isn’t enough mass to be an issue. The micro-motor and gearbox is certainly louder than a ring-USM based motor but not really enough to be an issue or a distraction.

The lens lacks full-time autofocus, so when manually focusing the lens the autofocus system must be disengaging with AF/MF switch to MF. Failing to do so can damage the autofocus gearbox. Additionally the focus ring rotates when the lens focuses, so care is needed to avoid turning it or preventing it from turning when auto-focusing as well.

In an effort to further cut costs, the EF 50mm f/1.8 II doesn’t have a built in provision for a lens hood. However, the front element is recessed removing some of the need for a lens hood. That said, Canon does provide an optional snap -on lens hood in the form of the ES-62 kit. Another alternative is to mount a screw in lens hood on the filter threads.

Speaking of filter threads, the EF 50mm f/1.8 II’s has 52mm filter threads. However, because of the lens and hood design using them for anything other than a polarizer or special effect filters will increase the lens’s susceptibility to lens flare.

Performance

The EF 50mm f/1.8 II tests well in optical tests for its price. This is born out in real world use; the images tend to be acceptably sharp even when wide open though the corners are always a bit weak even stopped down. Vignetting is never completely removed on a full frame camera, even stopped down, showing about a 1/3^rd stop in the extreme corners. On a crop camera, there’s no appreciable vignetting at all, even wide open.

The biggest potential problem with this lens is the autofocus system. My experience is that it’s spotty at best, and performance is variable depending on many factors.

The copies I’ve handed have had problems repeatedly focusing on a consistent point, even in carefully controlled situations where there was nothing else to focus on and no camera motion. What will happen is the lens will front or back focus depending on the direction it’s focusing in. Even with AF micro adjustments, the problem persists, though you can typically get one direction or the other to be accurate, just not both.

What’s in the Box

What Canon ships with the lens is underwhelming at best. The retail box nets you the lens, a rear cap, a front cap, and a warranty card. As I said, there’s no lens hood shipped with the lens, that’s a $30 extra. Nor is there a pouch or case included.

Uses

On a full-frame digital or film camera the EF 50mm f/1.8 II is a normal lens, meaning it produces images that tend to have the same perspective as something view by the naked eye. It sees uses in journalism and anywhere where accurately portraying the environment is necessary. It’s also an acceptable lens for full body portraits.

On a Canon crop body the EF 50mm f/1.8 II becomes a short telephoto lens, with an angle of view similar to that of an 80mm lens on a full frame camera. This is at the short end of focal lengths commonly used for head and head and shoulder portraits. However, it also can make the lens difficult to work with for more general types of photography when in small rooms.

Additionally, the EF 50mm f/1.8 II is the cheapest fast lens Canon makes. This results in it being frequently recommended as a lowlight lens for beginner photographers to complement their 18-55mm kit lenses.

Verdict

Why the 50mm f/1.8 II remains popular is beyond me. Actually, not really, it’s cheap and fast, and most people fall over when they find out how expensive a good lens is. Even its half-stop faster better-built cousin, the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, is more than 3 times as expensive.

The EF 50mm f/1.8 II is commonly recommended for most entry level photographers as a low light lens to pair with their Kit 18-55. This is something I don’t agree with; mostly due to the potential for autofocus issues and the tighter field of view.

When I bought my copy of this lens they were running for about $65, at that price, even with any issues, it’s hard not to pass on. At the time of this writing, the lens is retailing for $100 or more. At that price, I have a hard time recommending the lens at all.

While I’m not suggesting everybody needs $1000 L glass, there are better alternatives in the sub $500 range, unfortunately, just not in the $100 range.

One of this is Tamron’s well-regarded SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II. It offers virtually the same range as the kit 18-55 lenses with between a ½ and 2 stop fast aperture. Another alternative is Sigma’s 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM; it retains the normal field of view, adds a half stop faster aperture, and adds a ring-type ultrasonic motor for silent full time manual focusing. The final alternative is Canon’s own 50mm f/1.4 USM; virtually identical to the f/1.8 mark 2 but with a half-stop faster aperture and silent full-time manual with an Ultrasonic motor.

Personally, I don’t think skimping on lens quality is a good way to go. The inexpensive lenses don’t tend to hold up as well, more frequently have issues, and don’t retain the value in resale should you want to sell them.

Between the potential problems, and the availability of more flexible alternatives I say pass on Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Our suggestion: Save your pennies and get something better.

Canon offers two teleconverters that are compatible with their EOS series cameras, the Extender EF 1.4x II (discussed here) and the Extender EF 2x II. They have both undergone an optical redesign since their initial release, hence the II in the name.

Extender Basics

A tele-extender or teleconverter is a supplementary lens that is placed behind the main lens and acts as a magnifying glass, narrowing the captured angle of view and enlarging the subject. This is commonly described as increasing the lens’s focal length.

In the process of “extending” the focal length, the teleconverter reduces the lens’s effective aperture by a factor related to its multiplier. A 1.4x converter reduces the effective aperture by 1 stop; a 1.7x converter by 1.5 stops; and a 2x converter by 2 stops.

In addition to increasing the lens’s focal length, the converter also magnifies any aberrations that the lens may produce. This becomes more noticeable as the extender’s power is increased. The effects when using a 1.4x extender are often unnoticeable; however, a 2x extender can noticeably degrade even the sharpest lenses.

In addition to the optical affects, and the loss of a stop of effective aperture, the increase in effective focal length demands the use of good long lens technique to insure optimal results.

Canon Extender EF 1.4x II

The EF 1.4x II is a solidly built lens with an all metal body and metal lens mounts. In addition, it is fully weather sealed with a rubber gasket on the rear mount and the corresponding mating surface on the front mount.

The EF 1.4x II has a protruding front element, as seen in the photo above, this limits the number of lenses the EF 1.4x II is compatible with.

In general, the EF 1.4x II is compatible with most L and DO lenses that are 135mm or longer. This includes all four 70-200mm zooms. Lenses specifically not supported include the EF 135mm f/2.8 Softfocus and 70-300 f/4-5.6 DO. The Extender EF 1.4x II is not compatible with any EF-S lenses, or most lenses from 3rd party manufacturers.

Auto Focus

Canon’s cameras are designed to disable the auto focus system when the optical characteristics of the lens or lens and extender combination used with the camera exceed the sensor’s ability to properly focus.

For most Canon cameras, except those in the EOS-1 series, this means if the effective aperture exceeds f/5.6 auto focus will be disabled. Practically this means that for non EOS-1 bodies, the slowest lens that can be paired with the EF 1.4x II has a maximum aperture of f/4 or faster.

Canon EOS 1 series bodies will retain autofocus with the central point with lenses with an effective aperture of f/8. When using an EF 1.4x II, auto focus is operable with lenses that are f/5.6 or faster.

Workarounds for Auto Focus

It is possible to work around the aperture requirements though one of two mechanisms. There is the widely noted “tape trick” that involves taping over some contacts preventing the teleconverter from reporting itself to the lens and camera. In the name of science, I have tried this and frankly I found it to be totally useless. While it may work better with some lenses, it’s not something I would want to depend on working in a critical situation.

The second work around is for cameras that offer contrast detect AF in live view mode. These include the EOS 5D Mark 2, EOS 50D, and Rebel XSi, Rebel T1i. Contrast-detection auto focus isn’t subject to the minimum aperture requirements that phase-detection is, and therefor isn’t disabled and remains functional.

Stacking Teleconverters

The EF 1.4x II can be stacked with Canon’s EF 2x II extender as long as the 1.4x II is placed closest to the camera. In this configuration, the lens’s aperture will be reduced by 3 stops and its effective focal length increased 2.8 times. However, the Canon extenders weren’t designed with this operation in mind so only the front teleconverter reports its presence to the camera.

Performance

The performance of the Canon Extender EF 1.4x II is quite good, even when paired with lenses on the lower end of its supported range like the EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and a high density sensor like that in the EOS 40D. When paired with the very high-end super-telephoto lenses like the EF 500 f/4L IS USM the difference in image quality is virtually unnoticeable.

As good as the Extender EF 1.4x II is the resulting image quality won’t match that of a longer lens. That said it’s not always desirable to have or carry a 600mm or 800mm lens or even a 400mm lens and this is where the EF 1.4x II comes into play. When packing light, and where long focal lengths aren’t going to be used the majority of the time, a 70-200 or 300 f/4 paired with the EF 1.4x II is quite capable of pulling of quite acceptable shots.

Handling

After some practice mounting and un-mounting the EF 1.4x II becomes very easy. The recommended procedure is to mount the convert to the lens then the converter-lens combination to the camera. This works especially well when the lens is mounted on a tripod and less so when everything is hand held.

There is one other consideration, due to the protruding front element the front cap for the EF 1.4x II is taller than a camera body cap, even though they are otherwise the same. This can be problematic if you drop all your caps into a single pocket in your pants or bag. If you do this, you might want to consider replacing your camera body caps with the same cap as the extender. This is part “Extender Cap E II” and they run about $7 a piece.

Conclusions

Like most photographic items, extenders fall in the “you get what you pay for” category. While the EF 1.4x II is a bit pricey, listing at about $310 at the time of this writing, the image quality over its cheaper competitors is very much worth it in my opinion.

As to whether you should get a teleconverter in the first place, that’s a more personal question. For $310 and 8 oz. you can add 50% more lens to your bag. For me, the increased flexibility is worth it for those times when I need the image more than I need a great image.