50MM F1.8 or 50MM F1.4?


ctxx83

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Nov 29, 2010
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Hi all, i'm just thinking to sell away my 50MM F1.8 and buy a 50MMF1.4. Has been thinking about it for quite some time now.
What are the pros and cons between this 2 lens? Will the 50MM F1.4 produce a more crisp and clearer image? Thank you all for your advices :) Merry Christmas!
 

Hi all, i'm just thinking to sell away my 50MM F1.8 and buy a 50MMF1.4. Has been thinking about it for quite some time now.
What are the pros and cons between this 2 lens? Will the 50MM F1.4 produce a more crisp and clearer image? Thank you all for your advices :) Merry Christmas!

Generally lenses aren't at their sharpest when wide open, the sweet spot is usually 1 to 2 stops down from the wides aperture. So if you're looking for good sharpness, nice bokeh and have some money to spare then go for the 50mm f/1.4. However, the cost of the f/1.4 would be significantly higher than the value for money f/1.8. Upgrading from a f/1.8 to f/1.4, you gain about 2/3 stops :)
 

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hi Ismokeweed, i prefer canon lens. Tamron and other brand lens, is it comparable to canon lens?
 

Generally lenses aren't at their sharpest when wide open, the sweet spot is usually 1 to 2 stops down from the wides aperture. So if you're looking for good sharpness, nice bokeh and have some money to spare then go for the 50mm f/1.4. However, the cost of the f/1.4 would be significantly higher than the value for money f/1.8. Upgrading from a f/1.8 to f/1.4, you gain about 2/3 stops :)

Hi Zion, what do you mean by 2/3 stops? what is stop? And what do you mean by wide open? hee sorry i'm a noob
 

Hi Zion, what do you mean by 2/3 stops? what is stop? And what do you mean by wide open? hee sorry i'm a noob

wide open means the largest possible aperture for that lens, 1 stop of light means twice the amount of light. so for an exposure using 1/30s with f2.8, you can get 1/60s with f1.2 and get the same exposure.
 

hi Ismokeweed, i prefer canon lens. Tamron and other brand lens, is it comparable to canon lens?

The sigma is sharper than the canon.
 

Hi Sliverpine, how do i read the picture which you've posted? Thank you! :D

Two lens for comparation, selection on the left is f/1.4 right is f/1.8
Please selection your camera currently used.
Selection the f stop for both lens you need to compare.
Picture show the f/1.4 lens used when your mouse pointer is outside the picture, move your mouse pointer inside the picture, the picture will change to picture taken from f/1.8.

This method is the show how sharp the lens look like when you use it with your camera type.

.
 

Hi Zion, what do you mean by 2/3 stops? what is stop? And what do you mean by wide open? hee sorry i'm a noob

A stop increase in light means twice as light as before. Cameras usually allow you to adjust shutter/aperture/iso based on 1/2 or 1/3 stops

Here is a scale of 1/3 increments for aperture,
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.8 3.2 3.5 4 4.5 5.0 5.6 6.3 7.1 8 9 10 11 13 14 16 18 20 22
The full-stops are highlighted in Red.

If you have a f/1.4 lens, that means the aperture goes up to 1.4 wide open. As the number increases, it means your aperture goes smaller. Every full stop you decrease the aperture size by, you are halving the amount light of light entering your camera per unit time. For example, f/1.4 -> f/2.0, you are reducing 1 full stop, at f/2.0 you get half the amount of light entering the camera as compared to f/1.4.

...so for an exposure using 1/30s with f2.8, you can get 1/60s with f1.2 and get the same exposure.

Actually this calculation is incorrect, 1/30s -> 1/60s is 1 stop decrease in light, to compensate for that to get same exposure you must set aperture from f/2.8 -> f/2 to gain 1 stop of light.
 

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Thanks a millions, fellows! you guys are great! Thank you all for the advices and the theories. Thank you again!
 

Since TS has no clue about the very basics the discussion between different lenses is quite pointless. Back to the Newbies Guide.
 

Canon 50mm 1.4 is a gem of a lens to me, luv the contrast and the certain feel on the pics it produces. I'm sure a few owners would vouch on it. Luv it almost as much as the 85mm f1.2
 

go with sigma 50 1.4, way better in ca control and sharpness over canon, higher accuracy and performance is truly premium

barrel distortion is very minimal wide open

canon 50 1.4 is still soft, not worth investing if picture quality really matters to ya brudda

edit : i'd rather ya stick to ya 1.8
 

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