Canon EF 50mm f/1.4

[DYORD]

I recently bought a second hand Canon 50mm 1.4 lens. I love my Nifty fifty 50mm 1.8. I just though I would get clearer and sharper pictures with the 1.4 version.

Anyhow, i always have trouble using the AF points on wide open. I'm using Canon 7D. The focus was always off. Focus is either off near or off further. I'm using AF servo mode to compensate with my movement. Tried ajusting the micro adjustments, but it wasn't consistent. Sometimes it would work, but the next shot would be off again. Did lots of trial and error.. tried lots of micro adjustments. Results are not consistent.

Been having the same problem with my nifty fifty. Sometimes i get better results with live view.

Is the lens? Or the body?

 

[ramon-uk]

I have had that sort of problem with both the Canon 50mm f1.4 and the 50mm f1.8 Mk 1, eventually I gave up and decided that the early Canon 50mm lenses were not worth bothering with. I did find that I got better results if I did the micro-adjust at f4 instead of wide open so I can only presume that it is lens flare at wider apertures that is confusing the autofocus.
Apparently the later f1.8 STM version is much more consistent with focusing but I haven't tried it

 

[Nick5]

The 50 f/ 1.4 USM is the only lens I traded in and never replaced or upgraded. It just didn’t wow me. Now the 85 f/1.8 USM is another story.

 

[DYORD]

The 50 f/ 1.4 USM is the only lens I traded in and never replaced or upgraded. It just didn’t wow me. Now the 85 f/1.8 USM is another story.

How's the 85 f1.8? Planning on getting that one too.

 

[OldFart2015]

Never had a problem using the 50/f1.4.
Always had crisp images......

 

[DYORD]

Never had a problem using the 50/f1.4.
Always had crisp images......

What camera (s) were you using? Are your images always sharp at wide open?

 

[Nick5]

How's the 85 f1.8? Planning on getting that one too.

The 85 is sharper and a bit more forgiving. Plus I like the focal length as is can make a nice portrait lens. My copy of the 50 never inspired me.
To be honest, the 50 range always leaves me wanting more. My walk around lenses in Europe the 16-35 f/4 L IS and 70-200 f/4 L IS Mark II are attached over 95% of the time. The 24-70 f/4 L IS usually stays in the bag at hotel. Something about the 36-69 range I can live without.
Again that’s me.

 

[PaulH]

I used an EF50 f/1.4 USM for a while, but it was never quite right. Sometimes just a little too soft.
I never had the older nifty-fifty f/1.8 lenses

However, I decided to buy a new EF50 f/1.8 STM as it was in a sale.
What a difference.

The STM might be considered a "downgrade" from the 1.4, but I found it so much better.
I sold the f/1.4 and kept the f/1.8 STM.
The f/1.4 is an old lens, and I do wonder why it's still four times the price of the f/1.8 STM

When Canon upgraded their 24, 28, and 35mm to their IS versions they should have made the 50 f/1.4 IS USM as well.
Such a missed opportunity from Canon.

 

[Ltdave]

shot with my 5DIII
50mm f1.4 @ f2.8
1/100ss
ISO 100

i think this is pretty darn sharp. you can see the creases in her lips. both have been cropped a lot. the 2nd way more than the 1st. and theres a lot of compression loss with the low res required by the site.


i had a 7D that i never felt hit tack sharp focus. i did the MFA 3, 4, 7 times with every lens i had. sent it in to Canon and said, i cant get razor sharp images and it was sent back (through Canon Professional Services) and they said "All fixed! we corrected your exposure errors"

 

[marcial4]

The lens I hated the most!. Happy when I sold it. Even its autofocus failed completely once and I have to dismantled it to fix it by myself (thanks internet for explaining the fix). When it worked it gave me nice images but still wasn't any of my most used lenses ever, in your case you would need to micro adjust the focus at your body

 

[Ltdave]

mine has been flawless and razor sharp

 

[Kuma5]

Have heard from others that the samples varied so enough did not like that lens. There are good ones out there. I sold the 50/1.4 last week. For those bokeh type shots it was great. Colors for mine was good though not like the other L glass I had. Mine was sharp though appreciably better at f1.8-5.6. Bought it for bokeh at 1.4 and that lens was used on the 5D-C, 5D-III and 5D-4 as well as adapted on the M3 and M6.

 

[OldFart2015]

What camera (s) were you using? Are your images always sharp at wide open?

Canon Xti, rebel 7, 1dx-2....even used it on a EOS-1 old film camera.
All came out pretty crisp.
A lot of different ISO + apertures, and didn't really notice any difference in the images.
Maybe I got lucky? It is an older version. I think I bought it around 2011?....not 100% sure though.