Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 and EF 50mm f/1.2L Upgrades Coming

Canon EF 50mm lens lineup

The 50mm lens is one of the most basic, must have lens in many photographers' equipment bag. One can spend anywhere from about $100 to $4,000 on one, depending on one's budget and need.

Sigma, the independent lens manufacturer has been coming on strong lately, building on their successful ART line of lens. Read my post on an interview with their CEO. Canon will be updating their EF 50mm f/1.4 and EF 50mm f/1.2L lens some time in 2016. Their designs date back to 1993 and 2006 respectively and can benefit from a Series II upgrade. 

Below is a good video comparing ten 50mm lens from various manufacturers. They all come in mounts for Canon, Nikon and a few other camera brands. By the way, the most expensive 50mm brand, Zeiss, has just announced a 'cheaper' Milvus line to try and compete with other lens makers.

Ten 50mm Lens With Canon EF Mount Comparison

The 50mm lens is one of the most basic, must have lens in many photographers' equipment bag. One can spend anywhere from about $100 to $4,000 on one, depending on one's budget and need.

Below is a good video comparing ten 50mm lens from various manufacturers. They all come in mounts for Canon, Nikon and a few other camera brands. By the way, the most expensive 50mm brand, Zeiss, has just announced a 'cheaper' Milvus line to try and compete with other lens makers. 

Canon Announced EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens

I reported last week Canon is about to announce the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens. The new lens is a big improvement over the old EF 50mm f/1.8 model and comes with a stronger, metal mount. The new 50mm f/1.8 STM features an improved design with STM technology for almost silent and smooth auto focusing. It comes with “super spectra” lens coating, has a minimum focusing distance of 0.35m (~1.15ft) and a 7-blade aperture. The weight is slightly heavier, 160g compared to 130g for its predecessor. You can see sample photos taken with this lens.


MELVILLE, N.Y., May 11, 2015 – Canon U.S.A., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce the new lightweight and compact Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM standard lens. Featuring a large maximum aperture of f/1.8, this single focal length lens (which has an effective focal length of 80mm when attached to an EOS camera with an APS-C sensor such as the EOS Rebel T6i) is ideal for creating portraits with beautiful, soft-blurred backgrounds. It’s also ideal for low-light photography and night scenes. Now incorporating Canon’s proprietary STM stepping motor technology, this new lens supports Canon’s EOS Movie Servo AF* (autofocus) function to provide smooth and quiet continuous AF during video recording, as well as when capturing still photos.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens Specifications :

• Compact, lightweight, fixed focal length standard lens for EOS cameras
• Large f/1.8 maximum aperture
• 80mm effective focal length when attached to EOS cameras with APS-C sensors
• Canon STM technology provides quiet AF to support Canon’s EOS Movie Servo AF function
• Improved exterior design makes this the most compact Canon EF 50mm lens ever
• New metal mount for stability and ruggedness
• Super Spectra Coating for minimized ghosting and flaring
• Circular seven blade aperture
• 14-inch minimum focusing distance
• 0.21x maximum magnification
• Filter size - 49mm

“Canon’s optical heritage of creating high-quality lenses is something we are very proud of ,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO of Canon U.S.A., Inc. “Regardless of skill level or budget, all photographers and videographers should have access to superb creative tools that enable them to capture not only beautiful images but images that tell the story of their lives. This new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, will provide photographers and videographers with outstanding images they will want to share for years to come.”

The new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8mm STM lens is excellent for entry-level and advanced amateur photographers, as well as users looking to capture video. Featuring an improved exterior design, including a new focus ring placement, it provides photographers with the most compact Canon EF 50mm lens ever, at just 1.5 inches in length. In addition, this new lens uses a metal mount providing additional stability and ruggedness compared to its predecessor.

Composed of six elements in five groups, the new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8mm STM lens features an optimized lens placement and Super Spectra Coating (SSC), translating into less ghosting and flaring than the previous model, while at the same time helping to enhance light transmission and optimize color reproduction accuracy. The new lens features a seven blade circular aperture, improved from the predecessor’s five blade non-circular aperture, helping to deliver a more visually appealing blurring effect, and producing sharp images of subjects that truly stand out against beautiful, soft backgrounds. The minimum focusing distance for the lens has been shortened to 1.1 feet from 1.5 feet with a maximum magnification of 0.21x, allowing for more creative close-up photos and videos.
Pricing and Availability

The new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8mm STM standard prime lens is scheduled to be available by the end of May for an estimated retail price of $125.99. For more information please visit http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/ef_50mm_f_1_8_stm

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens Leaked

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens

As reported in April, Canon is ready to announce the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens very soon.

Specifications (Google Translated)

•     Lens arrangement 5-group, six (Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups)
•     Full-frame compatible
•     Digital optimized coating
•     STM/Stepping motor
•     Full-time manual focus
•     Length 39.3mm
•     Weight 160g 
•     49mm filter thread

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens Coming Soon

Canon has been enjoying very good press with their STM line of lens and they are planning to introduced the new EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens in perhaps, April, 2015. It should be another winner especially when paired with the latest DSLR equipped with the Dual Pixel CMOS technology, like the EOS-70D and EOS-7D Mk II cameras.