50mm F1.8

[abcde12345]

Just a quick thing, I've been using a 550D, or a Rebel T2I before this and had recently changed to a 6D. I used my 50mm F1.8 with my 550D before, it was a great moment, giving me bokeh which I've never seen before and amount of light which is so desirable in an APS-C, but after a while I realized that it was not really sharp overall and... it just doesn't click. It doesn't give the amount of details one would command in order to produce a good image overall. However, after leaving it aside for some time, I picked it up again and put it on my 6D, and it feels like a whole new lens again (Doesn't refer to the brand new idea, more of a change, something drastically different)! It's sharp throughout the subject that I wanted, gives me great bokeh and it looks a lot sharper than before. It just feels different. Has anyone felt this, something like breathing in new life into an old lens by using a new camera body?

 

[Radiating]

Just a quick thing, I've been using a 550D, or a Rebel T2I before this and had recently changed to a 6D. I used my 50mm F1.8 with my 550D before, it was a great moment, giving me bokeh which I've never seen before and amount of light which is so desirable in an APS-C, but after a while I realized that it was not really sharp overall and... it just doesn't click. It doesn't give the amount of details one would command in order to produce a good image overall. However, after leaving it aside for some time, I picked it up again and put it on my 6D, and it feels like a whole new lens again (Doesn't refer to the brand new idea, more of a change, something drastically different)! It's sharp throughout the subject that I wanted, gives me great bokeh and it looks a lot sharper than before. It just feels different. Has anyone felt this, something like breathing in new life into an old lens by using a new camera body?

Full frame lenses used on crop deliver very different performance:

Image was taken with the same lens on crop and full frame with different subject distance.

Blue line is a crop lenses sharpness on crop versus full frame (the exact same lens).

 

[abcde12345]

Would you mind explaining your graph? Based on the pictures alone, it's sufficient to say my eyes are not playing tricks with me! It really is sharper and renders more details. Previously, I've always thought details were missing due to hand shake but now, the truth is out there. 8)

 

[Badger]

I too just rediscovered my nifty 50 also going to a 6D. I am so happy with it that my next few lens purchases are going to be prime lenses. I will tell you that as happy as I was with my 50mm on the 6D, I just ran it through Focal and found that AFMA was off by -16! Also found that there is a dramatic improvement in the lens when stopped down. I think my best was f/8, I'll have to double check.
Happy shooting

 

[gigabellone]

I'm kinda in the same situation: the 550D was my first DSLR, and the 50/1.8 was the first lens i bought. Buying that lens is undoubtedly one of the best ways to spend 100€/$, but its "wow factor" is related to its very low price, and to the fact that it's usually the second lens anyone buys for its beginner kit. The shallow depth of field and increased light gathering capability are lightyears ahead of the kit lens, not to mention the increased sharpness at comparable apertures. The flimsy build quality is not a relevant flaw: amateurs like me treat their gear like sacred relics. Its flaws are in the focusing system: the AF is noisy, not very accurate nor very precise, and the MF gear is tiny and hard to use properly. IQ is still good on FF, but the unreliable AF made me look for something else (Sigma 35 <3 ).