Is it worth upgrading from a 50mm 1.8 to the 50mm 1.4?

[ice]

Hi Everyone

I need a little bit of help as I havent used a a 1.4 before- i currently own the 1.8 and find that i use it quite a lot. It's nice and light, pretty sharp and great in low light conditions. However, i've been doing a lot of movement photography at the moment and found that the AF on Al Servo just cant keep up with my subjects- dogs mostly, and i'll get 1 out of 3 photos with the eyes nice and sharp, which is a little disappointing- especially when i know what this little lens can do.

For those of you that have perhaps used both, or have the 1.4 canon, would the AF be that much quicker than the 1.8's to lock onto a subject? I've found it for sale online for about $250 so it's very affordable.

Thanks very much in advance

Cheers

[JM Tran]

AF system of the camera plays a just as important part in focusing and tracking too and your 550D is not made to shoot sports that great honestly.

with the 50 f1.4, the focusing is a tad faster and smoother and quieter - but it is not on par with real USM or L lenses, simply because the f1.4 is not a true ring type USM but uses a micro motor in the lens. You might get a bit more keepers, but not by much.

but what you will get out of the 50 1.4 is sharper and contrasty colours, and better/smoother bokeh.

If I had to buy a 50 I would buy the 1.4 over the 1.8, but I would not get the 1.2.

[KeeFy]

I would buy the 1.4 definitely over the 1.8. I find the focusing on my 7D is definitely faster. I have the 50 1.2 and if you like movement, it's definitely not the lens for you as it's focusing is slower than the 1.4 i reckon but still a little faster than the 1.8.

I love the images of the 1.2 over the 1.4. There is a difference between the image rendering vs the 1.4 and 1.8 in terms of colour, contrast and vignetting. Bokeh is a lot smoooooooother as well.

[Ploddy]

Looking at my list of lenses, the 1.4 is still probably my favorite. Hard to fathom, but it is. It has a beautiful bokeh and is really very sharp. I have used it as a portrait lens many times and it produces brilliant results.

Here's an example:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/3095434886_dddc332767_z.jpg?zz=1

I haven't used the 1.8 extensively but I can say in terms of build quality, there's no comparison, and for the money you are talking, definitely worth it.

[Bennymiata]

I had a 1.8 and while it took reasonable pictures, the lens itself was junk.
I worry about the plastic mount and the focus ring was so small which made it hard to get the exact focus, and the auto-focus was slow and very noisy too.
I sold it and now use a 28mm instead as I find this more useful on a crop camera.

[William W]

. . . doing a lot of movement photography at the moment and found that the AF on Al Servo just cant keep up with my subjects- dogs mostly, and i'll get 1 out of 3 photos with the eyes nice and sharp, which is a little disappointing- especially when i know what this little lens can do. For those of you that have perhaps used both, or have the 1.4 canon, would the AF be that much quicker than the 1.8's to lock onto a subject?

I have used both. I have in the field A/B tested both. I own the EF50F/1.4. I chose the F/1.4 version for many reasons, AF speed was not one of those reasons.
I did not find that the EF50F/1.8MkII was slower to attain Auto Focus than the F/1.4 version: however it is noisier.
It is my opinion that the noise the F/1.8 makes when focussing can sometimes be interpreted that it is taking a longer time, (than the F/1.4) so to do.
Photographing moving dogs can be problematic for the AF system generally, especially inside at a dog show for example: the Canon AF system works on CONTRAST differences and if, for example, the dog’s coat is one colour there is little contrast difference – not like a BBall player who might have a big yellow number on a maroon singlet.
For dog shows / competitions where there is a defined route for the dog to run, using a Pre-focus Point, is a useful method to capture the dogs in appropriate poses /action.

WW

[ice]

Thanks very much for that..

I have decided to definitely upgrade the lens- although- does anyone know if there is a difference between the Sigma 1.4 and the canon 1.4? I've watched the dp reviews and think the bokeh is definitely nicer on the sigma but wondered about the HSM vs USM motors- which is faster?!

[Bennymiata]

Not much difference in speed between the Sigma HSM and Canon's USM.
You could probably measure it with a good stopwatch (if your finger could move fast enough), but the difference would be very small.

[KeeFy]

Thanks very much for that..

I have decided to definitely upgrade the lens- although- does anyone know if there is a difference between the Sigma 1.4 and the canon 1.4? I've watched the dp reviews and think the bokeh is definitely nicer on the sigma but wondered about the HSM vs USM motors- which is faster?!

Speed wise it's about the same. The known issues with the sigma 1.4 is the AF locking rate can be a hit and a miss and the front/rear focus issues vs the canon version.

[ice]

Canon it is.. hehe

[Wobbles]

Hi,
I had the 50 1.8 and upgraded to the 1.4. The 1.8 was a capable lens for general portraits etc. but I just couldn't get over the fact that it sounded like a little plastic container full of angry bees! The 50 1.4 is slightly better opticaly and significantly quieter, however it's still not what you'd call quick focusing. If you want something around the same price range, that is good for low light and extremely fast focusing, I'd recommend the 85 1.8. It will definitely optimise the capabilities of your 550D.

Cheers
John

[ice]

You think the 85mm 1.8 has a faster AF?

[William W]

You think the 85mm 1.8 has a faster AF?

The theory says it should.

The EF50/1.4 uses a Micro USM drive and the EF85/1.8 uses the (more sophisticated) Ring MI Type USM Drive: but the 85 is driving more mass.
The (noisy) Micro Motor cam-type drive of the EF50/1.8MkII should also, in theory, be slower than the drive of the EF50/1.4, but again there is a large mass difference.

Perhaps, the most significant feature of the Ring MI Type USM Drive (of the 85/1.8) compared to the Micro USM Drive (of the 50/1.4) is the braking mechanism: the 85 is better.
I think that is why I perceive that the 85/1.8 is faster in AF and faster to recover and retreat and nail focus, if it overshoots.

So in summary: yes, it is my experience the 85/1.8 is generally quicker to gain AF in SOME circumstances than is the 50/1.4.

However, your question is not really about attaining AF (for a static subject).
It is about using AI Servo and following a moving (sometimes mono-coloured) Subject (as previously mentioned).
In this regard, the matter of the camera being used (also previously mentioned), is a consideration as to whether or not by changing lenses, you will notice any improvement in AI Servo AF, when shooting moving dogs.

But the chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so, yes: the 85/1.8 would be a stronger link than either of the other two Canon lenses we have discussed here.

WW