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Cons: Image quality is not better than some zooms (28-105, 24-105). No internal focus (may be a dust problem over time).

Pros: Very accurate auto focus (never missed a shot).

Summary: I'am very disappointed about this lens. I shot it against a converted 40 years old Minolta 50mm f1.4 lens and the canon looses almost in every category (except auto focus ;-).

Cons: didn't resist a fall, very soft at f1.4

Pros: sharpnening quickly as you stop down, accurate and fast focus, neutral colors, bokeh surprisingly not bad!

Summary: nothing truly amazing about this lens but it does the job well, for this price an update would be welcome but otherwise i had pleasure to use it.

Cons: Slight barrel distortion. Visibly weak wide open (seemingly more so than your average lens). Renowned for front-focusing. Slight hotspot in digital infrared (many fora say it is considerable, but on my version it is not). Focus motor tends to damage easily and is a costly repair.

Pros: Good images; GREAT images when stopped down. Fast, quiet and light. Takes 58mm filters which is quite common in EF lens history. If you can nail the focus (or use microadjustment with cameras so equipped) you will get stellar results.

Summary: A good lens for some applications, a great lens for others. My advice would be to buy it used: prior to Canon launching this lens, 50 1.8's were just under $100 and 1.4's just under $200. Canon almost doubled the market price of the latter. Given the weakness of this lens wide open (the whole point of buying a 1.4) I would suggest buying one used. And be careful packing it in your bag unless you like sending lenses in for repair. Still a good lens.

Cons: AF prone to to giving up with no provocation. Replaced it, replaced the replacement and replaced that with a 50 1.8 original version. No more problems!

Pros: Very nice stopped down.

Summary: Avoid!!!

Cons: Soft at F1.4

Pros: Great Low light perfomance Great bokeh Value for money

Summary: Excellent lens

Cons: sharpness and contrast from f/1.4 to f/2; only 8 aperture blades; no ring-USM; AF-system is prone to mechanical damage; AF sometimes is inconsistent

Pros: resolution/contrast/colors from f/2.2 upwards are awesome; compact size

Summary: Stellar image quality, but not wide open. Canon should update this lens soon. (9 aperture blades and true ring-USM please)

Cons: Tooo soft at 1.4 to 2.8

Pros: Good image quality

Summary: Canon really needs to update this lens

Cons: Very weak wide open with a lot of spherical aberration (glowing). Not quite as good value as the 50mm 1.8, which is less than half the price and almost as good.

Pros: Build quality is good, long throw on the focus ring for precision. Image quality is snappy from f/2 onward. Absolutely no lateral CA, little distortion, still a light lens. 1.4 works in a pinch if you can't use flash. Bokeh is good.

Summary: The performance at 1.4 is disappointing, but good from 1.8 onward. Not easy to recommend over the 50mm 1.8 unless you need the FTM focus, sturdier build or the better bokeh. Great value for a pro, though.

Cons: More of a portrait lens than a normal one on crop-sensored cameras(could also be an advantage). Rather soft wide open, though definitely useable if you don't pixel-peep.

Pros: Very sharp at f2.8 and beyond. Quick and quite silent focus. Large aperture for when it's needed.

Summary: A very nice lens overall, highly recommended.

Cons: not to sharp at 1.4

Pros: good bokeh, good colour, sharp at 2.8 (APS-C sensor), good looking (compare to 50 1.8 II)

Summary: i love this lens.

Cons: CA, AF slow and random, very soft up to f4, ugly build quality, focus extention

Pros: useable from f4 onwards, like the zooms, just smaler

Summary: i changed the lens

Cons: * Okay build quality * Too soft at 1.4 through 2 * Nice bokeh only at 1.4, steeping down will give you an ugly one * Expensive * Value for money 3.5

Pros: * After 2f, IQ matches or exceeds L standard * A lot better build quality when compared to its 1.8 counterpart * Better bokeh too

Summary: Highly recommend!

Cons: My copy was really soft at 1.4, with tons of CA (better at f/2). Build quality could be better. So-so AF.

Pros: High IQ starting from f/2.5. Small and light. Cheap

Summary: Not really a 1.4 lens because of lack of resolution at that aperture.

Cons: None

Pros: Great IQ; fast in every way (focus, light); light to carry; good bokeh at wide apertures

Summary: Smashing little lens - my only non-L lens and gets used loads. If you want a 50mm get this over the 1.8 every time

Cons: Field of view on a 1.6x crop camera....

Pros: Great build quality, fast accurate focus. Very sharp pictures from f1.8 up.

Summary: Excellent lens. I use it for portraits and marco

Cons: Soft at 1.4 Manual Focus ring is flaky

Pros: Fairly light Quick AF Good image quality from f/2.0

Summary: I like the image quality from this lens for the price. AF is fast and responsive. Manual focus on the other hand feels very flimsy as if the gears were too loose inside. $350 is fairly cheap for the IQ it produces however I don't think it's usable at 1.4. Overall nice general use lens at the right price.

Cons: none

Pros: image quality

Summary: one of the best normal lenses

Cons: minimal focus distance bad resolution in corners between f1,4 and 2,2 rough focusring

Pros: ecellent resolution form f2,8

Summary: my favorite Lens!

Cons: Some purple finging wide open. Not internal focus.

Pros: sharp even wide. Well made and not too heavy. Comon 58mm filters

Summary: An excellent lens -I would say the best 50mm for canon uses. (the 50mm f1.8 is too plasity and the 50mm f1.2 is too costly)