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The 50mm lens is a versatile tool that you will need in real estate
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The 50mm lens allows you to blur out backgrounds, giving you a wide creative scope when shooting. This review of the best 50mm lens for Canon will help you make an informed decision.
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L is an excellent lens for real estate
It features a Super Spectra coating which helps to reduce flares and ghosting in case of poor lighting. Apart from the wide aperture of f/1.2, it comes with eight rounded aperture blades and eight elements arranged in 6 groups to enhance the image quality.
However, the wide aperture makes it problematic to nail focus. This is because movement when pushing the shutter release may cause image blurring. Although the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L is not as heavy as the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, it still has a considerable weight, weighing 1.28 pounds which may not be appropriate to carry around or shoot for extended periods.
The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 is incredibly cost-efficient, featuring a high-quality construction of thermally stable composite materials. Typically, it maintains the same dimensions regardless of the operating temperatures.
Unlike the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 consists of 13 elements arranged in 8 groups, including three unique low dispersion elements to reduce chromatic aberrations and enhance image quality.
It features a ring-type autofocusing functionality, with a full-time manual focusing override for better focusing control. Weighing 1.8 pounds, it's 0.4 pounds lighter than Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4, making it a bit more manageable while shooting.
Unlike the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 comes with nine rounded aperture diaphragm blades, forming a nice round diaphragm. Adding to the maximum aperture of f/1.4, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 provides an attractive bokeh and excellent low-light capabilities.
If you are looking for an alternative, the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 might be the best choice on my list. The image quality is good, featuring autofocus and full-time manual override functions.
With a maximum aperture of f/1.8, it's impressively fast, and you can produce a beautiful background blur with a reasonable quantity of light. Unlike the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 features simple construction, including six elements arranged in 5 groups.
Besides, the multi-coated glass element helps counter the flares and ghosting, especially when capturing scenes with the sun at the horizon. The aperture diaphragm consists of 7 aperture blades, making the bokeh quality less impressive than the one from the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2.
Although it weighs the least on my list, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 has great image quality. It’s one of the first lenses to use the STM autofocusing motor that is specifically geared to work with the Canon's dual pixel autofocusing.Â
Unlike Sigma 50mm f/1.4, it comes with six elements in 5 groups to help reduce chromatic aberrations and colour fringing. Although it is mainly constructed of plastic, the build quality includes weather sealing favourable for harsh weather conditions.
It's excellent for nighttime
Although the lens diaphragm contains seven rounded blades, they are less impressive compared to 9 blades of Canon EF 50mm f/1.2. Also, it doesn't feature image stabilization, which affects the resulting image quality.
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is compact and super handy, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of a wide aperture. It features Gaussian optics, Super Spectra coatings, and high-refraction elements to produce distortion-free images and bokeh.
With a maximum wide aperture of f/1.4, it's excellent for controlling glares for indoor real estate photography and in places where you need an exposure boost. It is also equipped with a micro Ultrasonic autofocusing function with manual override to enhance the focusing experience.
Unlike the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 features a simple construction of 7 elements in 6 groups, with two high refractive index elements. Similar to the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2, the Super Spectra coating reduces ghosting and flare and increases the colour rendition in the images.
The Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 features a distinguished design such as weather sealing and perfectly protecting all the lens elements. Unlike the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 comes with ten elements arranged in 8 groups to reduce distortion and enhance image quality.
With a maximum wide aperture of f/1.4, the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 floating lens construction ensures the production of sharp, vibrant, and accurate images. Featuring an all-metal barrel, it is the ideal lens for outdoor real estate
However, it weighs 2.22 pounds, the heaviest lens on my list, making it inappropriate for extended periods of use as it may hurt your wrists. Unlike Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.4, Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 comes with manual focus only, which is its biggest downside.
The Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.4 features a quality construction of composite elements and four ultra-high refractive index elements to eliminate the distortions and aberrations plaguing. It comes with a multi-layer coating to reduce ghosting and flares, enhancing versatility, especially when shooting scenes in poor lighting circumstances.
Although the camera aperture diaphragm consists of 7 blades, its bokeh quality is less impressive compared to that of Canon EF 50mm f/1.2. When you compare it to the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8, Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.4 comes with nine elements arranged in 7 groups and a wide aperture of f/1.4, resulting in one-third additional lighting.
The additional lighting is its biggest benefit over the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8. It weighs 1.69 pounds, which is less convenient as it may be too exhausting to carry around or hurt your wrists if you use it for extended periods.
50mm lenses are one of the most versatile lenses due to the natural field of view they offer when paired with a full-frame camera. Even if the angle of view might be the same across the models, the following features can help you determine the performance of the lens in conditions such as poor lighting.
Also, the following table specifies the most critical features that you should not overlook when choosing the lens.
| Lenses | Optical Elements | Aperture | Weight (Pounds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canon EF 50mm | 8 | f/1.2 | 1.28 |
| Sigma 50mm | 13 | f/1.4 | 1.8 |
| Yongnuo YN 50mm | 6 | f/1.8 | 0.4 |
| Canon EF 50mm | 6 | f/1.8 | 0.3 |
| Canon EF 50mm | 7 | f/1.4 | 0.6 |
| Zeiss Milvus 50mm | 10 | f/1.4 | 2.22 |
| Yongnuo YN 50mm | 9 | f/1.4 | 1.69 |
50mm lenses are popular due to their angle of view that suits portrait
Usually, the quality of the bokeh effect the lens can produce depends on how fast the lens is. A fast lens such as the Can EF 50mm f/1.4 can take photos with a smooth background blur when applying selective focus techniques.
However, using the widest open aperture tends to introduce some blurriness, and the resulting image might look soft. For the best results, use the aperture sweet spot, which is actually two or three f-stops down from the widest open aperture.
If you are taking real estate photos indoors, the low-light performance of the lens is one of the most crucial features to consider when buying the lens. Generally, the brightness of the photos depends on three settings: the aperture, the shutter speed, and the ISO settings.
Reducing the shutter speed to increase the duration for the light to reach the camera sensor increases the chances of image blurriness, especially when shooting handheld. On the other hand, using a higher ISO to boost the light signal reaching the sensor introduces image noise, making the image look pixelated.
The best setting to use to brighten the photos without affecting the quality is to open the aperture wider. Since this is a physical opening, it allows more light to enter. If you are taking interior photos in poor lighting, consider getting a 50mm lens with a wide maximum aperture, such as the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2.
Although almost all 50mm lenses for Canon have the same length of the barrel due to the same focal length, they can have different sizes and weights depending on the construction quality and whether the lens is designed for full-frame or crop-factor cameras.
A lightweight lens is more portable as you can carry it around in a camera bag with minimal exhaustion or shoot for an extended time without muscle fatigue. On the downside, the lens and the camera can easily topple when using a tripod to shoot in windy conditions.
That means you should get a compact and lightweight lens, such as the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 if you are shooting handheld, or a heavier lens, such as the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4, if you are planning to use a tripod.
The 50mm lens is one of the most popular lenses that you can use in shooting nighttime shots, landscapes, and portraits. The 50mm lens is also a mid-range focal length, meaning you can use it in both indoor and outdoor footage. However, you might not be able to use the 50mm lens when you are far from the subject.
The best subject distance when using a 50mm lens depends on the size of the subject. For instance, when you are shooting a small subject, you need to be close enough. When you are shooting a large subject, you need to move further.
Yes, you can narrow or widen the aperture of a 50mm lens. Keep in mind that there is a maximum wide aperture, and you can't exceed this value.
If you are an amateur or experienced photographer and want to improve your Canon
