Beginner Getting the best out of canon 50mm 1.4

samp09

samp09

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Sam
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I recently purchased a canon 1.4 50mm lens which is the first prime lens I have owned and I just wondered if people have any tips to help improve sharpness of pictures etc.I have a 60d body and I was getting relatively good pictures having it stopped between 3/4 although I find it's so shallow much below 2.8 that it's incredibly hard to get sharp focused images.This is with high shutter speeds and low ISO.I have only had a couple of short plays with it taking photos of the dog and flowers but thinking of taking a few Astro shots with it soon to see how it performs in that respect compared to my 15-85mm.Thanks
 
I have been using it in Manual the whole time.I find that a fair few pics don't seem as sharp as I expected with a prime lens although saying that I took a few more this weekend which I am more happy with. I think its also to do with the fact I am using a tv screen which is 720HD with my mac and expecting it to be super sharp almost macro when zoomed right in. Just an excuse to get out more and use the lens I think!
 
Yes, that lens is quite slow to focus unfortunately. When wide open it will have extremely shallow depth of field so you're into a tricky situation straight away.

Firstly, give the camera time to acquire focus. When I has one, I'd hold the half press for focus acquisition for longer than usual.

Secondly, try and use centre point focus only as it will be most accurate, though obviously if you focus and recompose at f/1.4 you may have issues. If your subject is away from the centre point, then do use another focal point but again let the lens settle its focus before triggering the shutter, and you may need to let it settle for a bit longer.

Preferably just use one focus point. Don't use expansion or multi-point.

Lastly you may want to check the lens is correctly calibrated. I think you can calibrate individual lenses on the 60D. If you have consistent front or back focus it's a sign that there's an issue. If you can, use it to ensure you don't need to add a bit of + or - adjustment. Plenty of guides for doing this on the internet.
 
only 6 months later,but having used the lens a fair bit more recently I have just done a home made calibration test and found that it is front focusing.This will be why I am struggling to get the sharpness I require!A bit gutted to be honest because to calibrate my 2 lenses on the 60d a canon authorised specialist locally has quoted me £180 + vat for the 2 lens and setting up the camera and from what I have found online, canon manually calibrating the camera is the only way to do it with a 60D :(
 
samp09 said:
only 6 months later,but having used the lens a fair bit more recently I have just done a home made calibration test and found that it is front focusing.This will be why I am struggling to get the sharpness I require!A bit gutted to be honest because to calibrate my 2 lenses on the 60d a canon authorised specialist locally has quoted me £180 + vat for the 2 lens and setting up the camera and from what I have found online, canon manually calibrating the camera is the only way to do it with a 60D :(
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Unfortunately I think this is the big drawback with this lens, the focus system is very old and clunky and the camera struggles to nail focusing especially at wide apertures.

I wish Canon would update this with a newer focusing system, the fuzzy edges at wide apertures would not be so much of a problem as long as if focused properly.

IIRC mine needed a different calibration for focusing at 1m than it did for much longer distances, making it a bit of a pain to use, it doesn't get much use and I am going to buy an 85 f1.8 when I get round to it especially now I have gone full frame

D
 
Sell it and buy a 50mm STM

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's better all round*, but it'll cost you money to have yours calibrated, and you'll make money on the swap (and if necessary that'll go towards calibrating the new lens).

* it's got the metal mount, a better focus motor, build quality and comparable bokeh.
 
I have the Canon 50mm f1.4 and used to use it on my 60D. I found focus to be pretty sharp most of the time. Admittedly when you're at f1.4 it's a pretty shallow depth of field and it's easy to mis-focus. It's slower to focus than the new 50mm f1.8 STM, but faster that the old 50mm f1.8 Mk2 (which is what I was replacing).
If yours is definitely front-focusing/in need of calibration to your camera, I would just sell it and buy the f1.8 STM.
But I would question what you want it for... a 50mm on a crop sensor is a bit too narrow a field of view for astro photography. Unless you are trying for deep-sky images (in which case you need a telescope), you want to be looking at a large portion of sky, with some foreground interest (rocks, hills, a tree) to get an interesting photo, in which case 50mm isn't wide enough. You ideally want something wider than 24mm.

One option: sell the 50mm f1.4 and use the money to buy a 50mm f1.8 STM and an EF-S 24mm f2.8 pancake. That'll give you a good portrait prime and a wider prime for astro.
 
Thanks for all the replies.I use the 50mm for trophy shots when fishing mostly so that's its main purpose don't know why I mentioned Astro photography to be honest!I set up my camera on the tripod using the timer and a little piece of granola as a focus point on a sheet of paper,which had a grid on and found that despite the centre focus being bang on the granola the sharpest point of the photo was a few lines short of the granola on the grid.I would like ideally to go full frame one day and other bodies you can do the autofocus micro adjustment so unsure exactly what to do!I don't particularly want to down grade the lens
 
Ok. So is it you holding the fish when you catch something big?
In which case it's essentially a self-portrait, right.

I'm trying to grasp the scenario:
Camera on tripod using self-timer or remote to fire it while you hold the fish up?

At which point do you focus?
Do you
a) turn the 60D's screen around so you can see it, hold down a remote shutter to allow the camera to focus (which takes a while) and then shoot
b) focus the camera on a point, start self timer then run into position for the shot

If it's a) then firstly the live-view focus on the 60D isn't brilliant because the focus area is so big compared to a single focus point, secondly, you can more between when it acquires focus and when you take the image, giving an out of focus image.
If it's b) then you may just end up standing in a different place to where it was focused.

In terms of a "down grade" of the lens. I wouldn't worry. I've owned both the 50mm f1.8 Mk2 and the 50mm f1.4 USM and found that optically, they are near enough the same. So if you switched to the 50mm f1.8 STM, which is much newer, optically it's not really a downgrade. The weak points of the old f1.8 Mk2 were a) slow/noisy AF, b) poor build quality, c) f1.8. The new STM version has improved on the AF speed and noise issue and the build quality is much better too. So the only difference is the f1.4 vs f1.8, but to be fair, sometimes f1.4 is too shallow.
There are plenty of people using the 50mm 1.8 STM on full frame cameras, so it's certainly a good lens.

Here's my comparison shot of the 50mm f1.8 Mk2 vs the 50mm f1.4, taken on my old 60D.


Canon Nifty 50 f1.8 vs f1.4 @ f1.8 by Alistair Beavis, on Flickr
 
Thanks again for the response Alistair.I usually set the camera up,do a couple of practice shots with the camera on the tripod then using the remote take the pictures whilst holding the fish.I usually have it centrally focused so the fish is the main point and then take the pics that way or have someone take them for me if they are available.I never use the live view for the pictures just take a few then check them quickly.I do agree with the 1.4 the depth of field is so incredibly shallow it almost seems pointless for what I use it for.Maybe I should take a look at the 1.8 mk 2 then!thanks again
 
If the lens is definitely front focusing then it's probably best to swap it. Either sell it and buy another to see if that new copy is better or sell it and by the f1.8 STM version.

I would also try out taking shots with the other method. Do a few trial shots at home with the screen flipped out at using live view to focus ( I miss that function/flippy screen from my 60D). Perhaps without a fish, see if you can get decent focused shots.
I'd also suggest that with two subjects together (you and the fish) f1.4 would give too shallow a depth if field, you probably want at least f2.8, at which point focus issues will be less of a problem.
 
samp09 said:
...I would like ideally to go full frame one day and other bodies you can do the autofocus micro adjustment so unsure exactly what to do!I don't particularly want to down grade the lens
Click to expand...
If you think the 50mm STM is a downgrade from the 1.4 you're mistaken. :) don't be sucked in by the price.

The 50mm 1.4 was never a great lens, it was built down to a price, an improvement on the old 1.8, but nothing to write home about. In fact it's precisely the reason the original 1.8 is so well thought of (almost as good as the 1.4 at less than half the price)

The new 50mm 1.8 STM doesn't do 1.4. But it does have a superior focus motor and better build quality than the 1.4. Frankly, if you need a better lens than the STM buy the Sigma 1.4 Art.

I've owned close to 100 Canon fit lenses, and never had a desire to buy the 50mm 1.4, I've never read a review that impressed me.
 
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Thank you for the advice.Selling the 1.4 and getting a new 1.8!
 
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