EOS 350D and Canon 50mm f1.8

Digirame wrote:

According to the SLRGear website that lens is great from F4 to F11 (if there isn't any autofocus problems). But if you are planning to use it at F1.8, get ready for soft edges and corners (that's OK if that is what you want). The Canon EF 40mm F2.8 STM looks a lot better wide open (sharp from corner to corner) and it doesn't cost very much. If it were me, I'd spend a few extra dollars to get something like that.

You can verify this from users of both these lenses. See what others say.

Sorry, I'm not trying to come across the nifty fifty defender or anything... but, in my humble opinion the sharpness isn't that bad at f/1.8. How many 50mm lenses at f/1.8 have good corners? The list would be short and very expensive, probably just the new Sigma Art lens and Zeiss Otus as far as EF mount lenses are concerned.

Some of my wide open shots are at the link below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68255851@N05/tags/5018iiniftyfiftywideopen/

The biggest problem the 50 f/1.8 has, in my opinion, is the bokeh.  Torture test scenes, such as foliage, can come out looking very bad.  There can be bright edges and a very nervous look.

A few examples of the lens' quality:

f/1.8 image quality, this image shows a reasonably sharp leaf and bokeh is quite acceptable here

f/5.6, f/5.6, and f/8 respectively image quality is outstanding.

The image below doesn't have very good bokeh.  I liked it enough to still post it, but it isn't portfolio level work.  A different lens, such as the Sigma 50 non-Art, would deliver a much smoother background if it were focused properly.

Bokeh can get significantly worse than this if conditions are just right.

Picking the 40mm is probably the safer pick.  The 50mm is quite good for most scenes and the price of admission for f/1.8 aperture is outstanding.  f/2.8 is just not fast enough sometimes.

Dave