Canon clearly has new life and momentum since developing the new EOS R5 (my review here) and EOS R6 (my review here), as these models are truly innovative and finally feel like cameras that can unleash the potential of Canon’s acclaimed RF-mount lenses.  There have been a number of truly exceptional Canon RF lenses released in the past few years, but as I’ve reviewed the majority of those lenses, I’ve had one consistent complaint:  in many cases the lenses for the EOS R cameras have been priced higher than the cameras themselves, with few lenses under $1000 USD and the majority over $2000.  Canon has finally started to address this with a new spate of lens releases including some more affordable options.  I’ve been looking at two of those lenses – Canon RF 85mm F2 IS STM and the Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM.  Today we are focusing on the latter lens, one which will invariably become one of the best selling lenses on Canon’s new RF platform.

The “nifty-fifty” (as lenses like this are often called) is typically the first (and often the only) prime lens that many photographers will own.  A prime lens is one with a fixed focal length (50mm in this case), and typically people start off with a zoom lens of some kind (essentially all kit lenses are zooms).  Often people want to experiment with a prime lens because of the faster maximum aperture (F1.8) and better image quality one provides (which is typically, but not always the case as many modern zooms are very good).  An inexpensive lens like the Canon RF 50mm F1.8 ($199 USD) allows them to do so without tremendous expense, and the images you can get from a prime lens like this are definitely different in kind from 

Canon’s 50mm F1.8 lenses have traditionally been a pretty safe bet optically.  They punch far above their weight class, and, while the images don’t have the “wow!” factor that some very expensive glass can produce, I’m often surprised by how great of images can be produced with an inexpensive lens like this.  Canon’s latest iteration is the best yet, with a slightly nicer build quality, slightly better autofocus performance, and slightly better image quality.  You can get a sense of the excellent performance of the lens by checking out the images in the galleries below.

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Thanks to Camera Canada for getting me a loaner of the RF 50mm F1.8 STM.  If you’re in Canada, check them out for a reliable online retailer.

Images of the Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM

Images Taken with the Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM

Gear Used:

Purchase a Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM @ B&H Photo | Camera Canada | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Canon RF 85mm F2 Macro IS STM @ B&H Photo | Camera Canada | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Canon EOS R5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Canon EOS R6 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Peak Design Slide Lite:  Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

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Purchase a Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3qoFUQF | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/2qft0 | Amazon https://amzn.to/35Qq61j | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3ieOdvo | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3qqJgCG | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3qqddTm | Ebay http://bit.ly/RF50STMda

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