nifty
The "Nifty Fifty" - one of the cheapest and most used lenses on a modern Canon EOS camera. The 50mm lens has always been one of the most popular focal lengths as it is very similar to what our eyes see naturally.
When I got my first Canon SLR (AE-1 film camera back in 1981), it came with a 50mm f1.8 - a predecessor to the EF lens with the same specs. This is the only lens I used for more than a decade.
When Canon introduced the EOS system, the first 50mm f1.8 'nifty' lens was released. It had a metal mount and a DoF scale. That was back in 1987.
The second version was released in December 1990 - it had the same glass elements, but the metal mount was replaced with a cheaper plastic mount. Also gone was the DoF display. The Mk II version was made right up to this year (nearly 25 years!!). Almost anyone who has a modern Canon DSLR has a mkII nifty fifty in their kit!
Very recently, a Chinese company released a copy of the mkII lens - the Yongnuo 50mm f1.8. Despite the Canon version already being very affordably cheap, the Yongnuo was even cheaper. And the Yongnuo has 7 aperture blades, compared to Canon's 5.
Then this year Canon finally updated the 50mm f1.8 with a new STM version (no more buzzing whizzing auto-focussing!). The metal mount has returned. I believe the optics have stayed the same, but Canon has returned to 7 blade aperture. It's a great little lens!
So here they all are: left to right - 1987 mkI version, mkII version , Yongnuo version, and the new STM version.
nifty
The "Nifty Fifty" - one of the cheapest and most used lenses on a modern Canon EOS camera. The 50mm lens has always been one of the most popular focal lengths as it is very similar to what our eyes see naturally.
When I got my first Canon SLR (AE-1 film camera back in 1981), it came with a 50mm f1.8 - a predecessor to the EF lens with the same specs. This is the only lens I used for more than a decade.
When Canon introduced the EOS system, the first 50mm f1.8 'nifty' lens was released. It had a metal mount and a DoF scale. That was back in 1987.
The second version was released in December 1990 - it had the same glass elements, but the metal mount was replaced with a cheaper plastic mount. Also gone was the DoF display. The Mk II version was made right up to this year (nearly 25 years!!). Almost anyone who has a modern Canon DSLR has a mkII nifty fifty in their kit!
Very recently, a Chinese company released a copy of the mkII lens - the Yongnuo 50mm f1.8. Despite the Canon version already being very affordably cheap, the Yongnuo was even cheaper. And the Yongnuo has 7 aperture blades, compared to Canon's 5.
Then this year Canon finally updated the 50mm f1.8 with a new STM version (no more buzzing whizzing auto-focussing!). The metal mount has returned. I believe the optics have stayed the same, but Canon has returned to 7 blade aperture. It's a great little lens!
So here they all are: left to right - 1987 mkI version, mkII version , Yongnuo version, and the new STM version.