6 Best 50mm Lenses for Canon in 2024

Choosing the right 50mm lens for your Canon camera can be one of the cheapest ways of expanding your lens stable, although some 50mm lenses are very expensive. This article highlights the six best 50mm lenses for Canon, catering to various needs and budgets. Our top pick, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, is celebrated for its balance of quality and affordability. It’s a great choice for both beginners and seasoned photographers. Alongside this top contender, we present five other lenses, ensuring there’s an option for every Canon user.

What Is the Best 50mm Lens for Canon?

Selecting the best 50mm lens for Canon involves considering factors like aperture, weight, and whether the lens is manual or autofocus. Our list includes options from Canon, Sigma, and Samyang, each offering unique advantages for low light conditions, portability, and creative control. These lenses excel in all sorts of photography, providing sharp images and beautiful bokeh, making them essential tools in a photographer’s bag.

Our Favorite 50mm Lenses for Canon

Let’s take a closer look at our favorite 50mm lenses for Canon. From wide apertures ideal for low light to lenses perfect for creating stunning bokeh, there’s a choice for everyone. Explore these options to find the perfect match for your photography style and requirements.

The Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the best value way of getting hold of a wide f/1.8 aperture lens. This makes it a good choice for low-light photography and achieving a shallow depth of field. This feature is particularly useful for portrait photographers who aim to isolate their subjects from the background, creating images with a professional look. However, while the lens offers decent sharpness in the center at wide apertures, edge sharpness improves significantly when the aperture is narrowed down, which is something to consider for landscape photographers who need edge-to-edge clarity.

Weighing just 5.6 ounces (160 g), this lens is notably lightweight, making it an excellent companion for day-long shoots or travel photography. Its compact size does not compromise on image quality, providing a balance between portability and performance. Yet, the lack of weather sealing might limit its use in challenging weather conditions, a factor worth noting for outdoor photographers.

Compared to the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM, the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM offers a more affordable entry into the 50mm focal length without sacrificing too much on the optical performance front. While the f/1.2L variant excels in almost all aspects, including superior sharpness and build quality, the f/1.8 STM version holds its ground by offering good image quality and a much lighter build, making it a good option for those who prioritize portability and cost-effectiveness.

The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens is a prime choice for those who value sharp, clear images and a natural field of view. Its f/1.2 aperture is perfect for low light situations and creating images with a shallow depth of field. This makes it ideal for portrait and street photography, where the focus is on the subject. The lens’s build is sturdy, designed to last, and it’s weather-sealed, which means it can handle tough conditions.

Optically, this lens impresses with minimal distortion and chromatic aberration, thanks to its advanced design that includes aspherical and UD elements. The bokeh it produces is smooth, enhancing the visual appeal of photos. It’s heavier than other primes, but the image quality it delivers justifies the extra weight. While it lacks image stabilization, its wide aperture allows for faster shutter speeds to avoid blur. This lens is a good option for professionals and enthusiasts looking for top performance in a 50mm lens.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM shines with its f/1.8 aperture, making it a go-to for photographers who shoot in low light or aim for a shallow depth of field. This lens is a favorite for capturing portraits with smooth backgrounds and sharp subjects. Its lightweight design, at just 160g, ensures it’s easy to carry around, perfect for day-to-day use or street photography where mobility is key.

Optically, this lens delivers sharp images, especially when stopped down a bit from its widest aperture. It handles chromatic aberration well, with minimal distortion, making it a solid performer for its price. The autofocus, powered by STM technology, is quick and quiet, though it may hunt in dimmer conditions. Despite lacking image stabilization, its wide aperture helps mitigate camera shake in low light.

This lens is a great option for those looking to step up their photography without breaking the bank. It’s particularly suited for beginners and enthusiasts who value image quality and portability. Its compatibility with both full-frame and crop sensor Canon DSLRs adds to its versatility, making it a useful addition to any camera bag.

The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM for Canon EF is a prime lens known for its wide aperture and solid build. Its f/1.4 aperture makes it excellent for low-light photography and creating images with a shallow depth of field. This lens is particularly good for portrait and street photography, where capturing detail and emotion in natural light is key. Despite its larger size and weight compared to similar lenses, it balances well on most DSLRs, making it a comfortable choice for prolonged use.

Optically, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 impresses with sharp images, especially when stopped down a bit. It handles chromatic aberration well, with minimal distortion, making it a strong performer. The bokeh it produces is smooth, adding a professional quality to portraits. The autofocus is quick in good lighting, though it may struggle slightly in dimmer conditions.

This lens is a solid option for those looking to upgrade from a kit lens or seeking a high-quality prime lens for their Canon EF mount system. It’s cheaper than the high-end Canon lenses, and better quality than the budget ones. Its performance in various lighting conditions, combined with the ability to produce beautiful bokeh, makes it a versatile tool for many photographers.

The Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AS UMC for Canon EF is a prime lens that stands out for its f/1.4 aperture, making it a strong choice for photographers looking to shoot in low light or achieve a shallow depth of field. Its manual focus design encourages photographers to engage more deeply with the composition and focus, potentially leading to more intentional and impactful images. This lens is particularly appealing for portrait and street photography, where its focal length offers a natural perspective and the wide aperture allows for beautifully blurred backgrounds.

Weighing in at around 1.18 lbs (535 g), the Samyang 50mm f/1.4 is relatively lightweight, making it a comfortable option for day-long shoots. Despite lacking weather sealing, its build quality is solid, offering a good balance between durability and portability. Optically, the lens delivers sharp images with pleasing bokeh, thanks to its aspherical elements that help minimize aberrations. However, the absence of autofocus might limit its appeal to those who prefer or require quick focusing capabilities.

For photographers comfortable with manual focusing, the Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AS UMC presents a good opportunity to capture high-quality images without breaking the bank. Its optical performance, combined with the creative control offered by manual focus, makes it a valuable tool for those looking to explore the artistic possibilities of photography.

The Samyang 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC CS for Canon EF-M is a prime lens that excels in delivering sharp, detailed images with a beautifully shallow depth of field, thanks to its wide f/1.2 aperture. This lens is particularly suited for portrait photographers who aim to isolate their subjects from the background, creating images with a compelling, professional look. Its manual focus design encourages a more hands-on approach to photography, allowing for precise control over the focus in each shot.

Weighing 1 lb (454 g), this lens is relatively lightweight and easy to handle, making it a good companion for day-long shooting sessions or street photography where discretion and mobility are key. Despite lacking autofocus and image stabilization, its optical performance, including minimal chromatic aberration and pleasing bokeh, makes it a valuable tool for photographers who prioritize image quality and are comfortable with manual focusing. The absence of weather sealing is a consideration for those shooting in challenging conditions, but for enthusiasts and professionals alike, the Samyang 50mm f/1.2 remains a compelling option for capturing stunning images with an EF-M mount camera.

Conclusion: The Best 50mm Lenses for Canon

When zoom lenses became more popular, because of their improved image quality, it looked like the 50mm lens might die out. Thankfully that didn;t happen. Although cameras don’t come with a “nifty fifty” as standard any more, the 50mm has found its niche. We think there’s something for every Canon user in this review.

Our top choice is the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, chosen for its balance of performance and portability. The five other lenses also offer good options for different photography styles and budgets.