Yesterday, Canon celebrated the 25 year anniversary of the
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens by announcing the
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens. Many have long been waiting for a new 50mm lens from Canon, and that the lens appeared to be a significant upgrade while retaining essentially the same ultra-small size/weight and the same ultra-low $125.00 USD price tag definitely produced smiles.
Then, "Juck" commented below the
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens announcement post that the STM's "MTF chart is identical to the mk II version". At the same time, I was re-sizing and overlaying the STM and II MTF charts in Photoshop and trying to determine if I downloaded one of the wrong charts. The charts were sized differently, but they were showing the same line plots.
I of course could not mentally rest without knowing what was going on, so I asked. In answer to my "Does the new 50mm STM contain the same optics design as the 50mm f/1.8 II?" question, Canon U.S.A.'s extremely knowledgeable Chuck Westfall responded:
"Yes, the optics of the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM are the same as the original EF 50mm f/1.8 and EF 50mm f/1.8 II."
Am I disappointed? Yes. I of course want all new lenses to be optically better than the prior version.
Is using the same optical design in the new lens a bad decision on Canon's part? No, not necessarily. People loved the
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens, otherwise known as the "Nifty Fifty", because of the decent prime-grade image quality it delivered at a really low price tag – the lowest of all Canon lenses.
The 50mm f/1.8 II left many other upgrades wanting and the 50mm f/1.8 STM addresses many. Here is a list of some differences between these lenses:
- 7 rounded aperture blades vs. 5 non-rounded (no more pentagonal bokeh)
- Metal lens mount vs. plastic
- A much improved manual focus ring
- STM vs. Micro Motor (should be faster and much quieter)
- FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing
- 13.8" (350mm) MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) vs. 17.7" (450mm)
- 0.21x MM (Maximum Magnification) vs. 0.15x
- 49mm vs. 52mm filter size (though not really an advantage from my perspective)
- Narrower f/22 aperture available vs. f/16
While more difficult to specify aside from the metal lens mount, I have to expect the 25-year-newer lens to have better build quality (my original 50mm f/1.8 II broke in half for an unknown reason).
The 50mm f/1.8 is very popular today, and with this list of upgrades coming for the same price, the 50 f/1.8 STM is certain to be at least as popular.
B&H is accepting
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens preorders with shipments expected to start Thu, May 21.
Noise test results have been added to the
Canon EOS Rebel T6s and
T6i review pages. As these two cameras share identical imaging sensors and processing pipelines, the same test results are shown for both cameras.
Here are some comparisons that you might find interesting (select ISO settings to compare):
Rebel T6i/T6s compared to the EOS 7D Mark IIRebel T6i/T6s compared to the EOS Rebel T5i/T4iRebel T6i/T6s compared to the EOS 5D Mark IIIRebel T6i/T6s compared to the EOS 70D B&H has the
Canon EOS Rebel T6i (body and kit) and
Rebel T6s (kit) in stock. The T6s body-only remains available for preorder.