50mm Shootout - Which Lens is the Best? 

Enzdude For me the STM version is definitely better in most ways compared to this particular 1.8 v2 for sure.

That's what I was saying. When I saw this lens on this review I thought. Oh this must be a very old video. Nope. 2019. Stm is much improved. I owned both.

@@apjgraphix Totally agree. Dare I say a REALLY big difference in quality between the STM and earlier on stm version.

I wouldn't have bought the all plastic f1.8. I like the STM quite a bit, though.

The STM is great, but It's a full-frame lens so anyone buying it for the Pocket 4k or any APSC sensor, it's now an 80mm lens...it's also a loud lens when focusing even on manual mode so it's not that ideal for video

New nifty fifty is alright, but it still won't outperform CN-E or L, so it doesn't matter.

I bought mine like 3 years ago and it also has a metal mount.

You will see the difference between 1.8 and 1.4 lenses when you zoom in. The 1.4 will be better up to around f2.2. Both of them suck at respective extremes.

@@joaomarveloso1049 Thanks for commenting. Even if the 1.4 on paper should be a bit sharper, in my tests it didn't have anything the 1.8 had, but lacked the short focus range and nice soft look in portraits. All in all, I would never recommend the 1.4. If sharpness and quality is what you want, get the 1.2L or a Sigma 50mm Art.

@@navacla I own all three 1.8, 1.4 and 1.2. I have many years of experience on using all three and still have a usage for all three of them. 1.8, of course is the best value for money and being the lightest makes a big plus for me. In my experience though I found 1.4 to give more 'professional' results. This is taking everything into account sharpness, contrast, bokeh , color, purple fringe etc, etc. It also comes down to individual taste. There are also slight differences in certain copies of the same types of lenses. I have returned my first 1.4 copy because it had focusing issues. Also worth mentioning I think is that all of these lenses are a bit different on a cropped and full frame body. Anyway, I have seen spectacular photos taken with the 1.8 and terrible ones with 1.2 :)

@@joaomarveloso1049 Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm only talking about video work. I still forget to mention this often. So yes, of course my opinion covered just the video side of it, I'm shooting with a GH5 and Metabones XL. In still photography the situation is entirely different. And I'm sure you're right, the 1.4 is a better deal in still photos for sure...

@@navacla oh yes..video is a different situation :) ..would love to try that cine lens T1.3 for photos. I wonder if anybody did that?..would look a bit ridiculous holding that monster though, and manual focusing :) thank you for the shootout.

The chromatic aberration is actually there, but from another chroma. The 50mm 1.8 have a green aberration, the other ones blue/purple. The green hides pretty perfectly with the light but is pretty visible in other environments

True

I'm going with vintage lenses, adds more character and it's cheap. Great for the stories i wanna tell. can't afford the rest anyway

Can I afford a cheap lens I will probably end up ditching sooner than later in my career? No, I can't, that's too expensive. Better save up for a good lens that will sit with me for years to come, cheaper in the long run :). The 1.4 is good enough meanwhile you're saving for that good 50mm (whether to you that's the cinema or the stills that's up to you), but there's never a reason to buy the cheapest one.

The real question is will I increase my wealth more quickly with my desired choice, can I get financing if I do not have the cash on hand.

Yes, I had to laugh when he said it has stops at either end "for some reason" no idea how its built, and no appreciation for how good it is for its price.

The lenses with ultrasonic motors don’t have focus stops.

i dont mean to be offtopic but does anyone know a way to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly forgot my login password. I appreciate any help you can give me!

@Calvin Joziah instablaster =)

@Zahir Russell Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site thru google and im trying it out now. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

@Zahir Russell it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my account!

@Calvin Joziah you are welcome :D

So did I,,, It looked more cinematic to me

You just need a lighting guy to make sure your subject isn't dark... which you should do anyway.

I agree

The thing is, every camera is good at low iso. And using flash can get you that. And also opening up to f8 will give quality results on just about any lense and makes these large apertures pointless.

Because vlogs are not movies. And it still performs, so who cares.

Actually, it was the mkii. The first iteration had a metal construction. The STM is the latest one.

@@eighteenfiftynine I own the first edition, and although it has a metal mount I think the rest is plastic. But it has a focus window. Optically it's no better than the mrk ii, though, and nowhere near as good as the STM.

The CN-E is the same lens, repackaged as a cine lens

it is used in companies, where someone changes its focus, the other one the light the other one perspective etc, its mostly a team lens

It's made for different purposes

@@gzarari To add to this, Cinema lenses aren't a great comparison to any normal photography lens in general... Because they aren't really meant for photography. In photography, it's fairly simple to edit photos, and even color and exposure match between photos if you really want to go that extra mile, because you're dealing with only a few final edited photos. In videography, it becomes more and more annoying and time consuming to do that in post. And, differences in exposure and color between lenses are far more noticeable. Let's say you switch back and forth between shots on one 35mm lens, and one 50mm lens, even at identical F stops, you'll notice differences in exposure and color. If you're just a small time youtuber or amateur filmmaker, you could probably be fine with photography level gear, put in a little bit of extra elbow grease in post if you really care that much, and any nitpicking asshole could be dismissed as... Well... What do you expect, I'm not hollywood. But, if you have disposable money, and care more about time, or if you're paying expensive professional editors by the hour, it could be a cost saving investment to one-time buy a collection of extremely high quality lenses that help the editors do their job and minimize time wasted in post. That's what cinema lenses are for. A 50mm T1.3 lens is wasted cash when used on normal photography. You can get similar quality out of a high quality photography lens, for a lower price. You're not really supposed to buy just one of these and use it for that purpose. Normally, a filmmaker would buy a SERIES of these lenses. So, think 16mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm, ALL at T1.3. And the T matters. What does T mean? Why T over F? Let's say you have 2 photography lenses at F1.4... That doesn't mean they'll both have the same exposure, that only describes the width of the depth of field at a given focal length. Those will match, but if they have different coatings, different numbers of elements, etc, odds are, one lens will be darker than the other. Taken a step further, let's say you have 2 identical lenses, like 2 copies of the Sony 35mm F1.8. If you take the exact same photo on both and compare them, odds are, you may notice very slightly different colors. This is because no coating and lens is perfect. Every lens produces slightly different colors. The T refers to "transmission". This means 2 T1.3 lenses will have identical exposure. Furthermore, if you buy a series of these lenses like I mentioned above, they will be tested thoroughly for the purposes of color matching. What this means is, while every lens produces slightly different colors, you can at the very least test every lens out of hundreds or thousands of copies, and pair them to get very close matches in color between individual copies. So, all 6 of those different focal length lenses will have nearly identical colors, because the manufacturer went through the trouble of testing their colors, and pairing them together in the bundle. All this effort and expense means minimal effort is needed to match colors and exposure between the lenses used, in editing software in post. This leads to real savings if you're producing a professional film, and need to pay editors. For a general photographer... It's just not worth it. It's overboard and way more expense than necessary.

Rokinon has a cinema style body, but the glass quality is nowhere close to the cinema, especially if you shoot 4K.

Sound more like a scientist

@@supjay3945 Not at all. These are all practical things you use and feel everyday you work with it. I once had to use a zoom photolens filming a open air concert from the FOH which the company who hired me didn't said upfront. I was supposed to do interviews and on spot they changed their opinion and I'm sorry but if I get hired to do a particular job I do not pack up ALL my equipment. So I had to use their photo zoom lens and it was hell! Getting focus right with probalby 2-4 millimeter throw had been a pain. Manual focusing while manually zooming also was war. No filtern availeble to dodge sunlight. The edges didn't looked nice as well. Always had to pay attention not to get to close on the musicians. ect Using photolenses for film is war. ;)

From what I understand, it's all to do with the interior construction. The way the glass is cut, the quality of the glass, the mechanism that moves the elements closer and further from the sensor for focus, and of course the number of blades on the iris are all factors. I'm not sure how exactly, but they cut corners in the cheaper lenses that they won't cut in the expensive ones. Also, the plastic mechanisms tend to be more clunky, while the metal ones are more sturdy and precise.

I don't know, I kinda like the lens breathing! Probably really annoying for cinematographers, but I think it looks kinda calming...

@@alexwr well good for you i personally think they are really bad since they can throw your composition off i hope some day i can buy the Arri Master Primes which pretty much anti lens breathing

@@sumedh6746 so someone wants a 50mm and you recommend a 135? Seems legit.

blankbrian yes, exactly.

Yes, T-stop is F-stop divided by the percentage of light transmission. For example F1.8 divided by 0.95 (95% Light transmission) equals T1.8947 so around T1.9. So the T-stop can never be lower than the F-stop because it‘s physically impossible to build a lens with 100% transmission.