Canon RF 50mm 1.8 STM

The Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM left us with some mixed emotions. Some aspects are really good, if not outstanding but there's an elephant or two in the room. Let's start with the positives. In terms of resolution, it is generally very decent. The broader center and even the borders have very high quality at large-aperture settings. The corners ... well ... not so much - they are very soft and dull (low contrast). In practical terms, this may not matter too much though, because you rarely tend to require ultimate corner sharpness at such settings. At f/4 and f/5.6, the lens is about as sharp as it gets by any lens standard - which is typical for most 50mm f/1.8 lenses, regardless of how cheap they are. Image distortions and lateral CAs are minimal even in RAW files. Vignetting is clearly on the high side and requires auto-correction unless you are after a keyhole effect. There are two aspects where the lens is really stumbling though. The image quality falls apart at closer focus distances and the bokeh isn't overly pleasing really. This won't be obvious in all shallow depth-of-field images but it will be in some. For the best bokeh (at cost of DoF and sheer out-of-focus blur), you should stop down to an f-stop. The build quality is good for a consumer-grade lens and especially in this price class. It feels quite solid with a combination of plastic and metal parts and a smooth control/focus ring. It's also tiny so just the right thing for casual or street shooting. On the downside, there is no weather sealing and it relies on a dated linear extension mechanism rather than internal focusing. This means that the STM has to move the entire lens system for focusing. However, the STM remains quite fast - on the R5 at least - but it is a bit noisy during focusing. All the pros and cons have to be balanced with its price tag, of course. At just $200USD/230EUR, it's really dirt cheap by today's standard and it's already a value king as such. If you are aware of its no-goes, you should be able to get some great results from it.

Highly Recommended awardThe Canon RF 50mm f1.8 STM is a low-cost standard lens for the EOS R mirrorless system which, like the EF versions before it, provides an affordable entry into the World of prime lenses, low-light photography and shallow depth-of-field effects. It may cost roughly double that of the EF 50mm f1.8 STM, but still becomes by far the cheapest native lens in the RF system to date, making it tempting for anyone looking for a second lens to complement an existing kit-zoom. It’s smaller than the EF version when you take a mirrorless adapter into account, and while the overall style and rendering is similar, the newer RF version is noticeably sharper across more of the frame when wide-open. That said, it’s not to the same standard of the RF 35mm f1.8 and RF 85mm f2 in my tests, both of which are sharper across more of the frame while crucially delivering far better quality at close range, and enjoying the benefit of optical stabilisation too. But while the RF 35 and 85 are at the cheaper-end of the catalogue, they’re still up to three times more expensive than the RF 50 f1.8. That’s why it - like its predecessors - is known as the thrifty-fifty. More demanding photographers will undoubtedly prefer the quality and close-ups of the 35 and 85, and those who own an EF adapter and don’t mind its size will find the older EF 50 1.8 unbeatable value. But if you’re looking for a compact, fun and flexible prime lens with great potential for blurring effects, you won’t find a cheaper option in the native line-up.