Canon’s RF Nifty Fifty
Fast, compact, lightweight, and close-focusing, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM is a versatile standard prime lens that’s ideal for everyday walk-around street shooting, landscapes, portraits, travel, available-light photography, videography, and more. For Canon shooters who favor fast, affordable prime lenses, the RF 50mm f/1.8 is an excellent candidate for default mounting on full-frame Canon EOS R mirrorless cameras. Its bright maximum aperture lends itself to working in challenging lighting conditions; also, it gives you greater control over depth of field and the ability to use higher shutter speeds for handheld shooting. The lens incorporates Canon’s accurate STM motor for smooth, quiet autofocus operation with full-time manual focus override. To minimize size and weight, the 50mm f/1.8 STM doesn’t have a dedicated focus ring. It is, however, equipped with Canon’s customizable RF control ring, which you can set to control focus and various exposure settings.
Related Videos: RF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
The need for speed
If you ever engage in handheld low-light photography or videography, say, at a concert, you need a lens that can open wide to maximize light gathering. Wedding shooters, who often have to shoot in a dimly lit church or reception hall, require larger apertures, as do sports shooters needing to freeze fast action and isolate players. In addition to helping you work in challenging lighting conditions, a large maximum aperture gives you greater control over depth of field, perfect for creating dramatic shots with sharp subjects and beautifully blurred backgrounds. To assist in this endeavor, the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM employs a rounded 7-blade diaphragm that delivers beautiful, cinematic bokeh. The advanced optical design also incorporates an aspherical element to attenuate spherical aberrations and distortion for enhanced rendering, clarity, and sharpness, plus Canon’s Super Spectra coating, which suppresses ghosting and flare to improve contrast and color accuracy when working in bright or backlit conditions.
Prime time
Decades ago, when film SLRs roamed the earth, the 50mm prime, with its normal field of view, was the standard lens that most photographers kept mounted on their cameras by default, as zoom lenses were generally slow, heavy, and optically inferior. Of course, today’s zoom lenses are nothing to sneeze at. Canon’s normal-range RF 28–70mm STM zoom, for instance, boasts superb optical performance and is relatively compact, lightweight, and fast. But spec’d with an f/2.8 maximum aperture, this zoom has significantly less light-gathering capacity than the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM. And at several times the size, weight, and price, it’s no wonder why many Canon EOS R shooters choose the “nifty fifty.” At a featherweight 5.6 ounces, the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM ensures confident, ergonomic handling when mounted on a camera body.
Canon: leading-edge technology delivers pro results
Loaded with Canon’s cutting-edge imaging technology, the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM is yet another innovative product from this industry leader. With a rich history that extends back to 1933, Canon is responsible for many industry firsts, including the world’s first speed-light-synchronized 35mm camera in 1952, the first use of synthetic fluorite in a lens in 1969, the first microprocessor-equipped SLR film camera in 1976, and many more. Today, high-performance Canon cameras and lenses are omnipresent across the globe, capturing iconic photo and video imagery in the hands of talented professionals who simply must get the shot. Canon is an R&D-driven company in which advanced technology developed for its pro gear rapidly trickles down to its consumer-focused products. Whether you’re in the market for high-end digital imaging equipment or an affordable multimedia camera, Sweetwater has a Canon solution to fit your needs and budget.
Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM Features:
- Fast, compact, and lightweight RF-mount normal prime lens
- Designed for use with full-frame Canon EOS R mirrorless cameras
- Professional image quality, optimized for photography and video
- Bright f/1.8 maximum aperture; range: f/1.8 to f/22
- 6 elements in 5 groups; 1 aspherical element
- Super Spectra coating minimizes ghosting and flare
- STM stepping motor provides smooth, quiet, fast, and accurate auto-focus with full-time manual override
- Minimum focus distance: 11.76 in.; max magnification: 0.25x
- Configurable Control Ring for manual focus or adjusting a variety of exposure settings
- Rounded 7-blade diaphragm delivers pleasing bokeh
- Filter size: 43mm
- Weight: 5.6 oz.
