- If you're a Canon user, you might be wondering
if the RF lenses are worth the investment.
Well, they are, if you're looking for great image quality,
some awesome features, and now a great price as well.
So lens take a look at the RF 50-millimeter 1.8.
(soft music)
And if you're wondering why I'm using this angle
and why the frame is a little tighter than normal,
that's because this entire video is being filmed
with the RF 50-millimeter 1.8
and I needed to get the camera as far away as possible
to fit me in the frame at all.
So whether it's me talking,
or B-roll footage of the lens itself,
stealing some influence from Caleb Pike
and using some mirrors, or samples of still images,
every single frame of this video is being done
with the 50-millimeter lens on the Canon EOS R.
So every part of this is a visual test
and an example of what this lens can do.
Mostly I'm using f/1.8
because that's why I bought this lens,
and that's oftentimes why the Nifty Fifty was recommended,
or the Thrifty Fifty, and this 50 isn't so thrifty
because it's twice as expensive as the old Nifty Fifty,
but I think it's still really worth the price.
Normally, I use the Sigma 24-millimeter 1.4.
This is my main lens.
It lives on my camera, really like 90% of the time,
but I haven't had a 50-millimeter lens in like,
I don't know, 10 years almost, something like that.
A 50-millimeter 1.8 is often recommended
as somebody's first prime lens,
but I think that the RF 1.8 is so good
if you have an R series camera.
Whether it's the R or the RP, the R5 or the R6, or the C70,
or something new that comes out,
you should really give this lens a look,
and its affordable price makes it something
that's a really great addition to your setup.
So now for $200,
you get a native RF mount that has a metal mount.
You get a lens that delivers super sharp,
crisp, great image quality,
and it also has some cool features
that are kind of unique to the RF system.
And up until now, for the most part,
Canons RF lenses have been really expensive,
especially the L series ones.
I did a video on the RF 15 to 35, which is an amazing lens,
but I rented it because its price is like over $2,000.
They're very expensive.
It's really cool to see something in the $200 price range.
but that doesn't mean that it's a crummy, cheap lens
that's gonna fall apart.
If you take care of this lens,
it'll last you a really long time.
It's not just the old version with a new mount.
It actually looks and feels different.
It is a plastic lens, but it does feel like it's constructed
out of slightly higher quality plastic.
I think it has the same durability as a Canon Rebel,
which if you take care of that,
and you don't just totally abuse it, it'll last you forever.
It does only have one switch on the side.
And instead of going from manual focus to autofocus,
this goes from focus to control because the electronic ring,
it is a focus-by-wire system,
so if you do switch it into manual focus
and you try to dial it in,
it doesn't quite have the exact same tactile feel
as a traditional focus, but it's not bad.
And the cool part is if you're using autofocus,
you can flip that switch into control,
and then in your camera,
you can assign it a control ring function
just like on any of the other RF series lenses.
Personally, I have it set to ISO, which I love
because a lot of times I'm in front of the camera
trying to film myself and being able to just reach over
and twist the lens to adjust the ISO is amazing.
I can't do that right now
because of the camera's so far away. (chuckles)
And so for me, just straight out of the package,
I was blown away by this lens.
It really exceeded all of the expectations that I had
and it's worked great.
What I've really been using it for
is kind of on a B camera sort of over here.
So if you've seen in some of my recent videos,
I'm still talking to the 24-millimeter over here,
but then sometimes I'll cut to a side shot this way,
and that's the 50-millimeter 1.8.
It seems like the focus works really, really well on it.
The EOS R that I'm using has great autofocus
but it really seems like an RF lens with an R series camera,
obviously, just works really well.
It does have some autofocus motor noise.
It's not quite the loudest lens in the world,
but you can definitely hear it.
It sounds different than any other lens I've had.
It's very mechanical...
What are those things called?
They're like motors. (imitates whirring)
It's called something.
A rotor? Gizmo?
Servo, it's servo. That's what it sounds like.
It sounds like a servo motor.
(motor whirring)
And I kind of actually liked the sound of it,
which has nothing to do with the quality of the lens,
but it doesn't bother me at all.
And I tend to, when I'm working with audio,
regardless of the lens that I'm using,
try to get the microphone away
from the camera as much as possible.
Right now I've got my VideoMic NTG mounted overhead
with a long cable running all the way to the camera.
The camera is probably seven feet away from me.
So no matter how much noise that lens is making right now,
it's not gonna get picked up with this microphone.
If you don't have a 50-millimeter lens in your lineup,
I really recommend it.
Even though I tend to prefer shooting
at wider angles like 24 millimeters,
I kind of forget some of the really great things
that a higher focal length can bring
especially just that background compression.
I don't know, 50-millimeters is still technically more
on the wide end.
If you go up to like 85, 100, 200 or whatever,
you're really gonna get that nice, compressed background,
but this just looks different.
What I kind of thought I could get away with
was using my 24 millimeter,
and then when I want a shot, that's kind of like this.
What if I just use the Movie Crop mode
on the EOS R or flip it into 4K,
which puts on a 1.7 times crop,
wouldn't that basically look the same?
And the answer is no, it doesn't look the same.
There's something really specific
about using this native 50-millimeter focal length.
And the beauty of the price point of this lens
is you're not gonna totally kick yourself
if you don't use it every single day.
So if it sits in your bag
and it sits on your shelf for a little while,
it's gonna be okay, because when you need it
you're gonna be so glad that you have it.
It's such a small, lightweight lens
that when you put it on your camera,
your camera just becomes small and lightweight.
I mean, honestly,
since I'm filming with the lens I can't show you,
but it really is about the size of the RF-to-EF adapter.
And so just as an example,
this is pretty much how big your camera is
when you've got the 50-millimeter 1.8 on it.
If you're using the RP, it's even gonna be more compact.
And obviously, if using the R5 or the R6,
it's gonna be a little bit bigger.
But this is just so easy to take with you.
It's so easy to just use.
And for me, when I have a tool like that,
it makes me wanna use it more, which then means
I get to make more stuff, create more stuff.
And I have just found
that 50-millimeters is such a good focal length
for photo and video, at least for what I do
that it's really been getting a lot of use,
and I've really been having a lot of fun with it.
The only two sort of downsides
are that most of my lenses are EF mounts.
And so if you're like me
and you've been adapting EF lenses to an R series camera,
the adapters work great.
And if you're just using the standard adapter like this,
there's no problem,
but if you're using the ND filter adapter,
or a control ring adapter,
or something like the Metabones Speed Booster,
something that adds a feature behind your lens
and in front of your camera,
using an RF lens means you're gonna lose
some of that functionality.
But just be aware if a lot of your workflow is based
around working with adapters,
you're going to have to adapt that workflow to the RF lenses
and their specific feature sets.
And the other thing which I think is very important
especially if you wanna use this lens for video,
is that it has a completely bizarre
43-millimeter filter diameter.
Look at the lens cap for this thing.
This is the cutest little lens cap ever. (chuckles)
The problem is all of my other lenses are 77 millimeters.
So if I wanna put an ND filter on a lens that's this big,
there's some problems there.
So I did buy two step-up rings.
I couldn't find one that went from 43 to 77,
but I got one that's a 43 to 52,
and then another one that is a 52 to 77.
And so if you just connect these together,
now you have an adapter
that goes right on the front of the lens.
And then all of my 77 millimeter filters
will fit right on there.
But I think this is really important to know with this lens,
especially if you shoot a lot of video,
because if you're like me and you have a 1.8 lens,
you wanna use it at 1.8.
I know a lot of people say,
"Stop with crazy blurry backgrounds
and not everything has to be super shallow depth the field."
No, yeah. I love it, and I'm gonna keep doing that.
So that means I'm gonna need to put a filter on my lens
which means I'm gonna need to use these step-up rings,
so that way I don't have to buy new filters
and I can just keep using the same system.
Best part is both of these filters together
were like under $10.
So I'll put links to these specific ones in the description
if you need them to match your filters,
but that solved that problem right away.
There's a good chance you probably already know this,
but when it comes to cameras and lenses,
your lens has just as much if not more effect
on your image quality than the camera itself.
So a lot of times I'll get comments on my videos
where people like the way that they look,
which is very, very flattering by the way,
and they ask what kind of camera I use,
I always tell them the camera,
but I always make sure to include the lens
because the lens has so much of an impact on image quality.
And so to take that a step further,
a lot of times your lenses stick with you
even longer than your camera bodies,
'cause you might change out your camera body
every couple of years, but if you buy a good lens,
it can just last forever, almost.
So in general, that's why I do think it's a good idea
to invest in lenses even if they seem a little bit pricey,
but that's where I really can't give any criticism
to the Canon RF 50-millimeter 1.8.
For $200, you get some really cool features,
you get great image quality,
and even though it's not as robust
and weather-sealed as an L series lens would be,
or even like the Sigma Art series lens,
you are getting a lens that if you take care of it,
don't drop it, don't smash it into something,
it will last and last,
and you can use it for a really, really long time.
And if you've never used a prime lens
and you're sticking with kind of the kit lens
that came with your camera,
absolutely jump in and get your first prime lens.
Pretty much every manufacturer has a 50-millimeter 1.8,
which is kind of everybody's first foray
into the world of prime lenses
because they are a prime example of just how great
and how versatile they can be.
And the first time you put one on your camera,
you're just gonna be blown away
by how much better your photos and your videos look.
And just a couple of quick notes
that I think might be helpful.
Right now, I am filming on the EOS R at 1080,
so this is full-frame,
this is 50-millimeters on a full-frame sensor.
Even though this video's in 4K
'cause I upscaled it in Final Cut Pro,
that's neither here nor there.
You might know that the RP
and the R have a pretty big crop,
so I'm going to switch into 4K so you can see the crop.
So this is 50-millimeters on the EOS R at 1080
and this is 50-millimeters
with the 1.7 times 4K crop on the EOS R.
So I don't wanna film all my videos this close,
but it is really cool to take that 50-millimeter lens,
and then, wait...
What is it?
What's 50 times 1.7? Oh, 85.
So basically it turns your 50-millimeter lens
into an 85-millimeter lens, which is kind of cool.
I know it's not exactly the same thing as having an 85
and you're not getting an additional stop of light
or anything like that, but it is kind of cool
to be able to sort of punch in with your prime lens
if you're using one of the cameras that has a crop
or has a movie cropping mode enabled,
but I'm gonna get back out of this
and go into full-frame 1080p
where I have a little more breathing room
for a video like this.
But again, I've also been using this on my live streams
and for some of my classes,
and again, it's a great B camera.
It's a great overhead lens.
It's just incredibly versatile,
and it's one of those things
where not unlike my review of the Shure MV7,
which is not related to camera lenses at all, by the way.
But when I talked about this microphone,
I talked about the pros and cons of it,
and then I said, there's this other thing
that I can't put into words what it is,
but something about it it's just really fun
and enjoyable to use.
The 50-millimeter 1.8 RF lens is kind of the same thing.
There's just something really fun
and enjoyable about it to use.
You can look at all the sample photos you want.
You can look at all the B-roll you want,
but it just comes down to being a really fun lens
and at such an affordable price,
I don't think you can afford not to have one
as part of your setup.
I probably should've mentioned this earlier,
but this is not a sponsored review at all.
I paid full price for this lens
and had to wait over a month
for it to get off of back order,
but it is incredibly worth it.
Normally in a review, you would hear the negatives.
I don't really have any negatives to this lens.
I guess the biggest one would be having to use step-up rings
to use my filters, but considering it was under 10 bucks
to solve that problem, I don't care.
And I'm only one Buck.
But anyway, if you wanna focus on other lenses,
check out this entire playlist here of other lenses,
reviews, comparisons, everything you need to know
to get things in focus.
I don't know.
(soft music)