Thursday, February 19, 2009

1.8 or 1.4...That is the question!

Well, I got to borrow a 1.8 from a friend. There have been rave reviews about both lenses, and after reading the reviews I was left as equally undecided as when I starting thinking about the 50mm lens.

After using my friend's 1.8, I can say that the picture quality is pretty darn good. With optimal lighting, the auto focus is also decent. But inside, with the aperture wide open, the auto focus is very sluggish. A few times, I actually had to use the manual focus just to get the shot. I was not expecting this!

So my decision is the 1.4...sure, it costs more money, but it will be worth it. At the moment, it is back ordered everywhere. That might explain a few things....huh?

5 comments:

Eva said...

Do you use a canon or nikon? I am still deciding... I am leaning towards a Canon.

McKay Family said...

I am a Canon Girl all the way!

shirley said...

Yeah, there always seems to be that price increase from all manufacturer's 1.8 to their 1.4. Your concerns are valid and you were lucky to get to test drive one to base your decision on.
Last year, I bought a 2.8 pro lens. My thinking - if I never buy one, I will always wonder "what if". I don't have to wonder anymore and yes, it was worth the money.
BTW, I don't know where you plan to buy from, but B&H has a neat feature where they will email you if a back ordered lens comes into stock.

Erin said...

Good to know, I've been waiting for my tax return to purchase a new lense, and you just answered my question!

Great pics by the way.

McKay Family said...

Shirley -
B&H is my only (almost only) store. I signed up for the notification weeks ago. Still waiting. I have 2L lenses on my wish list, but I do know that the hype on the 1.2L has not been so great so I think the 1.4 will suit me well.