Yongnuo 50mm

I’ve owned this lens for a couple of years now but due to some opinions and comments I’ve seen made online I thought it would be good to write a piece from someone who has actually used this lens professionally.

so first over the basics.

this is a 50mm f1.8 lens with an all plastic construction very similar to the canon 50mm ii, unlike a lot of more budget friendly lenses this one has autofocus and it’s actually reliable albeit a little slow.

I’ve seen some forums and group slating yongnuo and this product in particular but they are comparing it to the likes of the canon 50mm f1.2 L and the sigma 50mm art lenses, which is like comparing your vw golf to a Bentley continental.

Both will get you where you need to go but one is arguably nicer, however for the average person the vw golf is still a very nice car and the same can be said about this lens in that for the average consumer it will work fine and get great results time after time.

Now I’ve used this lens for everything from family shots to street and even to sports training shoots, it hasn’t let me down yet even with the fast moving training.

I really liked using it on my canon 5D classic for street photography, I feel this combination just works so well. I have also adapted it over to my Sony a7r ii using the commlite adapter and it’s one of the few lenses I own that actually works well with this combination.

It’s not all rainbows and fun though as it wouldn’t be a fair review if I didn’t address the negatives.

First off is the noisy autofocus, if you shoot video and don’t use a good external microphone then expect to hear the noisy autofocus motor churning away at the front of your camera which really does affect you footage so keep that in mind.

Next up is also autofocus related, it is a little slow and although I managed to shoot people running and exercising and nail focus it was a little touch and go but I did make it happen.

Now since my purchase of this lens Yongnuo have released a version ii which is said to address these issues and also adds higher build quality which is always a welcome addition but I’m yet to get my hands on a copy for testing.

If you’re just starting out or have to remain budget conscious like myself then you may want to give Yongnuo a look at, they are releasing new high quality lenses and products recently at an alarming rate so they will have something to suit your needs.

Click the photo below to check out the gallery of images shot with and of this lens.

Cheers

Gav

The Yongnuo adapted to the a7rii