Canon 50mm slow to focus

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I absolutely love the photos my 50mm lens takes but it is sooooo sloooooow to focus when using the lcd. It's quicker to use the viewfinder but then the photos aren't as sharp and sometimes completely out of focus. How can I find a happy medium?

ditpaintball

Which 50mm lens is it? Canon have 3 50mm lens 1.8... 1.4...1.2

The cheaper the lens the slower the focus. Are you using spot AF points or all points? Are you using one shot focus or continuous AF drive?

pegasus1

ditpaintball wrote: »

Which 50mm lens is it? Canon have 3 50mm lens 1.8... 1.4...1.2

The cheaper the lens the slower the focus. Are you using spot AF points or all points? Are you using one shot focus or continuous AF drive?

A mrs postman states, he is using live view...so yes it does take time...it needs contrast in the focusing box to focus..

flyingsnail

assuming you are talking about the 50mm F1.8 (Mk1 & Mk2) then they are slow to focus, one of the joys of a cheap lens. I have not tried out the new STM version.

Live view will be slower no matter what lens you are using.

So slow lens + slower live view focusing = very slow focus

pegasus1

i tried out the canon m3 with the 18-55 stm very quick internal focus,

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Sorry it's the 1.8f, spot af points and continuous af drive. Yeah, it's a pity because for such a reasonable price, it takes fantastic pictures. It wasn't so much of a problem until my toddler learned to walk but it's impossible to get him to stand still while the camera focuses now

pegasus1

use the lens in combination with a flash, to freeze any motion...

RealUsername42

The 50mm f1.8 is slow. I gave up on it when my kid was born. I replaced it with the 40mm STM which is faster to focus, but needs a slower shutter speed since it's f2.8.

ditpaintball

You can always try to manual focus. it will be hard at first, but with practice it can become better and more accurate.

Effects

ditpaintball wrote: »

The cheaper the lens the slower the focus.

I guess the Canon 85 1.2L must be dirt cheap then.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

RealUsername42 wrote: »

The 50mm f1.8 is slow. I gave up on it when my kid was born. I replaced it with the 40mm STM which is faster to focus, but needs a slower shutter speed since it's f2.8.

How do you find the 40mm stm for photographing fast movers? Is the image quality as sharp as the 50mm?

Effects

I really like the 40mm STM. It focusses pretty well. A lot better than the 50 1.8 but it's been a long time since I had that 50mm. I prefer the bokeh off the 40mm as well.

AnimalRights

I find the 40mm 'Pancake' a far more reliable lens than my 50mm 1.4.
Sure you lose a bit of speed but 2.8 should be plenty enough and these days I tend to shoot around 5.6 to get far more accurate focus and keepers.

CabanSail

Using f1.8 or faster at 50mm your DoF is going to be very shallow. As said above, using Live View will slow things down. I am sure there are some, but I do not know anyone who regularly uses Live View on a DSLR. I know my bodies have it but would have to look up how to turn it on. You will probably get more consistent results if you use the viewfinder with a single focus point and open the aperture up a couple of stops, unless you specifically want an extremely shallow DoF. You may have to raise the ISO a bit too.

DeVore

I shoot with the 50mm almost exclusively but I find at 1.8 the DOF is too shallow unless I specifically want something like that (and the target isn't moving!). Shooting a hyperactive 2 year old would be a nightmare with it
Try opening it up to 2.8 (you might have to play with some other settings as Cabansail suggests) and switch from the LCD view to the viewfinder. Light is your friend too, I find it focuses much faster in good light.

Another trick I use is to focus on a point, keep my finger half way down and then wait for the subject to enter that space and when it does, complete the press. That way you don't have to refocus and you can shoot fast!

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Thanks for all the advice I switched it to mf and gave it a go taking pics through the viewfinder and it does focus an awful lot quicker that way. I had the softbox set up and lighting was good and out of all the photos I took, around half turned out perfect. It does take a bit of getting used to and I'll have to practise a bit more and maybe play around with a few other settings. I'll still keep the pancake lens in mind though, it may turn out to be my xmas present to myself!

Zascar

What's your camera body? Focusing is awful unless you have a body that is great with video like the 700d etc. I had a 600d and a 50mm 1.8 and it was dog slow on lcd mode.

I have the 50mm 1.4 and its a lot faster than the 1.8

CabanSail

Maybe consider a change to Back Focus. That may also help.

If you do not know about it have a read through this thread.

RealUsername42

Emelia Angry Weather wrote: »

How do you find the 40mm stm for photographing fast movers? Is the image quality as sharp as the 50mm?

It's definitely faster to focus as it uses a different mechanism to move the lens. I also find it sharper than the 50/1.8 with comparable subjects.

ED E

Turn off live view and get used to the eyepiece or practice shooting "from the hip".


Also is a nifty fifty really appropriate for chasing a toddler around? I'd go more like 35mm.