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Cheap Photo: These Cheap 50mm Lenses Are Fantastic Choices

Chris Gampat
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03/18/2019
3 Mins read
e mount lenses rokinon 50mm

Last Updated on 03/18/2019 by Mark Beckenbach

If you’re on the hunt for affordable but really solid 50mm lenses, then this list will be tempting.

It’s tax time here in the US, and in continuing with our search for really affordable lenses and cameras we’ve found a number of great and cheap 50mm lenses for you to choose from. We’re trying to ensure that you don’t break the bank. Because we’re catering this to full frame shooters, you’re going to find a 50mm lens with glorious bokeh that you’re seriously going to love.

So let’s take a look at the list!

Sigma 50mm F1.4 Art

We really liked this lens, and for many photographers who upgraded it’s considered their ‘bread and butter’ lens. When it hit the market, it topped all of the sharpness charts along with Zeiss. Besides that, it has a bit of weather sealing built into it, gorgeous bokeh, and fast autofocus performance. It’s pretty much the standard for 50mm f1.4 lenses in the modern world. On this list of cheap 50mm lenses, it’s probably the highest-end option. Check out our review.

Buy Now (Used prices below $600): Amazon

Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art

 

Rokinon 50mm F1.4 (Sony FE)

We were really surprised at how good Rokinon’s 50mm f1.4 FE lens is. It has autofocus, which is rare for anything from Rokinon. But when you look at the image quality you can get along with the colors, sharpness, and bokeh at this price point you’re realizing very quickly that you can’t go wrong. It’s more expensive than a 50mm f1.8, but of all the cheap 50mm lenses on this list this is the one that really made our jaws drop. Check out our review.

Buy Now ($549): Amazon

ISO 6400 1/15s f1.4

 

Nikon 50mm F.8 S Z (Nikon Z)

This first offering for the Nikon Z mount has weather sealing along with really nice image quality. While we’re not as enthused with the camera system, we can’t knock the lenses for the system that much. They’re small, well performing, and at a decent price. Check out our review.

Buy Now ($596.95): Amazon

 

Canon 50mm F1.4 (Canon EF)

It’s now a very old lens, but the Canon 50mm f1.4 is still a good option for photographers who use DSLR cameras and want something small and affordable. The bokeh along with the overall image quality has a special character to it that has more or less been engineered out of most modern lenses. Due to its age, of course it’s making this list of cheap 50mm lenses. Check out our review.

Buy Now ($349): Amazon

 

7Artisans 50mm F1.1 (Leica M, Easily Adapted)

This lens by 7Artisans is nowhere near as expensive as a Leica lens, but to be fair it also doesn’t have Leica’s build quality or overall image quality. However, it is still no slouch and feels great in the hand with gorgeous image quality. When you look at the fact that it isn’t even $500, it of course deserves to be on this list of cheap 50mm lenses. Check out our review.

Buy Now ($359): Amazon

 

 

50mm 7Artisans Bokeh build quality canon cheap Cheap 50mm Lenses f/1.4 f1.1 lens lenses nikon Rokinon sharpness sigma sony
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.