The Battle of the Nifty Fifty: Canon’s 50mm1.8 vs. Yongnuo 50mm1.8

So, a while back Chinese flash maker Yongnuo stepped into the optics realm and started making a 50mm 1.8 (aka the Nifty Fifty, aka fantastic plastic, aka, your second lens).

The Nifty fifty was never an expensive lens, the Canon version is about $115, but if you are super frugal you may be tempted to check the $60 cheaper Yongnuo lens. Photographers Tony & Chelsea took the lens for a spin comparing it with the twice as expensive Canon version.

There were 3 main comparisons categories (each broken into several smaller tests, which you can see in the video), here are the main results:

Focus

Canon trumps both with nailing the focus and for sharpness

Vignetting and chromatic aberration

While both are easily fixed in lightroom, the Yongnuo had a bit more Vignetting and a bit more chromatic aberration

Bokeh

The Yongnuo has seven blades as opposed to Canon’s 5 blades, so when you stop the lens down, the out of focus specular lights are nicer.

Is getting a 3rd party worth the $60 dollars savings? Personally, I will stick with my branded nifty fifty.

(as a footnote, the Yongnuo lens is available for preorder on B&H for $99. I wonder if this is what that lens is going to cost eventually… we did not see a big price increase when Yongnuo strobes went into B&H)

[Canon vs Yongnuo 50mm f1.8: Save $60 on the Fantastic Plastic via iso1200]