Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens

• Canon celebrated the 25th year anniversary of the EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens with ... the announcement of its replacement, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens. The 50mm f/1.8 II was an extremely popular lens, primarily because of its introduction-to-prime-wide aperture and good stopped-down image quality at a very low price. Many had long been waiting for a new 50mm lens from Canon and the 50mm STM Lens appeared to be a significant upgrade while retaining essentially the same ultra-small size and weight. That the new lens remained Canon's lowest-priced definitely produced smiles.

The poorly-constructed 50mm f/1.8 II left many opportunities for upgrades and the 50mm f/1.8 STM addressed a substantial number of them. Here is a list of some differences between these lenses:

• 7 rounded aperture blades vs. 5 non-rounded (no more pentagonal bokeh)
• Metal lens mount vs. plastic
• Improved overall build quality (my original 50mm f/1.8 II broke in half for an unknown reason)
• Super Spectra Coating
• A much improved manual focus ring
• STM vs. Micro Motor (smoother and quieter)
• FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing (as long as shutter release is half-pressed)
• 13.8" (350mm) MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) vs. 17.7" (450mm)
• 0.21x MM (Maximum Magnification) vs. 0.15x
• 49mm vs. 52mm filter size (though not much of an advantage from my perspective)
• Narrower f/22 aperture available vs. f/16
• Accepts normal bayonet-mount lens hood vs. threaded adapter