Wide aperture in this lens is a poor man's image stabilization. I often use it on my 20D.

Even better than IS because IS doesn't compensate for moving subjects. I own this lens and It's excellent.

This is a very good lens. Feel cheap and plastic but image quality is superb

After decades of using Nikons with f 1.4 lenses, since when is f 1.8 considered "very fast?"

I once borrowed a friend's 50mm f 2 Now THAT was "very fast" though it had other issues.

This is a great lens, and probably the best prime for the money in Canon's lineup. It always confuses me how they can make such a good lens for so little money when all the rest cost so much more and don't increase the value to match.

This is a good portrait lens. Very good to take pictures for family members or pets close up. I highly recommend it.

This is an excellent example about how helpful comments can be instead of the asinine ones that I sometimes see. Thanks!

If you're a zoom lens user and haven't tried a prime (fixed focal length) lens, you should grab this. The difference is immediately noticeable with this extremely sharp lens. The 1.8 aperture will give you creativity you can't get with zoom lenses and 3.5 to 5.6 speed. You'll also learn more about framing and "getting the shot" by not having zoom to fall back on.

It's almost as sharp as the 100mm macro 2.8 and for less than $100, you can't go wrong. The only down side is that it's a 52mm filter size so none of the 58mm filters you have for the many lenses that take that size filter will work without an adapter.

#4 - Give it a rest. Out of a little over 100 EF lenses, there are 7 that are faster, so yes, it's "very fast". In your vaunted Nikon stable of over 200 lenses (AF and F-mount), you've got 13 that are faster. By today's zoom standards, 1.8 is very fast.

Nifty! Every photographer should have a nifty fifty.

Great lens for a mediocre bargain