I just got a used Canon 50mm 1.4 and while playing around with it, I noticed that out-of-focus edges under normal conditions are a little green or red (depending on which side of the focal plane they're on). I would think this lens would be free of this type of artifact. Did I get a bad one?
Canon 50mm f1.4 USM chromatic aberrations?
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Dangerpays
Well-known member
Hmm... that doesn't look too good. I honestly wouldn't expect that from a Canon USM lens. I have the 28-105mm USM zoom myself and I've never experienced anything like that. Do keep in mind though that some chromatic aberration is normal for all DSLR lenses (I think you'd have to jump up to the 'L' series of Canon lenses in order to avoid most of that, but they are really expensive).
HansSteinert
Well-known member
What aperture was that shot at? It really doesn't look all that bad... but it gets reduced even more when you stop down.
Even L lenses do it if you're shooting at like f1.2-f2. Try to shoot at f2.8 or higher and you probably won't get anything noticeable.
Even L lenses do it if you're shooting at like f1.2-f2. Try to shoot at f2.8 or higher and you probably won't get anything noticeable.
HansSteinert
Well-known member
Let's just put it this way: Canon's most expensive fast midrange prime: the 85mm f1.2L... it has a ton of CA until about f2.
So yeah, I would just recommend stopping down. You should really only need to use f1.4 in very specific situations.
Ben Totman
Active member
i had that lens for a few months, and yes, thats a common thing to see wide open.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
that's longitudinal chromatic aberration - http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/10/the-seven-deadly-aberrations - , and it's not something to worry about too much, it's seen on most fast lenses when they're wide open, even, say, the canon 50mm f/1.2 or the zeiss 50mm f/1.4 - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/472-canon_50_12_5d?start=1 - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/537-zeiss50f14eosff?start=1 - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/564-canon50f14ff?start=1
Samuel H
Major Contributor
by the way, I see some people calling this "CA", but this kind of CA (longitudinal) is a completely different physics issue from the usual thing we talk about when we say CA, which is lateral chromatic aberration (check that lensrentals blog post above for more details)
Dangerpays
Well-known member
All good points. Thanks to NormanBates for pointing out the longitudinal CA. I have to agree with the other users that this a common aberration to encounter when using your lens wide open. Realistically, you're not going to loose too much stopping down from a 1.8 or 2.0 to say a 2.8.