As a follow up post to this one a few days ago, a more in-depth review (although still more subjective than scientific), has come from Jay Levitt over at Petapixel. Jay “tested” sharpness, flare, bokeh, and chromatic aberration and offers some sample images from both the Yongnuo and the Canon version of the lens.
In the end his assessment surprised me, although looking at the sample images I would have to agree:
All in all, I’ve gotten some marked differences between the two shot under exact circumstances. Today’s tests aren’t anything fancy, and not the “hands-on, on set scenario” that I like, but they do give some input, so I thought I’d share. And I will go so far as to say the Yongnuo is aesthetically the better lens.
As a hobbyist shooter I use the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II a lot. The price to performance ratio is extremely good, music to my hobbyist ears. The Yongnuo lens is cheaper, yet looks like it may actually be slightly better than the lens from Canon. Makes me want to order one now!
Speaking of getting one, that may be challenging. Looks like eBay is one of the only options right now, Amazon lists it at $85 here. The prices on eBay at first were around $40, but it looks to me like this positive review has increased demand and made the lens a bit more expensive at $65-$70. Still a really good price.
Any of you Canon shooters interested?