Maginon Series G 50mm 1.7

This lens was a gift from a kind German gentleman. It came with a Canon T50, both in pristine condition.

This lens is tiny. I can compare it to an Olympus OM 50mm 1.8 in size, although it might be just a bit smaller. The build quality is pretty poor. It's time for a cliché! This. lens. feels. cheap. You should be able to tell how cheap by the previous sentence.

When you hold and use it, you can almost see a picture of two executives talking:

• Hey, we have glass and plastic and other stuff, and I've heard those guys at Canon, Nikon, etc. make a lot of money selling lenses.
• Yeah, we should be able to sell some lenses. How hard can it be?

That short summary is how this lens feels: not like a photographer's tool, made to help you bring your vision to life, but like an item made for the sole purpose of selling it.

Wide open, this lens isn't the sharpest lens in the proverbial lens shed. Images have low contrast and are glowy. Stopping down doesn't improve things too much. My copy seems to have an ever-present glow. (Can you guess what I didn't know back when writing the review? Spherical aberration.) Bokeh? Here's the fun part. When stopped down to f2.8 or f4, this lens shows "ninja-star" bokeh, which some love and others hate. I personally like it.

The final verdict? If this lens comes with a camera body you like, want, or obsess over, get it. If not, just get any old 50mm. It'll probably be better, albeit a little bigger and heavier. (*cough* Helios 44-2.) I would personally pass this one up.