The 50 1.4 lens has fairly poor build quality and a front element that sticks out while focusing which i hate and the 50 1.8 is just straight up crappy build quality.

Other than that, the lens is of course well built, feels great in your hands and is just a pleasure to shoot with

Pros:- f1.2 for creamy bokeh!- excellent build qualityCons:- none that I can think of

how well built this lens is it is the best on the market.

I always figured that the build and extra 1/3 stop from my f1.4 were nice but not required.

It's well built, very fast, produces amazing photos, and is almost silent

f/1.4 USM offers comparable image quality (though half a stop slower and less well built).

Heavy a well built.

f/1.4 USM offers comparable image quality (though half a stop slower and less well built).

Very well built!!!

the build and feel is great, and even the hefty aesthetic pleases me

Creamy smooth bokeh, good build, focused as fast as the 50mm f/1.4 (not faster), rich colors, and great contrast

Although it's a bit heavy for a 50mm lens, it feels very well built and sturdy

, its BOKELICIOUS!It has as good a build quality as you can get from a canon lens other than the white lenses

very solid build.

Superb DOF and great build

The 50L has exceptional build quality and is water sealed as long as you use a filter (i recommend the B+W UV Haze

so I could use my expensive B+W Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with it.

This is the softest L lens I own.

Plus I had my much better photographer friends telling me to go with a nice L zoom lens for the flexibile range.

Sean Reid [...]. rated this as the L lens worth its price tag

They say that amateur photographers embark on an equipment journey...beginning with cheap starter lenses, then to "L" zooms and eventually all roads lead to the elite prime "L" lenses- the 35mm, the 50mm, 85mm, 135mm, etc,

I'm in the process of acquiring a full set of fast prime "L" lenses

It seems to do exactly what it purports to do and then some...it really makes some truly lovely pictures (and yes all that wonderful L color and contrast is there too)

I had a Sigma 50mm 1.4, two tamron sp 35mm and 85mm 1.8, all made for high megapixel wars, but none, no other lens besides the 85mm 1.2 L lens will give u the rendering, the bokeh, the 3d look, the beautiful L lens colors, transition from bokeh to sharpness, the amount of light u can capture with this lens, its superb

Chromatic abberation is rather harsh for an L-lens (even harsher than the 1.8 and 1.4 non-L lenses) and the vignetting on a full-frame sensor is kind of disappointing