Since my English is better, please excuse not writing in German. Situation: I bought a new 60D body, needed a lens to learn and grow with. This lens was my one and only lens and I have only on board flash light. How I feel: This is the best lens for me even tho I just bought a new 28-135 USM IS from Canon. It is quite, quick and light. It makes really great photo with soft backgrounds. I can point to where I want and take pictures with ease. Why Canon: The winner is Canon, because the price is very good compare to other lens companies. It is light and fast, it is also a very bright and sharp lens. Why 50mm: It is a lot of work to learn how to use the computer and the rest of the setting. Like me who is a beginner with DSLR needed something simple. 50mm is a standard for full frame and with 60D it acts as a 80mm. Which is good for almost everything except indoor close range. It works great with photo merge in photoshop. It works great with point and shoot. Why F/1.4: As mentioned before, I only have on board flash. I am not saying it is bad, because there are so much to learn about how to use a flash. However, I do like my photos better without flash. In which, F/1.4 allows a lots of light in, this means brighter photo with quicker shutter speed or lower ISO. Everything above F2.8 is sharp. I love photos with soft background and this lens is the best :) Why USM: Quick, quite! I don't think I have to say more. Yes it is very tight on small room, but hey, this is what we know before. 80mm is technically 1.6x zoom. However, we can learn to life with it. If you are beginner like me, you will still have a small old camera to get wider angel, if you are a getting comfortable with DSLR, you will have a second set of lens. So I think this is a must to have :)