@JamesStaddon I usually don’t shoot any lower than 2.0 or 2.5 for portraits but from my own personal experience the Canon 50mm f/1.4 has a better quality/smoother bokeh and image saturation + depth compared to the 1.8! The 50mm was my main portrait lens for several years but at the moment I use a Canon 35mm 1.4 for 95% of my work(it’s a beautiful lens that produces a crisp clear image). I will use the 50mm for food or product photography. Yes, it can be tricky getting the desired focus with an even smaller DOF but I do a lot of manual focus so it never has been an issue for me!
I attached a couple images for reference. Cupcakes were shot with a 50mm and portrait was taken with 35mm!
