Fast, Light, Sharp and Cheap – The Canon 50mm f/1.8 EF II Lens
Posted by admin | Under Canon Lenses Saturday Jul 17, 2010
http://www.robnunnphoto.com The EF 50mm f/1.8 belongs in the camera bag of every Canon photographer – it’s Canon’s cheapest lens, yet this great little prime offers sharp images, great low-light capability and fantastic selective focus options.
The 50mm is more like the 35mm equivalent of an 80mm on a crop sensor camera, it’s slightly telephoto, so you’ll find yourself moving back a little if you’re into landscapes – but it’s a great portrait focal length.
Build quality isn’t the best – but what do you expect for £100? Get one, stick it on your camera and have some fun.
Cheers, Rob.
Oh, and did I mention it’s cheap? 
Duration : 0:5:59
@shyer012 The 17-85 …
@shyer012 The 17-85 will work fine in most situations – however in low-light, or where you want that extra-narrow depth of field – the f/1.8 50mm would be a nice addition to your glass collection.
i currently bought …
i currently bought a 17-85mm lens as my general purpose lens for a bit of everythingg to replace my 28-80mm lens hwoever for portrait shots iw as considering chucking in another hundred dollars to get the 50mm…would this be an alright thing to do..or will my 17-85mm work just fine??
@JohanKH ok, thanks …
@JohanKH ok, thanks for the answer! I use this lens now and I love it!
@HatroVille It let …
@HatroVille It let it more light, so in low-light conditions you can use lower iso (less noise) and/or get lower shutter times (less chance of you or object moving), the difference in depth of field is more of a side effect and I guess that optically it may be considered “a flaw” but as far as picture output goes many likes it, and you can always close it down to get broader DOF.
@ManicEightBall Get …
@ManicEightBall Get the 85, or if you want a macro maybe the 100/2.8 macro and use that for portraits to.
@AttemptingToBeBusy …
@AttemptingToBeBusy Both are cheap, this one is just close to free =p, compare the price of the 1.4 against the 1.2L and the comparision may be different. Check reviews, I don’t like the boke of any of these primes. I would had got the Sigma 30/1.4 and the 85/1.8. For some reason looking at flickr bokeh shots at for instance 50/1.4 I think the Nikon shoots seem to look better than the Canon shoots, but Nikon seem to also use more aperture blades and circular apertures ..
@MAJAsins As far as …
@MAJAsins As far as you’re shooting 50mm it will be better, for everything else it can’t do it .. So .. But it’s dirt cheap so you got nothing to worry about, if you need a faster lens (letting in more light) or background blur go for it. If you can afford it and think it’s ok look at the Sigma 30/1.4 to, I’d rather pick that one, and if you want to shoot portraits instead look at the 85/1.8. You could also get a brighter zoom lens like the Tamron 17-50/2.8 VC or something such.
@arzy2008 The 85/ …
@arzy2008 The 85/1.8 would probably be better for portrait, the 50s where the normal primes for full-frame cameras, but on a cheaper APS-C something like the Sigma 30/1.4 would do better. (And I would definitly get that or their 50 over the Canons, I think their boke look much better, the 30 mm Sigma isn’t sharp on the edges though.)
@SeikoPsycho Just …
@SeikoPsycho Just get the 1.2L, some adapter Leica Summicron/Noctilux or Zeiss glass and you won’t have to worry longer
I’m very sure it’s …
I’m very sure it’s awesome value but maybe one shouldn’t overhype it too much? It’s not perfect and there’s waaay sharper 50s out there, for much more of course.
@ …
@ashplaystation3slim I manually focused a store display model 18-55mm IS kit lens really fast and hard with the switch in AF and also while I was in the middle of focusing with the camera. I then attempted to auto-focus on several things and focused without any problems. They are not as fragile as many people think but I still wouldn’t risk it with my own lenses
@scalespeeder Ok …
@scalespeeder Ok thanks, sir
@ …
@ashplaystation3slim If it still focusses ok in AF mode, I guess its ok!
How can you tell if …
How can you tell if your lens is damaged ? i accidently tried to mf when it was AF ,
@TheFilm35 yes, it …
@TheFilm35 yes, it will come with caps for the front and rear of the lens.
nice vid. im going …
nice vid. im going to be using it with the 550d, and the standard lens cap is 58mm. so it wont fit on this lens. does this lens some with its own lens cap?
seriously guys, …
seriously guys, learn more about concept of depth of field with your f/stop before you whine about blurring. n00bs!
@SeikoPsycho No.
@SeikoPsycho No.
When I take pics …
When I take pics with this at anything smaller than f/1.8, I often see pentagon-shaped “bokeh” in the background. Also, when focusing on bright lights, I get spokes that flare out from the light source that do not come to a sharp point. Will photography snobs see these and stick his nose up in the air at me?
@menoziinrevoltado …
@menoziinrevoltado You have to look at this as a great feature, if you know how to use it. When it’s focussing to (nearly) infinity, like with a landscape shot, you don’t have that much problem at lower apertures to get everything in focus. I suggest reading some articles about use of aperture widths.
@menoziinrevoltado …
@menoziinrevoltado
background will be blurred if u shoot at the lowest f1.8 but if u open it to say f5.0 etc it will be non blurred
I have this lens …
I have this lens and its the best BANG of a lil BUCK! Everyone should have one!
@carlgeers suck to …
@carlgeers suck to be you.. I dropped mine more than 2 times and still working perfectly
DON’T DROP IT! I …
DON’T DROP IT! I dropped mine and it blew up. Ridiculously fragile lens. Canon should get it’s butt kicked for producing such a piece of trashy plastic!
@willieturnip
lol …
@willieturnip
lol. after reading my question again.. I feel so dumb.
Recently I’ve been reading and learning about lenses.
The lower the f number, the beter the bokeh, better in low light condition, shallower depth of field and sharper picture. I didn’t know alot of things before.
Btw, recent compact from samsung has 1.8 lens. But ofcourse, DSLR will always be better than compacts.