Canon 50mm 1.8

Creed

Creed

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Got this lens on order, hopefully will be here by the end of the week.

I have read mixed reviews about the lens and a lot of people saying that its extremely 'Soft' at 1.8, now I was thinking that possibly due to price this is because it is being used by beginners and at 1.8 there is a chance not all of your subject is going to be sharp..... could be completely wrong there being a beginner myself..

What I am idealy after is any advice on using this lens, what are the common pitfalls etc, as I don't want to spoil my first experiences by not being able to use what I have... I will mainly be using it for indoor shots of the dog etc, but was hoping to try taking it out and about for some flower shots then possibly shots of items placed in front of a window getting natural light.
 
It might be because I am inept at using it, but even when photographing buildings at an angle (where surely some part of the building would have been in focus!), I found it to be sharper at f2 or f2.2
That said, for the price, I don't see any other lenses at those apertures!
 
coldpenguin said:
It might be because I am inept at using it, but even when photographing buildings at an angle (where surely some part of the building would have been in focus!), I found it to be sharper at f2 or f2.2
That said, for the price, I don't see any other lenses at those apertures!
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It is definately sharper if you stop it down ever so slightly but it is perfectly useable wide open and I've taken plenty of good shots with it that way.
 
No problems here at 1.8
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I often think there is too much attention to the last % of sharpness, contrast, whatever, vs the actual point of the photo - the prompting of a fond memory, a thought-provoking artistic scene, the conveyance of a subjet, whatever.

IMO the practicalities of it like the rotating front element and effectively no manual focus are likely to be more of issue (not for me incidentally since I don't need/use either of those). It also has 'bad bokeh' in that OOF highlights will have 5-sides clearly visible, instead of the uber-smooth circular areas of contrast you'd get from a more expensive lens.

Yes its slightly soft at 1.8, but I agree with the above, it's perfectly usable for most needs even at 1.8.

HTH
 
Thanks for the replies... and thank you for clarifying what Bokeh was in the same sentence as it saved me having to go search :)

I think your right about peoples opinions on getting everything pin sharp rather than just looking at the photo.

P.S. that's a rather good photo
 
Pretty much every lens you'll ever use will be sharper than it is wide open when it's stopped down a stop or two. It's not unique to the 50mm f/1.8 II.

If you're shooting anything which isn't completely stationary with the aperture wide open, a faster shutter speed helps. When shooting wide open with my fast primes, there is a noticable difference between shots taken at 1/60s and 1/125s. The shots with the faster shutter speed are considerably sharper.

PerfectSpeed, I'd be interested in seeing a 100% crop of the eye in your photo and the EXIF data from the shot, or the shutter speed at least. It looks very good!

George.
 
Creed said:
P.S. that's a rather good photo
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Thanks.


BadgerLover
PerfectSpeed, I'd be interested in seeing a 100% crop of the eye in your photo and the EXIF data from the shot, or the shutter speed at least. It looks very good!
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No worries, I'll have to dig it out from my wife's pc later tonight, It was taken the same morning I got the lens, I was playing with f/1.8 for around two days when I first got it.

And thanks.

Steve
 
Seriously I wouldn't get too worried about it. Just look forward to it arriving and having a play. The improvement in colour, bokeh and sharpness compared to your 18-55 kit lens will be unbelievable!

Some of mine with the 1.8 Nifty Fifty on Flickr!
 
I'm sure there was a thread on here with some test shots that showed it was sharpest at around F/4. Can't find it now though :(
Watch out for the DoF, or lack of it. With wide apertures and close subjects DoF can sometimes be measured in mm. I spent a few weeks cursing my copy thinking it was giving me soft images when in reality most of it was just out of focus :(
 
Not happy, hopefully it's nothing but will wait and see when I get it home and try on the camera....

50 arrived today all nicely boxed... took it out to have a look at the lens, removed the lens cap and there was what I thought at first was a spec of dust on the lens... on closer inspection it actually looks like its either dust or a mark on the inside of the rear bit of glass in the lens...
 
Big_Ham said:
It's a good lens for the price, not great in low light IMO, but still perfectly usable.
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Not when it arrives damaged it's not :crying:

Can't believe I am probably going to have to send it straight back then wait about another week for another one to arrive ....
 
I have a 40D and 5D, and I'venoticed that my 50mm lens works MUCH better on the 5D. Better focussing etc. It's far more "reliable" in that sense.
 
It is more than sharp enough wide open on 1.6 crop. On full frame it is soft at the edges but by 2.8 it is tack sharp.

I loved this lens on my 450D and i still love it on my 5DMkII - i use it so much i just decided to upgrade to the 50mm f1.4 as i just want something a little bit quicker to focus/more robust. It has also made me buy the 85 f/1.8 to emulate the crop i had on the 450D.

The best thing about the nifty fifty is that is tiny and weighs almost nothing - you can always take it with - no matter how small your bag.
 
Kaben said:
The best thing about the nifty fifty is that is tiny and weighs almost nothing - you can always take it with - no matter how small your bag.
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Very true

Hell, you can put it in your back pocket, can't think of a reason if your on a budget not to have one.
 
I received my 50mm 1.8 yesterday and so far I am really impressed with it. Only got a couple of shots so far which I took as soon I got it out of the box last night.

This is my first lens other than the one that came with my 40d which was a 17 – 85mm IS. I decided I wanted to get something that would give a different effect which this certainly does and as I’m on a pretty tight budget the price suited me too.

These are my first three pictures using the nifty fifty…..

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Creed said:
Not happy, hopefully it's nothing but will wait and see when I get it home and try on the camera....

50 arrived today all nicely boxed... took it out to have a look at the lens, removed the lens cap and there was what I thought at first was a spec of dust on the lens... on closer inspection it actually looks like its either dust or a mark on the inside of the rear bit of glass in the lens...
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Mine had this as well, but it looked like 2 small chips on mine! Waiting for returns number for this so I can get a replacement, means I won't get to play with it for a while :(
 
Well I tried it with small apateur against a white sheet, along with various outdoor photo's and really can't see anything on the pictures so I am not bothering returning mine as I know what my luck is like and I will just get another one in worse condition
 
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