Canon lens help

emma90

emma90

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i have a canon 18-55mm standard lens, which came with my 450d. was looking at the canon EF50mm f1.8 as another lens, but could i ask what would be the difference in what i could capture between the 2? can i get what i want from my standard lens, or would the 50mm add some versatility?
 
with the 50mm, you can stop down to f/1.8....meaning that you'll be able to really blur out backgrounds but have a very narrow depth of field. It will give you a bit more versability in low light, but I would probably save for something a bit better than the zoom lens you have now.
 
the kit lens is more versatile as the 50 mm is simply stuck at 50 which really on your cropped sensor u really got 65mm. Your kit lens on the other hand will stay 18-55 mm as its compatible with cropped cameras.

As for what u can do with 50mm 1.8 well its excellent at low lights, image wise is wayyyyy more sharp and excellent for portraits.

Ideally have em both but if u just can keep 1 lens then choose the kit, even though as a lens the 50mm is sharper and great aperture
 
P-Chan said:
the kit lens is more versatile as the 50 mm is simply stuck at 50 which really on your cropped sensor u really got 65mm. Your kit lens on the other hand will stay 18-55 mm as its compatible with cropped cameras.
Click to expand...

All wrong I'm afraid. The field of view crop of the smaller APS-C sensor means a 50mm lens has a field of view equivalent to an 80mm lens, and the same crop applies to the kit lens (which becomes 29-88mm).
 
For me the long and short of it was the kit lens allowed me to learn a few things, but to get better images I bought the 50mm 1.8.
 
The benefits of the 50 1.8 are that it is cheap, and opens up to f/1.8 for shallow depth of field and good low light capability. It is sharp at mid range apertures, but pretty soft at f/2.8 and below.

The downsides are that, being cheap, it is very plasticy and has poor AF. Also, 50mm is not the most versatile focal length on a crop sensor camera. Basically, it is good for shallow DoF portraits, and not much else, but still a bargain at £75 (new, delivered, from Kerso - see advertisers section).
 
squishy said:
All wrong I'm afraid. The field of view crop of the smaller APS-C sensor means a 50mm lens has a field of view equivalent to an 80mm lens, and the same crop applies to the kit lens (which becomes 29-88mm).
Click to expand...

** wrong im afraid... sorry for the math yes it becomes 80mm not 65 my bad

but the kit is an efs thus retaining the 17-55 and doesnt get muliplied like the 50 does.

Thus the op with 2 lenses will have an 80mm (50mm multiplied by 1.6 due to small sensor) and a zoom of 18-55
 
no, the 18-55 is still multiplied. And EF-s 18-55 has the same field of view as a 29-88mm on full frame.

As far as I know, no canon or nikon lenses give their crop sensor lenses specifications in equivalent focal length, they give you the actual focal length.

The only brand that does multiply it for you is panasonic, they sell lenses in 35mm equivalent terms (but it's simple for them because they only make lenses for 2x crop sensors).
 
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you are misinformed, crop factor always applies be it EF-s. EF or 3rd party makers lenses..


P-Chan said:
** wrong im afraid... sorry for the math yes it becomes 80mm not 65 my bad

but the kit is an efs thus retaining the 17-55 and doesnt get muliplied like the 50 does.

Thus the op with 2 lenses will have an 80mm (50mm multiplied by 1.6 due to small sensor) and a zoom of 18-55
Click to expand...
 
P-Chan said:
** wrong im afraid... sorry for the math yes it becomes 80mm not 65 my bad

but the kit is an efs thus retaining the 17-55 and doesnt get muliplied like the 50 does.

Thus the op with 2 lenses will have an 80mm (50mm multiplied by 1.6 due to small sensor) and a zoom of 18-55
Click to expand...

Wrong again, its the camera that causes the crop factor, not the lens. No matter what lens you put on it, the focal length always be effectivly multiplied.
 
beats me were im wrong set em up on a tripod if they are both 80 at 50mm the the image shouldnt be enlarged with the 50 1.8.

sorry cant upload the test

but again I could easily be wrong
 
any lens you put on a 1.6x crop will have it's focal length multiplied, even on a 1.3x crop. As stated, its not the lens, its the camera

The only sensor this doesnt happen to is FF
 
meh guess back to the classes for me :(

apologisie to the op for misinformation

but anyway both lenses u will need

the kit for versatility, the 50mm for low lights due to wide aperture and sharpness among other things
 
Let's simplify this! The designations 'ef' and 'ef-s' simply refer to the type of lens mount, it's nothing to do with focal length. The stated focal length on all lenses are the same, ie, 50mm on an efs lens is the same as 50mm on ef. On a crop camera, 50mm on the ef50mm lens will give an identical focal length as 50mm on, say the 18-55 set to 50mm.

It's the sensor on the crop format cameras that crop the image, not the lens, by the simple virtue that it's smaller.

Emma - basically the 50mm has the ability to open wider than the 18-55 thus be used in much darker conditions and with such a wide aperture you can be far more creative with depth of field. It's a great lens!
 
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I'd get either a 50mm f/1.8 or a 55-250mm IS depending on your priority.

I love the 50 for excellent low light capability. As others have said, great for portrait too. Here's a shot I took at a gig. The room was very dark, moody coloured lighting only.

5064831029_3244421d6f_z.jpg


Another suggestion would be a macro lens, if you'd like to take pictures of bugs or flowers. A macro lens also work well for portrait photography, but they don't usually have as big aperture as a fast prime (normally f/2.8 as opposed to f/1.8 or 1.4) so not quite as good in low light, but still better than kit lens at f/3.5-5.6. Tamron just brought out a 60mm macro f/2 which I'm very interested in. Best of both worlds! But comes at a price, about £320.

tamron60f2.jpg
 
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I doubt the OP cares or understands what the hell your all banging on about saying the 50mm isnt a 50mm The 50mm 1.8 will give the same 50mm as the kit lens..simple as that but it will be sharper and a better picture and it will allow you to shoot at a better fstop.. ie f1.8, f2 ect and thus better backgrounds and better in low light situations such as indoors without a flash.

As for the 50mm not being versatile... so long as you can move then you can zoom :)
 
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