Nifty Fifty?

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suze23

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suze
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Ive lost count the amount of threads about his lens??

what isit and why isit so good?

:)
 
it's a good lens and very cheap
 
mine cost me £40... ok its a plastic body... but @ 1.8, i dont care !!!!!
 
yep - go for around £40 - £65 and the 1.8 f# makes it a very good lens for low light pictures.

Add to that the focal length of 50 (good portrait length) makes its very popular.
 
It's just a 50mm prime lens, they are good bacause they've been making them for years and they are cheap because they are simple in design.

That said, you've got a D60 so the cheap 50mm f1.8 won't autofocus on your camera - you'll need the much more expensive AF-s f1.4.

That said, I find that on a cropped body 35mm makes for a better all round length.
 
It's a dark horse... built like a turd (the canon one at least), performance of a champion. and as has been mentioned, at 1.8, it's not to be sneezed at. properly exposed images indoors become feasible at shutter speeds high enough to prevent shake.

i actually took some images indoors last night at ISO 800, F/2, at 1/100 ( still cant remmeber why, I should have used 1/50) and with a bit of PP they are perfectly usable. With any other lens I'd have had to used flash, or a tripod, and in some situations either of those is just not at all desirable.
 
thats the problem i have - the autofocus on the d60...!

id be looking at the £300 mark for one for my camera wouldn i???
 
suze23 said:
thats the problem i have - the autofocus on the d60...!
id be looking at the £300 mark for one for my camera wouldn i???
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You would indeed, that is if you want it to af, and of course if you actually want and have a need for a 50mm. You may also want to look at the 35mm which will af on your D60 and is cheaper.
 
suze23 said:
thats the problem i have - the autofocus on the d60...!

id be looking at the £300 mark for one for my camera wouldn i???
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AF isn't the end of the world love - I MF on all of my lenses (two I don't have any choice in the matter) and get sparkling results, it's rather nice too knowing that you did it and not the camera.
 
I had a d60 and bought the 35mm 1.8 for £150, great lens and as already stated is pretty much 50mm on a cropped body like the d60.

AF motor in it too
 
trencheel303 said:
It's a dark horse... built like a turd (the canon one at least), performance of a champion. and as has been mentioned, at 1.8, it's not to be sneezed at. properly exposed images indoors become feasible at shutter speeds high enough to prevent shake.
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I recently got the Canon nifty fifty and TBH wasn't expecting much (paid under £70 for mine new) they seem to go for just as much used in the TP classifieds :wacky:

First impressions when I unboxed it were that it looked suprisingly better built than I had expected, considering everyone says it's very plastic looking, and almost like a toy! :D
also people refer to it being noisey when focusing, mine doesnt seem to be any noisier than a kit lens? It also focuses pretty fast despite some saying otherwise.

I got a chance to use it over the weekend and the images were really sharp!




.
 
It's cheap, and can be tricky to use with the shallow DOF, but the results are really good. And in low light, when you can't use flash, it's just the ticket (when on a budget).
 
yehh saw a MF one for £99 which is great....

but would i be able to cope with a MF... acutally probably as i had a 70-300mm manual focus and imho that was hard.
 
my fave lens.. 50mm f1.8II... i always whip it out when we have friends for dinner etc :naughty:.. you can't beat it!

 
thinking of chopping my 24-70/2.8 in for the 50mm 1.4 version. purely as can't remember the last time i used the 24-70 so could free up some dosh and at the same time not lose out 'portrait range'

what's peoples views on the 1.4?

drew
 
oh and you can do this - one handed in a no flash, low light, situation :)

50mmtest.jpg


yes the canon one is light and flimsy, but only needs a bit of looking after, which people should do with ALL photographic equipment. IMHO

best £70 i've ever spent !!
 
CruisingComet said:
I recently got the Canon nifty fifty and TBH wasn't expecting much (paid under £70 for mine new) they seem to go for just as much used in the TP classifieds :wacky:

First impressions when I unboxed it were that it looked suprisingly better built than I had expected, considering everyone says it's very plastic looking, and almost like a toy! :D
also people refer to it being noisey when focusing, mine doesnt seem to be any noisier than a kit lens? It also focuses pretty fast despite some saying otherwise.

I got a chance to use it over the weekend and the images were really sharp!


.
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The build quality or lack thereof is apparent. But it's the glass that matters and good glass it is. But as I said, it's a dark horse - the images it produces are great, and for the price it's a steal. I don't care that it has a plastic mount etc. at that price. The focussing motor is a bit noisier than the IS kit lens but then again, I manual focus only.
 
I took mine to a mates wedding recently and was the only lens I used all day. Some great candids with the f1.8 allowing really good DOF. Also very light and small so makes it handy to use at an arms length and down low etc.
Was very pleased with the results. Basically an all rounder that lets you be very creative and for cheaps!
 
When looking to buy one of these "nifty fifty"'s, is that what it is called? Or is that it's nickname??!!
 
Doddy1974 said:
Or is that it's nickname??!!
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nickname, its a 50mm f/1.8

They are indeed
-Sharp (due to simple no zoom design)
-cheap (due to simple no zoom design)
-Great for low light
-Great for Portraits
-Great for low DOF
-Great for making you think more about composition due to having a narrower field of view than you may be use to.

Ive been using an old MF one with an adaptor, my propper one arrive last night, love it. its a nikon and the AF (on a D80) eats the kit lens i have (18-55mm internal motor), although i appreciate other lenses with built in motors can be faster still.
 
Nifty Fifty is it's nickname... the Canon is the EF50mmII f/1.8

Here's a few low light shots I used mine for.
 
its the canon 50mm f1.8 lens which is a cheap and is an entry into fast aperture lenses, but in reality it is poorly made, has poor AF and not particularly sharp wide open.

suze23 said:
Ive lost count the amount of threads about his lens??

what isit and why isit so good?

:)
Click to expand...
 
POAH said:
its the canon 50mm f1.8 lens which is a cheap and is an entry into fast aperture lenses, but in reality it is poorly made, has poor AF and not particularly sharp wide open.
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poorly made? how?

mine focuses spot on, ok struggles in very low light, but dont we all?

(y)
 
POAH said:
its the canon 50mm f1.8 lens which is a cheap and is an entry into fast aperture lenses, but in reality it is poorly made, has poor AF and not particularly sharp wide open.
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No it's not, she's got a Nikon...
 
I purchased myself an old 50mm 1.8 AI-E lens for my D60 at the cheap price of £45.

Took me a while to get used to is as on the D60 you have to manually focus as well as manually expose the image (set shutter, aperture and ISO). The camera doesn't recognise it so you have to shoot in manual.

Best £45 I've spent.

I've learnt so much from having to shoot in manual, I can usually get exposure close enough to only require minor tweaking using the histogram and, if you have the patience to learn to use it then I would recommend getting it :)

Oh, and learning to get correct focus at 1.8 = PITA but ultimately worth it when you start getting it right :)
 
wrx_dazza said:
poorly made? how?

mine focuses spot on, ok struggles in very low light, but dont we all?

(y)
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well, it is plastic. as for not being so sharp wide open, hmm maybe he has a point too. Mine gives some CA when wide open and is a bit softer.

I did these with the nifty, they were almost wide open if not completely open.

IMG_8254.jpg


IMG_8070.jpg


DOF at f/1.8 and similar is narrow enough, my hat is off to people who use the 1.2 because i honestly struggle at 1.8!
 
POAH said:
its the canon 50mm f1.8 lens which is a cheap and is an entry into fast aperture lenses, but in reality it is poorly made, has poor AF and not particularly sharp wide open.
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What lens is?

Close it down slightly to f2.8 and the sharpness is brilliant - and for the price - unbeatable!
 
petersmart said:
What lens is?

Close it down slightly to f2.8 and the sharpness is brilliant - and for the price - unbeatable!
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my 135 f2 L, my sigma 50mm f1.4, my sigma 30mm f1.4, my canon 85mm f1.8 were all sharper wide open than the canon 50mm f1.8. the difference between the sigma 30 and the canon 50 1.8 is pretty big.

I have manual focus yashica 50mm f1.4 which was a 1/4 of the price of the canon 1.8 and is sharper, better built and has less CA so yes the canon 50mm f1.8 is beatable.
 
Bardo said:
I've got a Nikon 1.8D and it's a superb lens! Razor sharp, great DOF, gorgeous creamy bokeh and great in low light. Get one - you won't regret it!
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Trouble is, for us D40, D40x and D60 users they won't autofocus unless we go for the more expensive model (£250-ish?).

I'm considering plumping for the cheaper manual focus only lens or the cheaper 35mm f/1.8 af-s lens :)
 
mrbrightside said:
what would i search on ebay to find one of these for my canon 450d :)?
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just canon 50mm 1.8 will do.... as soon as you type canon 50mm it will autofill the 1.8 for you. give it a bash! (y)
 
Itti said:
Is the autofocus thing only a problem with Nikon?
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It's the only thing wrong with the Nikon entry level, D40, D40x, D60 and whatever the newest one is.

The entry level don't have an autofocus motor built in to the body, it means we have to buy the more expensive lenses with the motor in them. :(
 
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