Canon 50mm 1.8 II

[Wizmatt]

Hello all,

I have been looking at the Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens for a while now, reading reviews and such. But I'm still undecided so I'd like to ask here.

I understand that it will be far sharper than my current kit lens, very cheap but made almost entirely out of plastic. On paper it sounds like a very goodand convenient lens, but I was wondering how useful it would acutally be. Does anyone use a 50mm lens regularly in wildlife/landscape photography?

I was thinking it would be useful for taking shots of subjects within their envirionment such as flowers, seabirds, fungi, or would I want something wider.

At that price I'm very temped to get it regardless, I'm sure it'll come in useful sometime.

Advice appreciated.

[Boddie]

Great for portraits and maybe OK for plants etc but useless for birds and landscape

[sharky620ti]

I always carry mine with me when i'm out with my 100-400mm. Its ideal as you can carry it in your pocket without even knowing its there as its so small and light.

Its also handy to have when the sun starts going down rendering the 100-400 pretty much useless, the 50mm 1.8 works pretty well in low light.

[cosmicma]

for the asking price there worth every penny but i understand what your saying
once the novelty wears off how much would you actually use it ??

it all depends on what type of photography you do at the end of the day
on a cropped sensor it's great for portraits ( as allready mentioned ) with extension tubes it does a reasonable job with macro or for things like fungi and flowers it's quite good on it's own

there's a dozen uses for the lens but if you just do wildlife for example it'l just get burried in you kit bag

i have one although i have to admit i don't use it so often i don't regret buying it

[slimrbp]

I bought one when I went to see the Up Helly Aa in Shetland thinking a fast lens would be useful as a lot of shots would be taken at night.
In the end I didn't use it and I don't think I have used it since.

[Wizmatt]

Originally Posted by cosmicma

for the asking price there worth every penny but i understand what your saying
once the novelty wears off how much would you actually use it ??

Yeah pretty much. I can think of instances were I could use it for example portraits of plants and flowers with a bit of environment as apposed to isolating them like one would do with a macro lens. I also thought it would be good for wildlife where I can get reasonably close for example seabird colonies to show them in their environment. And maybe as a landscape lens when I feel like giving it a go.

But reading the comments so far I think I'll persist with my kit lens and see what focal length I'm using most on that and re-evaluate. It's very tempting though at that price...

[Stephen Raff]

One of the nicest quality lenses I've ever owned. If I were a canon user again I would pick one up straight away.

Not everyones cup of tea or everyday lens but when you need it you know it will perform... and for little money in comparison.

Stephen

[nightshade]

I have noticed them in dealers used cabinets, sometimes the prices are very low, excellent lense at the low price if you can find one really cheap.

[yogi62]

I have one and as previously mentioned at f1.8 it's a fast lens and good for low light, ok for portraiture (although I prefer slightly longer (70-105).

For the price it's brilliant when compared with eth standard 18-55 kit lens, just remember it's a fixed focal length which will restrict compsitions.

Personally, as a general 'walk about lens' I use a Sigma 17-70 zoom which is great both for the focal ranges and the glass quality.

I would suggest you stay with teh kit lens until you can uograde to a mid-range zoom.

[yogi62]

I have one and as previously mentioned at f1.8 it's a fast lens and good for low light, ok for portraiture, although I prefer slightly longer 70-105 range.

For the price it's brilliant when compared with the standard 18-55 kit lens, just remember it's a fixed focal length which will restrict compositions.

Personally, as a general 'walk about lens' I use a Sigma 17-70 zoom which is great both for the focal ranges and the glass quality.

I would suggest you stay with the kit lens until you can upgrade to possibly mid-range zoom to start with.