canon 550d with canon 50mm f/1.8

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pullylad

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I recently purchased a 50mm lens for my Canon 550d after reading so much about how much a differance it makes than the lens kit.
I have only used it to take pics of my baby up to now and am happy with the results a lot of the time but a lot of the time I end up with blurred shots,I am also taking a trip to Amsterdam and was wondering is the 50 mm a good lens for all round photography,any help appreciated thanks.
 
You have to remember that at f/1.8 your depth of field is very shallow. Also the closer the subject is to the camera, the shallower the depth of field will be still.
 
The 50mm f1.8 is an incredibly sharp lens - the equal of "L" glass lenses - at an incredibly low price - but as already stated at wider apertures accurate focussing is essential.

I believe an excellent all round lens for you would be the 28-135mm IS USM lens which I have used for a couple of years on both crop and FF cameras.

It gives very good results and is my "walkabout" lens nowadays.

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pullylad said:
I recently purchased a 50mm lens for my Canon 550d after reading so much about how much a differance it makes than the lens kit.
I have only used it to take pics of my baby up to now and am happy with the results a lot of the time but a lot of the time I end up with blurred shots,I am also taking a trip to Amsterdam and was wondering is the 50 mm a good lens for all round photography,any help appreciated thanks.
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50 1.8 is recommended for portraits as it's not a bad focal length for that, and the very low f/number can get you very shallow depth of field effects if you focus very carefully. There are a few other things you can use it for, but TBH the list is quite short.

In particular, it is a hopeless walkabout lens. You need something around 18-50mm-plus.
 
paulk said:
Or you could use your feet ;)
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I hate it when people say 'you can use your feet'. When you compose an image it's not about 'fitting it all in', it's about creating the correct angle of view the shot you are taking. A 50mm lens on a 550D will create an equivelent focal length of 80mm, this is fantastic as a portrait lens, but would be useless for urban landscape lens.
 
DaveKing said:
I hate it when people say 'you can use your feet'. When you compose an image it's not about 'fitting it all in', it's about creating the correct angle of view the shot you are taking. A 50mm lens on a 550D will create an equivelent focal length of 80mm, this is fantastic as a portrait lens, but would be useless for urban landscape lens.
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Yes. And even if it was just about field of view, you'd have to walk a heck of a long way back to match the field of view at 18mm. And the perspective would be totally different, wouldn't look the same at all.

50 1.8 is very good for a few specific tasks on a crop format camera, and really not much use for anything else. It's main virtue is very low price.
 
petersmart said:
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I believe an excellent all round lens for you would be the 28-135mm IS USM lens which I have used for a couple of years on both crop and FF cameras.

It gives very good results and is my "walkabout" lens nowadays.
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I used one for a while, it's a pretty poor "walkabout" on a crop body, 45mm equivalent at the wide end is quite restrictive compared to a 17 or 18-xxx zoom.
 
Dave1 said:
I used one for a while, it's a pretty poor "walkabout" on a crop body, 45mm equivalent at the wide end is quite restrictive compared to a 17 or 18-xxx zoom.
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It's still a vast improvement over a 50mm which is what the OP asked and gives quite a good range IMO.

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HoppyUK said:
Yes. And even if it was just about field of view, you'd have to walk a heck of a long way back to match the field of view at 18mm. And the perspective would be totally different, wouldn't look the same at all.

50 1.8 is very good for a few specific tasks on a crop format camera, and really not much use for anything else. It's main virtue is very low price.
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Have to disagree there on a couple of points - the sharpness, as I've already said, is incredible and add some extension tubes and you also have a really great Macro lens on a crop or FF camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20926615@N05/sets/72157625975281497/

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I have the Canon 18-135mm EF-S on my 450d and I like it a lot! Image quality is decent, it has a good range, and the price won't break the bank. It's a bit weightier than the kit lens but you get used to it.
 
Dont overlook the Canon 17-85 IS as a good walkabout lens
 
petersmart said:
The 50mm f1.8 is an incredibly sharp lens - the equal of "L" glass lenses - at an incredibly low price - but as already stated at wider apertures accurate focussing is essential.
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you must have got a very good copy of the lens then... I've had a few over the years and while it is an excellent value lens it really isn't in the same league as the L lenses I've used.
 
For me 50mm on a copped body isn't wide enough.

I would personally recommend a 35mm on cropped sensor, you can get a lot more in and it's almost 50mm on full frame.
 
postcardcv said:
you must have got a very good copy of the lens then... I've had a few over the years and while it is an excellent value lens it really isn't in the same league as the L lenses I've used.
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I doubt if it's a very good copy since the charts here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=5

support my contention.

Even at f2.8 there is very little difference between the 50mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.2 L except that in the corners the L glass lens is noticeably inferior in both sharpness and CA.

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petersmart said:
I doubt if it's a very good copy since the charts here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=5

support my contention.

Even at f2.8 there is very little difference between the 50mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.2 L except that in the corners the L glass lens is noticeably inferior in both sharpness and CA.

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Looking at that I would say that there is no doubt that the L is sharper across the frame at f2.8, and looking at f1.8 really shows the difference. I entirely agree that the 50 f1.8 is a good value lens but it is not on a level with the L lens.
 
I got a 24-105 f4 L lens as a kit lens with my 5D MkII and use that as a walkround lens, although it does get changed from the 5D2 to the 7D. For what I'm taking I find it's a great walkround for crop bodies too, normally it's round the park taking birds and squirrels, but I did use it for a trip round Lincoln castle recently and it was the perfect length on my 7D.
 
I have the 50mm f2.5 and quite often leave it on as a walkabout lens. Fair enough, it may not be as wide but I prefer having the shallow depth of field and the sharpness of the lens over the flexibility (mine's the macro version which i find very handy) - is it safe to assume you have the 18-55mm lens that comes as a kit lens? Both lenses are pretty light and easy to carry, maybe you could take them both with you :)
 
pullylad said:
...wondering is the 50 mm a good lens for all round photography,any help appreciated thanks.
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Reading through this thread, sorry guys, but it seems to me that it's getting close to including every cliche know to amateur photographers. DoF too shallow, too long on APS-C, ok for portraits but no good as a walkaround lens, you need a 17-50mm... none of these things are necessarily true and are at best just opinion. What field of view you like to use is a personal choice as is even stuff like DoF and remember that at f1.8 once the camera to subject distance starts to increase the DoF does too, rapidly. So, if a 50mm f1.8 suits your shooting style then I say just practice and as you improve your technique your incidence of blurred shots will fall and your keeper rate will rise.

I have a 50mm f1.4 on my APS-C 20D and a 85mm f1.4 on my 5D and I'm quite happy... and although I can't for the life of me remember his name at the moment there's a famous American war photographer who used an 85mm (similar to 50mm on APS-C) exclusively and said that it was the worlds best lens and if he couldn't take a shot with that lens he didn't want to take the shot. If it's good enough for him... :D
 
woof woof said:
I have one of those, it's a great lens, but these days I use my Siggy f1.4 more.
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I have just bought a 35mm (the f2) so that's bumping the 50mm a fair bit at the minute - the Macro is so handy though for when you just want to get up close and personal which is one of the reasons it tends to live on my camera, it adds a little extra versatility :)
 
I haven't noticed this mentioned, but I may have missed it...

The problem could also be down to the 1.8's poor AF. My wife has found that the number of keepers shooting our daughter with the 50mm 1.8 can be very low. The shallow DOF doesn't help, but the poor AF makes it worse.

That's why I'm getting her a 17-55mm f2.8. Its faster AF will help a lot.
 
petersmart said:
I believe an excellent all round lens for you would be the 28-135mm IS USM lens which I have used for a couple of years on both crop and FF cameras.
.
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I second this. I have a 550d too and this was the first lens I bought. Really sharp and with a flexible zoom range. Ideal for what you are after and you should be able to get a nice used one for about £180.
 
Hi there

I am new to this site, but saw this post and thought I would offer some advice from my view :-)

I have this lens and to be honest it's one of my favourite's, I have a photography business and I shoot mainly newborns and children and it's pretty much the lens I use the most. You do have to be really careful not to get soft images as the lower the f point the more you have to nail the focus. I would say keep trying, keep practicing and your be getting nice sharp images before you know it.

I don't shoot any lower that 1/125 when it comes to children as they move about so much :-)

x
 
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