upgrade 50mm prime

david1701

david1701

Suspended / Banned
Messages
10,870
Name
David
Edit My Images
No
Hi all,

My 50mm f1.8 almost lives on my camera but now I have upgraded to a 50d the quality difference between it and my 80-200L really shows. I love the focal length and the DoF possible with the fast lens so would really like another 50mm prime, what do people think?

Logical options are:
canon 50mm f1.4 (current considered option)
canon 50mm f1.2 L (out of my price range)
 
Given that of the two you've listed you can't afford one it seems you have made the decision yourself already.
 
sigma if you can be bothered to exchange or send it in for calibration if not right but probably sharper wide open. The canon 1.4 tends to be soft wide open but great from around f2 onwards and also seems to have fewer focussing issues.

Another option is the sigma 30mm 1.4 - seems to be a great lens on a crop body
 
Takumar f/1.4 50mm and M42 adapter.
 
I had a look on camera price buster and was intrigued by the sigma.

I kinda wanna know if there is a big difference in optical quality and also how the AF behaves (hunting and slowness) between the 1.4's mentioned and the 1.8. I could just as easily not spend this money I dont have on a new nifty and get an 85mm f1.8 which would be great at gigs (which I shoot a lot)

looked at the Takumar, but I've never really used MF (when AF works) and don't really fancy being limited on a lens I often use for quickshots
 
true but my 50d is very good and its generally exceptional circumstances I use MF, while rapid AF will get me zoned in near instantly for a quick portrait or something
 
If it's a choice between the two I'd go for the 50mm 1.4 .. and I did!

The 1.2 is pretty amazing but I fail to see enough advantages to justify the price difference.

I'd be tempted by the 85mm 1.8 too!
 
walls said:
sigma if you can be bothered to exchange or send it in for calibration if not right but probably sharper wide open. The canon 1.4 tends to be soft wide open but great from around f2 onwards and also seems to have fewer focussing issues.

Another option is the sigma 30mm 1.4 - seems to be a great lens on a crop body
Click to expand...

But whats the point in purchasing a f1.4 lens if you have to stop it down to attain any sharpness.

sid
 
Got the the 1.4 and can honestly say it is outstanding. The manual focus override is a god send! Sure it is very very very slightly soft fully open, but my god how good is it in low light. I did a charity black tie event for free, and this guy came up to me and started laughing at me as I wasn't using flash. He soon shut up when he saw I took a quality shot of his wife which she loved and he promptly coughed up the £4 dontation for a copy!
 
amb3rsil said:
Got the the 1.4 and can honestly say it is outstanding. The manual focus override is a god send! Sure it is very very very slightly soft fully open, but my god how good is it in low light. I did a charity black tie event for free, and this guy came up to me and started laughing at me as I wasn't using flash. He soon shut up when he saw I took a quality shot of his wife which she loved and he promptly coughed up the £4 dontation for a copy!
Click to expand...
Nice one, could have offered him this instead ;) but i suppose patience paid off
 
yeah considering the 85 aswell, think I have to do a 50 first though as it lives on the camera, considering a 17-40 aswell but I think I'll stick with primes and use my old school kit when I need to go wider which isn't very often
 
50mm F1.4 all the time, it's probably the cheapest lens I own, and apart from the 85mm F1.2 it's the sharpest lens I own.

It is (as you would expect) a little soft at F1.4 but usable, but it comes alive at F1.8.

And that extra bit of speed means autofocus is just that bit quicker especially in low light.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top