Which 50mm lens?

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Hannah
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Hi there, new to this forum and the SLR photography world. I'm getting my new DSLR soon and choosing lenses too. I've decided to get (amongst others) a 50mm prime lens as I will be taking a lot of portrait photos around the house (my dogs!) and like the look of the photos the 50mm takes. What I need advice about is whether to go for the f/1.8 or f/1.4? How much better would the f/1.4 photos be? Is the difference good enough to justify spending the money on? ( where I'm looking it's about £100 more). I am new to this, but I don't want to go for the cheaper one only to move on to the f/1.4 lens in a few months and ultimately spend more money. Would you recommend going straight to the f/1.4? Worth the money? Let me know what you think. :)
 
I still get paid for shots I take with the 1.8. So it's good enough for me.

The 1.4 is better built, more metal and less plastic for a start. And obviously it's 2/3rds of a stop faster if you need it.

I've never really used one in anger, but the autofocus is better on the 1.4 and you get better manual focus. (The 1.8 is a bit wobbly, and you have to switch to manual focus, with the 1.4 you get full time manual, meaning you can leave it in AF and still twist the ring to over-ride it manually).

You can't really go wrong for the money with the 1.8.

EDIT. you'll also get prettier out of focus areas with the 1.4 as it has more aperture blades.
 
just remember that while you'll get faster shutter speeds with a faster lens you'll get less DOF which aint good for head on shots of dogs
 
I would recommend f1.4's solid build over the f1.8. plastic. In my opinion, f1.4 is one of canon's best portrait lenses.
 
Which DSLR? If it's a low end Nikon (D40(x), 60, 3000, 5000) you're a bit restricted as to which ones will AF. I think the choice is down to just 2, the Nikkor f/1.4 AF-S and the Sigma f/1.4 HSM. Both are reputably very good lenses but are also significantly more expensive than the slightly oilder versions that need body driven AF.

In more general terms, the extra 1/2 stop or so that the f/1.4 choices give you over the f/1.8s is fairly minimal (but it can make a difference). Depth of Field at f/1.4 is very shallow so technique has to be reasonable to ensure that focus is accurate and on the right spot. Image quality from either the 1.4 or 1.8 improves a bit when stopped down a little and by f/4 or so, there's very little to chose between the images from them ; probably not worth the extra cash in terms of image quality although the shallower DoF may be what you want or need to isolate subjects from backgrounds.

Finally, keep your eyes on 2nd hand sellers - you may find a 1.4 there for little more than a new 1.8 - or even a pre-owned 1.8 for a song!
 
Hi & Welcome :wave:

If your talking about the Canon 50mm, the 1.8 is well regarded and costs around £75-80 (see Kerso on here), the 1.4 is a belter of a lens, but I think it's around £200 more. In a review of these (including the 1.2 which is another £1000) the 1.4 came out very well, having said that, the 1.8 wasn't that far behind !

Hope this helps, but I doubt it does :lol:
 
Definitely go for a f/1.8 - it's cheap and produces decent quality images.
 
I upgraded to a 1.4 within four months of buying the 1.8, so I'd go straight for that.
 
Not sure which camera system you have , but assuming Canon or Nikon, they both have great cheap F1.8 50mm's . I would go for that to start with. You will always get at least 80% of your money back when you sell on for an f1.4.
 
See ...Being "new to the DSLR world",i would say get the 1.8..
Loved mine from day 1-You wont be dissapointed in it thats for sure,have to say bang for bucks is probably the best bargain you will get.
However...I would also love a 1.4,as i also shoot mainly portraits,and the build quality on the 1.8 is a little.. "cheap"... (Not that it distracts from the lens opitacally or anything!)
I guess if the money isnt an issue then go for the 1.4,If its something you just want to dabble in,grab the 1.8 and have a play around for a while..
 
The Nikon 1.8 is far better built than the canon 1.8 I believe. Both are still great lenses, go for a 1.8 and then sell on for a 1.4 once you have progressed a bit :)
 
I was having this convo with my mum the other day, the 1.4 is obviously a better lens (looks rather like the 1.8 Mark I, has the distance scale and better focus ring) but not 200 pounds better. I bought the 1.8 II after a bit of decision making and am awaiting its arrival.
 
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