50mm as Replacement for 18-55 Kit Lens?

[RegRoy]

I purchased the canon 50mm 1.8 lens and I like it. Playing with this lens now for a bit I really don't see a need to put my 18-55mm kit lens back on. Am I missing anything by keeping the 50mm on (for shooting in that range, of course).

Thanks

 

[MTVision]

My 50mm stays on my camera as well. I do use the 18-55mm once in a while because it is nice to get a little wider.

 

[Big Mike]

The 50mm offers you some things that the 18-55mm doesn't. A larger maximum aperture, better than average image quality etc.

As long as you have the room to move around to adjust your composition, you probably won't need the zoom. But there are likely to be plenty of times when you'll wish you had a wider view, so don't leave the zoom at home.

 

[BJF]

The canon 50mm f1.8 lens is designed for full frame camera. If your camera is not full frame, the actual focal length will be 75mm. So this lens is good for low light and portrait photography. You may still need your 18-55mm lens for other purpose.

 

[KmH]

No, the actual focal length is still 50 mm. The 50 mm f/1.8 on a Canon crop sensor camera will deliver a field-of-view (FOV) the same size a 80 mm lens would deliver on a full frame camera. However, the depth-of-field (DoF) the 50 mm delivers on the crop sensor camera will be different than the DoF a 75 mm lens will deliver on the full frame camera.

 

[Big Mike]

The canon 50mm f1.8 lens is designed for full frame camera. If your camera is not full frame, the actual focal length will be 75mm. So this lens is good for low light and portrait photography. You may still need your 18-55mm lens for other purpose.

As mentioned by KmH, the focal length is still 50mm. The only thing that changes is the FOV...and really, it only 'changes' if you go from a full frame (or 35mm film) camera, to a camera with a smaller (APS-C) sensor (which is most DSLR cameras).

If the OP does not use a full frame camera (or a 35mm film SLR), then there is really no point in mentioning the 'crop factor'.