Buying a lens for portrait

atseeyob · Jan 10, 2008

Well I am buying Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens because I start people photography class and my instructor advised us to have a lens with a larger aperture. It is only $75 in amazon.com. Any comment on this lens will be great.

jstuedle · Jan 10, 2008

Great, sharp, inexpensive portrait lens on a cropped chip DSLR. Can't buy anything sharper for the money.

Emerana · Jan 10, 2008

I have one and its really my favorite, I use it all the time

Sideburns · Jan 10, 2008

Ditto.
I use mine for portraits often, and it gives great sharp pictures, with a small DOF great for the look most are after. I love it.

Oh, and it weighs about as much as 5 quarters...lmfao

atseeyob · Jan 10, 2008

Thank you as usual.........I guess I am comfortable to go ahead and order.

fatsheep · Jan 11, 2008

Does it ever get annoying not being able to zoom in? I find myself using the zooming capabilities of my camera quite a lot. I guess it depends on what you shoot...

yeti · Jan 11, 2008

I don't have this lens, but I am considering it the moment I pay off my credit card.

My understanding is that the lens is used mainly for portraits and close-up (macro) photography. Its selling point is really its huge aperature, not its zoom. Also, since it lacks zoom, it is easy to make it so that it always gives crystal-clear image without any optical defects.

My impression is that zoom lens are the multipurpose tools - they do a lot of things, but aren't especially good at anything in particular. This one isn't a multipurpose one - it does one or two things, but it does them really well.

You can of course find a lens that has similar apperture to the one being discussed AND has zoom as well, but I will be surprised if you find it below $1,000 and it will be heavier than most textbooks.

nicfargo · Jan 11, 2008

Yeti,
This lens would not be good for Macro, as it is not a true macro lens.

This is a Prime lens, meaning no zoom. Because of that you have to actually do some work and walk around to frame the subject that you are shooting. This has a great aperture and is pretty dang sharp...especially for less then $100. Try and get the Mk I model instead of the Mk II model. The Mk I is actually better, they took a step back with Mk II by making the entire thing plastic...even the mount. Also the Mk I has mode aperture blades, giving you a more pleasant bokeh (background out of focus blur).

Emerana · Jan 11, 2008

I really like that it doesnt soom. I dont really like using zoom too much. The quality is lesser wwith the zoom I think and I think it makes you pay more attention to how you are composing your shot if you cant just pull in tight. I put a zoom on when I really need it but it isnt often.

yeti · Jan 11, 2008

One learns new things every day.

fatsheep · Jan 11, 2008

yeti said:
I don't have this lens, but I am considering it the moment I pay off my credit card.

My understanding is that the lens is used mainly for portraits and close-up (macro) photography. Its selling point is really its huge aperature, not its zoom. Also, since it lacks zoom, it is easy to make it so that it always gives crystal-clear image without any optical defects.

My impression is that zoom lens are the multipurpose tools - they do a lot of things, but aren't especially good at anything in particular. This one isn't a multipurpose one - it does one or two things, but it does them really well.

You can of course find a lens that has similar apperture to the one being discussed AND has zoom as well, but I will be surprised if you find it below $1,000 and it will be heavier than most textbooks.

That makes a lot of sense. Since it doesn't have to switch focal lengths, it is simpler and doesn't need as many parts. This allows them to build it better and smaller at a cheaper price. I haven't used the lens itself so I don't know what the image quality is like with it but I'm surprised a $70 lens has an aperture range of f/1.8 - f/22.

A Canon Rebel XTI body and a lens like this is probably what I'll get when I upgrade to DSLR.

That One Guy · Jan 12, 2008

wow nice lens and nice price! thanks for letting us know about this. does anyone know if it will work with Rebel XT?

thanks

Mike_E · Jan 12, 2008

fatsheep said:
Does it ever get annoying not being able to zoom in? I find myself using the zooming capabilities of my camera quite a lot. I guess it depends on what you shoot...

Just put your left foot about 3 feet in front of your right one and lean forward. Works great! :mrgreen:

fatsheep · Jan 13, 2008

That One Guy said:
Does anyone know if it will work with Rebel XT?

I don't own a rebel or this lens but according to wikipedia, an EF lens (such as this one) is compatible with any EOS camera. I believe all of the rebels are EOS and are compatible with this lens. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.