All you newbies on the fence, wondering what to get... well this lens has been recommended here more then one time..(thats why I bought it) and its outstanding.. and its under $90.00 at B & H Photo. 50mm F1.8 Don`t hesitate, its outstanding. Its fast, crisp and clear. Great for all shots, plus close ups, or night shots, and its small. AUTO FOCUS TOO. These pictures are sharp and so in focus I`m so impressed. Thanks everyone for telling me about this lens. I just want to pass on this info for all the new people after me. This is a little power house and worth more then what I spent.
i'm happy i got one, because of what it taught me.. but not because of quality. i learned(hands on) about DOF and how much light you really need(a lot) to make a good picture. for that, i say yes... 'Hey NEWBIES GET THIS LENS'. i also learned why it cost $90. in low light situations(why i got it to begin with), i found the auto focus to be horrible. inside, trying to get a shot of teh kid, it just goes rrrreerr.. rrrrreeeerrr.. reerrr.. reerrr.. never locking on anything. and using manual focus on a two and a half year old is impossible. and i was never happy with any of the images it produced, they were never really sharp. after the first week of playing with the 50, it wound up in the bottom of my bag. i pull it out when i want a super shallow DOF, trying to get artsy and what not. but i don't really use it a whole lot. i have a 28-135 that i would rather use. IMO, it's more versatile(zoom) and the images just look better. for low light situations that 'fast glass' is ideal for, i bought a flash.
I used it to shoot an autocross the other day. Worked well but the autofocus is a tad slow. Great lens for the money.
I used it the other day too, heres a doll I made. ok now this is a picture of the hair, I rooted one single hair at a time.
The 50mm 1.8 If firstly, an excellent value, and a close secondly a great lens. However, the 50mm 1.4 is a fantastic step up for $309 at B&H. The build quality is good and the auto focus is very fast even in extremely low light. Also the best portrait lens on a crop body without spending $1300. Don't get me wrong, If you want a real good lens for almost nothing, get the 1.8, but if you want a great lens and have a bit more money, go for the 1.4