Kit Lens & 50mm difference

[peekay]

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[Pugs]

The faster 50mm will give you nicer bokeh, shallower depth of field, better image quality, sharper focus, etc...

 

[chip]

on a 1.6x crop frame body, the 50mm would be a 80mm. Not a very useful general purpose focal length. It maybe good for portraits. A 33mm would be a good "normal" lens for a 1.6x crop frame Canon body.

 

[cfusionpm]

The 50mm f/1.8 II is an OK lens. It's a small step up from the kit lens, and the f/1.8 offers good background blur, but the optics are so-so. It's a prime lens, so it's not that bad, but it's not going to be as good as the 1.4 or 1.2. The 1.2 is ludicrously expensive, but the 1.4 is a pretty reasonable ~400$. It offers better image quality, USM focusing, and full time manual focusing. I originally bought a 1.8 and a few months later, sold it for the 1.4 instead.

 

[seekinglight]

Depends on what you are shooting. The zoom lens is too slow for indoor sports. I use 50mm -but I have a pass to be at courtside so the short focal length (on my 1.6 crop camera) is not a problem when action is near the net. The f1.8 lens was too slow to focus. I upgraded to the f1.4 because it's motor focused faster.
I've never taken my 50mm lens down to f3.5 - I love shallow depth of field so my subject stands out and the background is blurr. Go to a camera store, put the f1.8 lens on your camera and at f1.8 photograph a person who is standing out in the open (not against a wall!) from very close range -say 5 feet. Take the same shot with your zoom lens at the same focal length. One shot will look great -almost a 3-D affect. The other shot will look the same as you would get with a $100 Kodak. If you like what you see, do the right thing and buy from that store.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

The 50mm f/1.8 should be MUCH sharper than the 18-55 at 50mm f/5.6.

 

[dcmountaineer]

The 1.8 (aka, 'Nifty-50', 'plastic wonder') is great. But keep in mind, you get what you pay for. Since you can find it most places for $90-100, the build quality is not going to compare to the 1.4.

However, you can get great shots with the 1.8. If you want a cheap, sharp prime lens - this fits the bill. But keep a more flexible lens in your arsenal (18-55, etc) for everyday shots.