Canon 50mm lens

Bodhan

Hi guys,

I'm sure you experts can help me here. I got an Eos 500d kit with the 18-55mm lens kit; it's fantastic in case you’re wondering.
I'd like to get another couple of lenses with it and I was thinking of a 50mm. I see there's some different ones, which one should I get? I'd like to take portraits with it, preferably indoors with no flash. I love that natural light look.

Anyone want to suggest any other lenses that would be cool too. I love landscape shots too, have a look at my flickr to see some of the ones I've taken.

drunkmonkey

I've got the same camera, i'm really struggling to take shots at nite, the moon was nearly sitting on the ground last night and glowing orange, would have loved to take a photo of it but the camera wouldn't even take a picture in the dark, is this down to the standard lens, that's all I have...
would also like some advice..

Blazer

It all comes down to what you can afford.
You can pick up the Canon 50mm f1.8 for about €70 2nd hand on adverts.
I bought mine new off ebay for €105 which included delivery.
I'm very happy with it..great detail and works well in low light.

Anouilh

I did not go to the hairdressers for six months in order to buy the Canon 50mm f1.4.

It was really worth it... and I got a new hairstyle to boot.

KarmaGarda

Bodhan wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm sure you experts can help me here. I got an Eos 500d kit with the 18-55mm lens kit; it's fantastic in case you’re wondering.
I'd like to get another couple of lenses with it and I was thinking of a 50mm. I see there's some different ones, which one should I get? I'd like to take portraits with it, preferably indoors with no flash. I love that natural light look.

Anyone want to suggest any other lenses that would be cool too. I love landscape shots too, have a look at my flickr to see some of the ones I've taken.

I agree with Berkut. Search for "Nifty Fifty" in this forum and you'll see many threads on it. It's the best "bang for buck" lens around.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I've got the same camera, i'm really struggling to take shots at nite, the moon was nearly sitting on the ground last night and glowing orange, would have loved to take a photo of it but the camera wouldn't even take a picture in the dark, is this down to the standard lens, that's all I have...
would also like some advice..

I'd start a new thread on this. But quick advice is look into long exposures using a tripod (or something to rest the camera on). There are other ways too, if you want to explore more open up a new thread and you'll get tonnes of advice

pixbyjohn

From here http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=13942037
There are two methods you can use:
The first is at iso100 and the second is at iso1600

Shooting at iso100 has already been explained in this thread and will give you the best results. However, you will need a tripod and the only moving objects you can capture have to emit a strong enough light.

If you have a shutter speed of 15 seconds for example and someone walks by in front of your camera talking on his cellphone, you will see in your final image a line of light emited by the cellphone going across the picture, but hardly a trace of the man holding it.

If you don't have a tripod at hand or anyway to stabalize your camera, or you do want to capture a non light emiting moving object, you will have to learn to hold your camera very steady.

Set the camera to M mode. (Review the manual on how you can change the aparture and shutter speed). First select iso 1600, then choose the largest aperture your lens can handle. On the kit lens, that is 3.5 at it's widest. Then set the shutter speed to 1/30th of a second and take test shots. Deepending on how steady you can hold your camera, you might get away with slower shutter speeds, but for most, 1/30th is about the limit with the kit lens.

Relax and take several shots. Your biggest problem will be getting a a good shot without camera shake. You can also change the shutter speed to see if you can get a better exposure. The more you can decrease it, the less chance of getting camera shake.

Another downside is that at iso1600, you will have a lot more noise, but the images should still be usuable.

.Longshanks.

Berkut wrote: »

It all comes down to what you can afford.
You can pick up the Canon 50mm f1.8 for about €70 2nd hand on adverts.
I bought mine new off ebay for €105 which included delivery.
I'm very happy with it..great detail and works well in low light.

It can be bought for £70 stg new if you following the below link
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62886419#post62886419

Bodhan

So do I need the f1.4 or f1.8?

KarmaGarda

I'd get the 1.8, it's cheaper. For the .4 extra you're paying quite a bit more money. The 1.8 is seriously good value for money

Bodhan

I'll start looking now, there's one on adverts but I think it's sold.

murpho999

KarmaGarda wrote: »

I'd get the 1.8, it's cheaper. For the .4 extra you're paying quite a bit more money. The 1.8 is seriously good value for money

But also bear in mind that the 1.4 gives you more possibilities and is also much better built than the 1.8.....it also has USM which is nice.

tullie

murpho999 wrote: »

But also bear in mind that the 1.4 gives you more possibilities and is also much better built than the 1.8.....it also has USM which is nice.

got my 1.4 at the weekend, and its def worth the extra few euro if you have it to spare.

squareballoon

I loooooove my 1.4. I would go for that.

KarmaGarda

I suppose the best advice would be if you have the dosh to spare get the 1.4. If you don't, or it's a stretch, 1.8 is the winner.

Bodhan

Well I'm in the market for either, if I have to go new it will be the 1.8 not enough reddies for 1.4 new. If one comes up second hand I might have enough.

Thanks for all the advice lads

YeGods

Hi all, i had the same question in mind and all the replies have answered it for me. I've been looking for a 1.4 for a while now and the best site I've found for New lenses(not ebay) is www.digital-cameras.com . Their shipping prices are also the best I've found and buying from the UK as apposed to US means no duty to pay ( they're cracking down on this lately). The flash prices on this site are great too. I'll let you know how I get on with this site when I buy the lens.

Bodhan

Good man, nice site. I'll be getting the 1.8 one then. Budget won't stretch to the 1.4. Only £5 for delivery I'll be shopping there more often.

dnme

www.digital-cameras.com and http://www.camerabox.co.uk are one and the same shower. Be careful, the web is full of horror stories and I myself had a narrow escape with them recently (search here for my post).

They are a 1 or 2 man outfit operating from a house or a tiny unit and dont carry much stock, they order to order. If anything goes wrong - they just start ignoring you.

Stick to the reliables
Jessops or Calumet - both decent UK/ N. Ireland outlets with bricks & mortar aswell as online presence. Used by pros and beginners alike and get a pretty good rating all round.

You get what you pay for!

YeGods

Good Man dmne, I'll keep clear of them if they are that bad.
I checked out Jessops and they're price isn't bad + free shipping. Thanks again for the heads-up.

Bodhan

Amazon.co.uk price isn't bad either, there's free shipping too.