Canon f/1.8 50mm review

The Canon f/1.8 50mm

 I am not a big fan of the 50mm in general. Recently, I was shooting a short film, and the director wanted a shallow depth of field, and very "minimalistic" lighting. So I was shooting at f/2.8. I was using my set of FD mount Canon primes (with an adapter). In one scene, I was shooting across a dining room table. It became apparent that my 24mm was to wide, so I reluctantly grabbed the 50mm. To my horror, the iris was seized up. I ended up getting the shot with my 85mm, and backing up a bit. After we wrapped, I knew I had to buy a new 50mm. Should a buy another old FD? I decided to look at Canons current offers (as I had no EF primes). Canon makes 3 different 50mm lenses. The f/1.2 L USM Lens , the f/1.4 USM , and the f/1.8 II . As someone who is no fan of the 50mm, (and a bit lacking in the finances at the moment) I decided to just grab the econo model f/1.8. 

My First 35mm SLR

I Think I know where my distaste for the 50mm came from. In 1993 I bought my first 35mm SLR. It was a Fujica, all manual, M42 mount, and it had a 55mm lens on it. It wasn't a bad lens, it was just the only lens I had... for 2 years. I became tired of it. Tired of the look it gave. Eventually I discovered used camera shows, and was able to afford my first zoom. I never looked back. The 50 was dead to me.

Apple Keyboard & Mouse

This New lens was different. Now I am sure the L-series 50 is an incredible lens (my 14, and 24 are L-series, and the continue to amaze me.), But for the price of the 1.8, I don't think you can go wrong. At 1/10th the price of the L-series, this is an amazing lens. If you don't have any primes, the extra f-stops will come in handy (all my zooms are 3.5). If you do have primes, then the 50mm will be a great mid focal length addition.
All of the shots in the post (with the exception of the photo of my Canon camera with the 50mm lens on it) were shot using this lens. These last three photos were shot locked off on a tripod. I was set to auto shutter speed, and 200 asa for all three shots. The first was shot at f/1.8, and the last shot at f/11. The lens was able to give a good quality image through all stops, and a good range of depth of field. I would call the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens a must have for anyone who owns a Canon DSLR.

Canon f/1.8 50mm 

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