the canon 50mm f/1.8

[jzhao1688]

Originally Posted by sneg

canon 50mm f/1.8,considering this lens as it has amazing reviews,I'm looking from my first proper lens for my new canon 40d with 35-80 kit lens,but as I'm new to this not sure what subjects it would be suited too,would it be suited to landscapes? I'm thinking not? I live near a beach so would like a lens for sunset shots over the sea and also semi close sand shots, stuff like that,so should I be looking at another lens?I like to buy quality stuff first time round but only have about £200/£250 for this first lens,cheers

The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens is used a lot on a full frame camera in portraiture and generally not suitable for landscapes. When I shoot landscapes I usually use EF 24-70 f/2.8L or EF 90-300 F/3.5-5.6 lens, depending on how far and close is the subject it's good to have the two lenses, but in your case with 50mm lens on a Canon 40D would be 80mm you should get the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS for around $600USD would be cost wise to you?

[sneg]

Originally Posted by jzhao1688

The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens is used a lot on a full frame camera in portraiture and generally not suitable for landscapes. When I shoot landscapes I usually use EF 24-70 f/2.8L or EF 90-300 F/3.5-5.6 lens, depending on how far and close is the subject it's good to have the two lenses, but in your case with 50mm lens on a Canon 40D would be 80mm you should get the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS for around $600USD would be cost wise to you?

cheers for that info,as yet I have not bought a len as each time I'm about too I see another that people say is better etc but this canon 18-200 seems to fit the bill just right,for a first lens,I have just checked and can get it for £360 which seems a steal for what it is,cheers again.

[robski]

A General word of warning about super zoom lens (x10). They are intended to be a one lens solution to get the subject in the frame. Often referred to as a travel lens. It will get you an image of that once in a life time experience. If your enlargements are postcard sized your be happy enough with the results.

If you intend to enlarge to A4 or A3 sized prints the poor image quality will show and your find few suitable for the wall. Most zoom lens have a zoom range of x3 and that is to minimize the design compromises at either end of the zoom range.

Photozone don't give too many prizes for the ef-s 18-200 lens

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/40...n_18200_3556is

Poor image quality and colour fringing on the edges of the frame especially at the wide end. Also the barrel distortion is very heavy at 18mm which can be very annoying when photographing buildings. So if you only used the centre part of the frame for your images the results will look great.

£360 for a lens that only scores 2/5 may not be such a bargain if you doing large prints.

[sneg]

glad it's the weekend or I would have bought it by now lol,so just to recap would the best lens for me,for the subjusts I mention be the 17-40 and maybe another len for closer up subjects, rather than trying to cover it all in the one lens? love the thought of the 17-40 but I feel I would be craving a len for closeup stuff too,any thoughts?

[Nick_A]

Originally Posted by robski

Are you looking for an upgrade or to extend the range.

Lets first look at the 50mm f1.8

Pro
Scores 8 out of 10 for optical performance - which is pretty good for a cheap lens.

Con
Poor build quality - easy to break
Noisy focus motor.
minimum focus distance of 0.5 metre
Poor out of focus quality (bokeh)

I have owned this lens and found I could not make much use of it and sold it on.

I was more than a little surprised by your assessment of this fantastic lens

For a lens that can be bought new for £75 delivered this is IMO an ESSENTIAL bit of kit in any camera bag. The image quality is way way better than 'pretty good' it's amazing for the price. Super sharp. to get the same kind of IQ from another lens you would have to spend a lot lot more. At least 10x better than the 18-55mm kit lens! The depth of field you can achieve with a fast prime like this can also not be over looked you won't get near that with any zoom without spending serious amounts of cash.

All that said the original poster was asking for a landscape lens which this isn't that much is true.

I would however still add this to your kit bag at some point I'd be amazed if you were disappointed. I use mine all the time with great results

[robski]

Originally Posted by Nick_A

I would however still add this to your kit bag at some point I'd be amazed if you were disappointed.

Well a lot of folk say this and that's why I bought a brand new one.

The only good things I would say from my experience is it's light and does not take up much space in the kit bag. I would give it a 85-90% for sharpness.

I found the focus motor noise caught by standers attention. In fact a head turner.

I have sharper lens than the 50mm f1.8

I was hoping the f1.8 would give a good bokeh but the lens only has 5 blades so the results did disappoint.

For my subject matter I often need to focus closer that 0.5m.

Only used the lens a few times mainly for testing and after a year of sitting in the kit bag it was time to move it on.

If it suits your style of photography then sure it's a bargain and a little gem.

[Nick_A]

I would give it a 85-90% for sharpness

that's bloody good! How much would you have to spend to gt similar sharpness from another lens?

I found the focus motor noise caught by standers attention. In fact a head turner.

maybe yours was faulty? no noise issues with mine as quiet as the kit lens

I was hoping the f1.8 would give a good bokeh but the lens only has 5 blades so the results did disappoint.

here is a shot of mine from new year nothing special just a snap but have a look at the bokeh... wouldnn't say that was bad in the slightest?

You must have some seriously expensive glass in your bag

[fotonunta]

Spectacular optics (better than most Canon lenses of any price), ultra light weight and ultra low price. Perfect as a normal lens for full-frame digital and film, and a short tele for 1.6x cameras. Excellent for use in low light; I prefer it to the faster 50mm f/1.4 because this f/1.8 lens gives me more accurate autofocus.