Canon 50mm Lens

[PhilipHowe]

I need a portrait lens and as I have a Canon EOS350D, I'm looking at the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II for around £79.
Does anyone have an opinion on this or can suggest another lens?
Out of interest, what lens does anyone else use for portraits?

[John]

50mm lenses produce very nice 75mm-equivalent portrait lenses on digital, or at least on APS-C sized digital.

You might find the sharpness a little bit too much for flattering portraits, but a bit of soft focus will cure that. Maybe a filter or maybe some treatment in software.

Personally I tend to use my zooms in the studio as they are easier to compose tightly with. Using studio flash the aperture is likely to be f8 or smaller anyway, so all lenses will be operating at optimal apertures and should give good results.

But the 50mm is still well worth having and will also be useful in low light situations.

[Andrew Shepherd]

Hi Philip - I bought that 50mm prime lens, having read reviews that it was perfect for portraits. I had it on a full-frame sensor so I didn't get the 75mm equivalent focal length, but I was dissappointed with it to be honest. I found the dof at 1.8 so narrow it was very difficult to use (especially with children) - very difficult to get both eyes sharp if the subject isn't square on to you and I therefore rarely used it at the widest aperture. I appreciate it is for creative portraits and it's a fast lens for low-light - I just found it very difficult to use for portraiture and it stayed in my bag for the majority of the time I had it, but maybe that was just me.

The best lenses I have used for portrait are the Canon 28-135 lens f3.5/5.6 (which I still use on a 20D and it's very good), Canon 24-105 f4 (which is my day to day lens too) or my Canon 70-200 f2.8 (or the f4 version). I prefer zoom lenses as you have more flexibility and like John says easier to compose. Given the multiplication factor for APS-C sensors I would highly recommend the 28-135 or 24-105 over the 50mm.

Hope that helps!

Andrew

[oakeycoke]

Hi,

The nifty-fifty (50mm f/1. should be in every Canon users bag, mainly for its price/performance ratio. Its okay and better than the kit lenses for sharpness etc, but build quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Going up in price there are a number of mid-price mid range prime lenses which perform better, namely the 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, the 100mm f/2.0, and 100mm f/2.8 macro. When I say better all of them are good but these are better for Image Quality, colour, contrast and bokeh wise with usm auto focusing. If you are in a studio setup with lights and using f/8 or so, then there wont be a vast difference in quality from all the lenses. However if you are not in a studio, and the light is somewhat lacking then these latter ones will be better for quality. The longer length above 50mm and open aperture of f/2.8 and below will give nicer blurred backgrounds.

I wont enter the debate about 50mm/85mm/100mm or above as it depends on the subject to camera distance hence the size of the room, how much of a portrait you want i.e. head shot, head & shoulders, 3/4 length etc.

I have the nifty 50mm and the 100 macro but neither of them are my 1st choice for portraits, that is reserved for the 135mm f/2.0. So if you want the ultimate there are the 50mm f/1.2 or the 85mm f/1.2, but you are now talking serious money and i'd put the 135 f/2.0 up against them anytime. Read the reviews of these lenses at http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos and also http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showcat.php/cat/4

Value/performance on the nifty 50 is excellent, but its not the best portrait lens, its the best value for money portrait lens, depending on what price you put on images that just 'pop' out at you when you view them.

Phil

[PhilipHowe]

Wow, thanks for all the replies. I will mull it over and read up on your suggestions.

[Paul Jones]

Many of my favourite shots have been taken with my 50mm f/1.8 (Nikon).

[PhilipHowe]

I've decided to opt for a step up from my kit 18-55mm to a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens.
I've found a refurbished one for £200, so it's a bit of a non brainer price wise and a good fit to complement my 70-300 Tamron.

It's also an EF, so will be future proof for me.
Thanks for all your input.