Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II - a good lens?

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Mike Rocket J Squirrel - 15 Jun 2006 16:44 GMT

Canon 20D.

I want a medium tele for product shots of suitcase sized objects. I'm
looking for a wide aperture for shallow DOF. My EF 85mm f/1.8 USM tele
takes nice pictures, but it is just a bit too long for my cramped studio.

At $80, the EF 50mm looks to be a reasonable deal. Apologies if the pros
and cons of this lens has been discussed a lot, previously.

-0-

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

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J. Clarke - 15 Jun 2006 19:21 GMT

> Canon 20D.
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> At $80, the EF 50mm looks to be a reasonable deal. Apologies if the pros
> and cons of this lens has been discussed a lot, previously.

It certainly is a reasonable deal--it's one of the "bargain" lenses in the
Canon system with performance much better than its price would suggest.

For the work you're describing you might also want to look at the 60mm
macro, which has very low distortion and greater sharpness, or, if you're
looking for a lens primarily for product photography and can afford the
money, the 45 TS-E, which gives you a vast amount of control over the focal
plane and perspective. Not saying you need either of those for what you do
but you should at least think about them before going with the 50.

Signature

--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

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Mike Rocket J Squirrel - 15 Jun 2006 20:20 GMT

> For the work you're describing you might also want to look at the 60mm
> macro, which has very low distortion and greater sharpness, or, if you're
> looking for a lens primarily for product photography and can afford the
> money, the 45 TS-E, which gives you a vast amount of control over the focal
> plane and perspective.

A tilt and shift lens? Cooooool - I never noticed it before. Shades of
the view camera I always wanted but could never afford! Speaking of
affording, that lens is certainly not inexpensive. Sigh. It has to go on
the wish list for the time being. Thanks for the recommendation for the
60mm -- I'll consider it.

What's a good resource that a fellow could browse to catch him up to
speed on how Canon and Canon-compatible lenses stack up?

-- mike rocket j squirrel

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J. Clarke - 15 Jun 2006 23:59 GMT

>> For the work you're describing you might also want to look at the 60mm
>> macro, which has very low distortion and greater sharpness, or, if you're
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> What's a good resource that a fellow could browse to catch him up to
> speed on how Canon and Canon-compatible lenses stack up?

There's no one source. <http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html> has
fairly detailed test results on a number of Canon lenses. Beyond that I
find that I pretty much have to google any lens that I am interested in and
sometimes I come up blank.

<http://hame.ca/tiltshift.htm> has a very good set of links on tilt/shift
photography--note that the Canon is not the only game in town for T/S
lenses for the EOS system.

Signature

--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

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G.T. - 16 Jun 2006 02:01 GMT

> > For the work you're describing you might also want to look at the 60mm
> > macro, which has very low distortion and greater sharpness, or, if you're
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> What's a good resource that a fellow could browse to catch him up to
> speed on how Canon and Canon-compatible lenses stack up?

I use http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ to get a good idea of the
Canon lens line along with the features of the lenses. The reviews are more
subjective and he hasn't really gotten started on non-Canon lense but as far
as things like comparing physical sizes of the lenses and general quality of
the lenses I think it's very informative. I was just reading up on the
capabilities of the TS-Es there the other night.

Greg

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G.T. - 16 Jun 2006 01:57 GMT

> > Canon 20D.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> money, the 45 TS-E, which gives you a vast amount of control over the focal
> plane and perspective.

I do a lot of album cover (and eventually CD cover) photography. Would the
45 TS-E be a good lens to get nice square images? I've been backing away
from the album and using a 70-200mm f/4 L at about 150mm.

Greg

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Scott in Florida - 15 Jun 2006 21:18 GMT

>Canon 20D.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

I have the 50 1.8 for use on my 5D

It is a very nice lens....and you can't beat the price!

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dwight - 17 Jun 2006 03:11 GMT

> Canon 20D.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

After I read this, I stepped outside for a couple of quick shots.
http://dwight.munroe.googlepages.com/samples
You'll see that the only difference between the two photos is the aperture
(20 v. 1.8) and the corresponding shutter speed. What it shows is the paper
thin DOF that I think you're looking for (at the 1.8 setting).

Caution - these are the full-size JPGs out of the camera.

dwight
(Rebel XT)

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Mike Rocket J Squirrel - 17 Jun 2006 15:32 GMT

> You'll see that the only difference between the two photos is the aperture
> (20 v. 1.8) and the corresponding shutter speed. What it shows is the paper
> thin DOF that I think you're looking for (at the 1.8 setting).

Yeah, I like that shallow DOF for portraits, too. Thanks for the demos.

-- m.e.

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