Opinions [CF or speedlight]

[Koontsa]

Hey guys,

I came into ~$70 extra this week and thought I should spend it on camera equipment. I was thinking I should either save it towards a flash or spend it on a fresh 1 gb memory card.What would you rather do taking into consideration I only have 1 256 mb Card?

Thanks,

Matt

[defordphoto]

You have slow glass. Get the 50 f/1.8

[Boosting1Bar]

You have slow glass. Get the 50 f/1.8

agreed

[elbirth]

yeah, the 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens. I've been playing with mine since the middle of last week, and it's just great.

I have 3 256mb cards myself and rarely use more than 1 during any period of me going out and shooting... but then again I haven't gone out and just sat around and shot scenes- just walked around and snapped shots of things as I saw them and that's about it.

For now you can live with the 1 CF card- the 50mm lens is a great add-on

[MrChad]

I agree with the 50's
but you may also try hunting down an 18-55 EFs lens too. Not sure if you do much indoor or scenic shooting.

A second 256 CF card or a polarizor is also a good spend.

[elbirth]

I agree with the 50's
but you may also try hunting down an 18-55 EFs lens too. Not sure if you do much indoor or scenic shooting.

A second 256 CF card or a polarizor is also a good spend.

I've seen that kit lens on eBay going for around $30 or thereabouts. It might be a good buy

[Koontsa]

Is the 50 1.8 a sharp lens?

[Jesper]

Is the 50 1.8 a sharp lens?

Yes, it's very sharp! It is definitely a lot sharper than your zoom lenses - maybe even sharper than your 70-200L. Note that it's a prime lens, not a zoom lens - i.e. it has a fixed focal length of 50mm. Prime lenses are easier to make and almost always optically better than zoom lenses.

The Canon EF 50 f/1.8 II is almost entirely made of plastic, it has a plastic (instead of metal) lens mount, you shouldn't drop it on a concrete floor, but its image quality is fantastic and it's cheap.

[Persian-Rice]

Is the 50 1.8 a sharp lens?

Yes, it's very sharp! It is definitely a lot sharper than your zoom lenses - maybe even sharper than your 70-200L. Note that it's a prime lens, not a zoom lens - i.e. it has a fixed focal length of 50mm. Prime lenses are easier to make and almost always optically better than zoom lenses.

The Canon EF 50 f/1.8 II is almost entirely made of plastic, it has a plastic (instead of metal) lens mount, you shouldn't drop it on a concrete floor, but its image quality is fantastic and it's cheap.

Should you dropping any of your camera equipment on any concrete floor? lol.

Koonsta, the 50mm is probably in the top 10% of all Canon lenses when it comes to sharpness and quality.

[Deckyon]

I cannot comment on the 50mm 1.8, but I have the 50mm f/1.4 and love it for a walk-around snapshot lens. It is fast, reliable, fast AF and (while not as light as the 1.8) light when compared to my 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS lens, especially when toting the 1D MkII around.

I do know a lot of people in my camera club (most of which shoot Canon) have the 1.8 and love it. When out on shoots, we trade equip all the time. I was able to try out all the lenses I was looking into before buying the lenses I bought. I got the 50mm f/1.4 becasue it just "felt" better to me. Is there a difference in image quality, possibly. One thing I do know about the difference, the f/1.4 version is more pieces to the iris than the f/1.8, giving smoother "out of focus" backgrounds at the faster f-stops. It is worth the difference in money? To me it was, but that is a decision you need to make.

Now, for the memory question. Granted, you so nt have fast lenses, but you have very small amount of memory. I believe that you will miss more shots due to only having 256mb than a slower lens. If you gave me the same $70, I would get the memory. Of course, I shoot 1.5 GB worth images on an average shoot. I have a portable HD for when my 2 GB worth of cards are full.

[johneo]

Is the 50 1.8 a sharp lens?

I think so! :D

Just out of the box, 10D, built in flash ... 1st shot with the 50 f/1.8 almost a year ago. Inexpensive, probably not the best made but for the price ... Incredible! :shock:

http://members.cox.net/johnori/k133595n.jpg