What to use a 50mm lens for?

Hi guys and girls,

Am looking very soon to purchase my first digital slr(canon 50D) it comes with a lenskit. one of them is a 50mm lens.

What type of shots is a lens like that supposed to be used for? it doesnt zoom or anything.

CHeers

Low light

Lenses that don't zoom, like the 50mm lens, are called prime lenses and they're generally sharper than most zoom lenses. Definitely sharper than consumer zoom lenses such as the 18-200mm or 18-55mm lenses. I can assume that it's the f/1.8 version and, as Ronnie mentioned, it's good for low light

Because of the field of view when using the 50mm lens on the 50D, it acts nicely as a portrait lens, especially when combined with the shallow depth of field that an aperture of f/2.8 or less provides.

The Moose wrote in post #9100274
Lenses that don't zoom, like the 50mm lens, are called prime lenses and they're generally sharper than most zoom lenses. Definitely sharper than consumer zoom lenses such as the 18-200mm or 18-55mm lenses. I can assume that it's the f/1.8 version and, as Ronnie mentioned, it's good for low light

Because of the field of view when using the 50mm lens on the 50D, it acts nicely as a portrait lens, especially when combined with the shallow depth of field that an aperture of f/2.8 or less provides.

I was just about to come back to write up something similar to what Glenn wrote. Beat me to it and did it better than I can have explained it

bsaber wrote in post #9100266
Low light

+1 I can vouch for that easily

RedlinePhotography_200​9 wrote in post #9100256
What type of shots is a lens like that supposed to be used for? it doesnt zoom or anything.

The 50mm f/1.8 II can be used for shots such as these:

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Ahhh thanks guys. now i get it

When yas say low light, u do mean partial light yes?

Because i do alot of pic taking at car club meets which are usually at night. and theres next to no light. just street lamps etc.

on my current camera ive been using a tripod and playing around with really long exposure times.

could a 50mm lens be used for a similair application with better results? and easier results?

RedlinePhotography_200​9 wrote in post #9100355
Ahhh thanks guys. now i get it

When yas say low light, u do mean partial light yes?

Because i do alot of pic taking at car club meets which are usually at night. and theres next to no light. just street lamps etc.

on my current camera ive been using a tripod and playing around with really long exposure times.

could a 50mm lens be used for a similair application with better results? and easier results?

If you saw my pub gig photos on my flickr site, yup, the first four of them were taken with the 50mm

400dabuser wrote in post #9100359
If you saw my pub gig photos on my flickr site, yup, the first four of them were taken with the 50mm

Nah i didnt mate, i cant get on this site much. and theres so darn many updates its hard to keep up.


when taking those images was it handheld with light that low?

If so what kinds of shutter speed and aperture do u use?

RedlinePhotography_200​9 wrote in post #9100373
Nah i didnt mate, i cant get on this site much. and theres so darn many updates its hard to keep up.


when taking those images was it handheld with light that low?

If so what kinds of shutter speed and aperture do u use?

Yup, handheld, I was using Tv priority mode, but medium to slow shutter speed, with other adjustments plus flash, but not on one of them (at the time I didn't know how to use the flash properly)

RedlinePhotography_200​9 wrote in post #9100256
What type of shots is a lens like that supposed to be used for? it doesnt zoom or anything.

CHeers

Low light photography.. It's also a pretty handy lens for portraits on a crop body..

The 50mm 1.8 is a great little lens for low light photography. This shot was taken with it - no flash, and because I was able to get a decent shutter speed with the wide aperture, I was able to hand hold. Would have struggled to get the same shot with a zoom because, unless you have paid lots of money for one, a lot of them have a maximum aperture of f/4 or f/5.6 which wouldn't have been wide enough.

Makes for a good portrait lens too (this was with the 50mm f/1.4 @ f/2):

Just don't expect all your pics to be in focus, and don't be surprised when it falls apart. Mine hasn't yet but I do wonder every time I use it...

Frugal wrote in post #9105875
Just don't expect all your pics to be in focus, and don't be surprised when it falls apart. Mine hasn't yet but I do wonder every time I use it...

I was using manual focus, as I am aware that others have reported that the nifty struggles on AF in low light.