what do you guys think of this lens?

thats the "nifty fifty" Brett. its basically a mainstay arround here. I think everyone probably has one b4 moving on to better build quality lenses. very good quality image...cheap build :). but cheap price.
 
hey man! :) good to hear from you again. yeah im trying to build up with my 7d now.. a few of my photographer friends suggested I may get one.. what types of lens are you working with with the 7d?
 
well i just got my 7d last week. I'm yet to use it cuz i;m waiting on my Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, and this 50mm that you linked to. However all these guys seem to have used this 50 at some point in time reporting that the image is really good... just that its cheap plastic :). I;ve also seen many examples of it on youtube and vimeo. really a nice lens for the $
 
alright then well I have a wedding to shoot this weekend so im buying it now in hopes that I can get it before the wedding. thanks for the input brother!
 
^^what jambredz said.


it's a pretty fun lens to play with, especially considering the price.

emphasis on "play with"; it's pretty much built like a toy. not horrible build quality, but certainly not good, either. plus, the focus ring is too small to attach a conventional follow focus gear.

if you won't have money for a better lens for a while, get it. it's certainly gives you more creative control over your subject (i.e. isolation from the background), and it's really, really cheap.

if you can save up and hold on for a while, definitely get a nicer lens.

i'm not sure what lenses you have now... so, what lenses do you have? and what do you shoot?

i ask so that i, or someone else, might give you a better piece of advice on lenses.

cheers.


(the 50mm focal length has a narrow field of view on crop cameras. it's nice outdoors, but can be tricky indoors. i use my friend's nifty fifty on a t2i and it's certainly nice to have f/1.8 for indoors, but 50mm largely inhibits its uses indoors.)
 
I have it and it's a good lens for $100. But I also have the Canon 50mm f1.4. It's $350, but it's a much better lens -- better mechanics, bokeh, color rendition.

But shoots, for $100, the f1.8 cannot be beat. But the focusing on it is a bit primitive.
 
cool.

ok, so before you buy the 50mm 1.8, you should know:

general considerations:
1) the field of view. it's the same as your current lens @ 50mm. if you're comfortable with that, it'll be fine. but remember that it'll be very limiting as to where you stand, and how you frame your shots.
2) to shoot wide open, in video mode, outside in the sun, you'll need some sort of neutral density (ND) filter. there are variable-ND filters, which can be found on ebay and elsewhere.

photo considerations (no solutions to these):
1) it auto focuses slowly.
2) it has a VERY hard time focusing in low light (a lot of times it won't auto focus, and you have to switch to MF).

video considerations:
1) the focus ring is very small (a few mm thick/wide), thus attaching a follow focus lens gear will be tricky (though not impossible).
2) you might need a follow focus to maintain accurate focusing while shooting video. it's not impossible to do it without a FF, but it'll be very hard.
3) since you'll be shooting outside, you won't be able to see the LCD very clearly, thus you won't know when you're actually in focus. the solution to this is either a loupe/viewfinder, a monitor, or both.

i'm not sure how much you already know about these considerations, but i included them for safe measure.

in the end, at ~$100, it's really not a bad lens to buy... especially as a first fast prime.

i'm not sure if your wedding shoot is paid or not, but here are a few relevant posts:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=873919
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=879010
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=879302

also, i'm not sure what your budget is, but you might want to invest in an f/2.8 wide to normal zoom (e.g. tamron 17-50, canon 17-55). the wide end gives you the ability to do group shots (and wide shots in general).
 
some say it's not possible to use a FF gear on the nifty but it is. It's not great, but it works... put a rubber band onto the focus right, then mount the gear.

This is how I have it set up on my B-Cam here.

27952_395803858015_718818015_4401614_3476711_n.jpg
 
I'd rather get a Nikon 50mm 1.4 off ebay for the same price if your main focus is video.
Or any L Series lens.
 
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