A light and bright standard lens (Canon EF 50mm f1.8 MK2)

Member Name: seldom

Product:	Canon EF 50mm f1.8 MK2
Date:	24/12/07 (470 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Value for money

Disadvantages: It's not quite a portrait lens

I give the 50mm/f1.8 a five, because it's one of the best lenses in terms of value for money. The 50mm/f1.4 is of course good too, but it's almost 3 times more expensive. And some people say they like the bokeh of the 1.8 version more. Well, bokeh is a matter of taste, but there are some other advantages of this lens.

First of all, it's the price. For around 90 quid you get a great standard lens which is way too better then the kit lens (crappy 18-55 on most Canon cameras).

Second, it's the size. It weights only 130g, so you can take it anywhere and your hands won't fall off in the end of the day.

Third, it's the 1.8 aperture. It's quite ok for low-light conditions, for shooting indoors, in the clubs etc.

Fourth, it's the picture quality. As I mentioned above, the bokeh is very nice (and you'll play with bokeh a lot given a 1.8 aperture:)). It also shows very good results in terms of resolution/chromatic aberrations, even at 1.8.

But still the 50mm is not quite a portrait lens. Yes, it's around 75mm on cropped sensor, but the diagonal angle of view is still 46 deg. It's a bit too wide and there is some obvious wide-angle distortion when you do head-shots. I use a 100mm/f2.0 lens as a main portrait lens now. I've already made a suggestion to add it to dooyoo, and I'll review it as soon as they do.

Summary: A must-have for beginners

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