Prime lenses

[JDub]

I never really thought I would be a fan of primes, but I bought the Thrifty Fifty (Canon 50mm f1.8) to try out and I'm pretty impressed. The large aperature gives the option to use a nice shallow DOF, which I really like for most sports.

The 50mm f1.8 lens isn't a fast focusing lens, but as long as you prefocus so the lens is close it is capable for sporting events. I think I will look into the 85mm lens that has the USM on it hoping that it will be faster to focus.

Anyway, I wanted to give a thumbs up to my first step to primes and let those who were thinking about primes know my first experience.

Here's a couple of pics that I grabbed last weekend with the super cheap 50mm lens.

[Ouvinen]

It is a very nice lens considering the price. I've never liked the field of view of a fifty mill though. I find it too narrow to be a wide and too wide to be a telephoto. Don't really know what to think of it. It could work on some panning shots, as I tried it succesfully in some motorsport event last year...

[JDub]

It is a very nice lens considering the price. I've never liked the field of view of a fifty mill though. I find it too narrow to be a wide and too wide to be a telephoto. Don't really know what to think of it. It could work on some panning shots, as I tried it succesfully in some motorsport event last year...

I can see your point on the field of view. I shoot mainly runs, bike races, etc where I can get close to the action so I can USUALLY get in the correct position to get the composition that I want. However, I did have a couple of occasions shooting this race where there was a thorn bush that didn't want to let me off the track any further and the composition was just too tight.

That lens is so cheap though that I never really expected it to be that sharp.

[Sebastian]

I can see your point on the field of view. I shoot mainly runs, bike races, etc where I can get close to the action so I can USUALLY get in the correct position to get the composition that I want. However, I did have a couple of occasions shooting this race where there was a thorn bush that didn't want to let me off the track any further and the composition was just too tight.

That lens is so cheap though that I never really expected it to be that sharp.

The 50mm in ANY manufacturer's lineup is dirt cheap and very, very good optically. The optical formula is so simple it keeps the price down and quality up.

I love the 50mm II. I was weary of the plastic mount at first, but for 70 bucks one can't really complain...