The 50mm prime lens is one of the best prime lens available today and most of the lens manufacturers have this on offering. Canon provides three flavors for the 50mm:
50mm f/1.0 50mm f/1.4 50mm f/1.8
I have the 50mm f/1.8 which in terms of the price is the cheapest. However, it is no cheap performer. The results are quite impressive and professional.
The major difference in all the three variants is the lens construction and not the speed as some of us may feel. 50mm f/1.0 is less than 0ne stop faster than 1/8 and around half stop faster than f/1.2, but costs way more than the other two lenses. Apart from photographers who shoot in severe low light conditions, f/1.0 would not have many takers.
50mm f/1.0 50mm f/1.4 50mm f/1.8
I have the 50mm f/1.8 which in terms of the price is the cheapest. However, it is no cheap performer. The results are quite impressive and professional.
The major difference in all the three variants is the lens construction and not the speed as some of us may feel. 50mm f/1.0 is less than 0ne stop faster than 1/8 and around half stop faster than f/1.2, but costs way more than the other two lenses. Apart from photographers who shoot in severe low light conditions, f/1.0 would not have many takers.
One major difference worth noting down here is that 50mm f/1.8 has 5 blade diaphragm versus the 8 blades of 50mm f/1.0 and therefore it is way cheaper than the f/1.0.
The effect for which you will be shelling out almost a 1500+ USD is called the "Bookeh". It is the soft blur of out of focus areas in the picture.
I wanted to see how good or bad the 50mm f/1.8 gets. It was Christmas time and I wanted to check how this lens captures the out of focus Christmas lights. So here is what I did....
1) Set the lens to MF and intentionally made it totally out of focus for the Christmas lights
2) Camera to Manual Mode
3) Set the Tv / Shutter Speed to 1/10s
4) Set the Av / Aperture to f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.2, f/2.8 and took shots of the Christmas lights from the same place (distance to subject is constant)
Here are the observations:
Experiment 1: Subject to Camera Distance Fixed with Av changing
f/1.8
The out of focus Christmas lights / bookeh was rendered as perfect circles. I was not able to make out the 5 diaphragm blades. This is as good as it gets with the more expensive 50mm f/1.0. The results are comparable.
The effect for which you will be shelling out almost a 1500+ USD is called the "Bookeh". It is the soft blur of out of focus areas in the picture.
I wanted to see how good or bad the 50mm f/1.8 gets. It was Christmas time and I wanted to check how this lens captures the out of focus Christmas lights. So here is what I did....
1) Set the lens to MF and intentionally made it totally out of focus for the Christmas lights
2) Camera to Manual Mode
3) Set the Tv / Shutter Speed to 1/10s
4) Set the Av / Aperture to f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.2, f/2.8 and took shots of the Christmas lights from the same place (distance to subject is constant)
Here are the observations:
Experiment 1: Subject to Camera Distance Fixed with Av changing
f/1.8
The out of focus Christmas lights / bookeh was rendered as perfect circles. I was not able to make out the 5 diaphragm blades. This is as good as it gets with the more expensive 50mm f/1.0. The results are comparable.
f/2.0
Here we start to see the shape of diaphragm slightly.
f/2.2 - f/2.8
The shape is very obvious and instead of a circle we see a 5 sided blur shape.
Experiment 2: Subject to Camera Distance changing with Av fixed
I had expected that as the subject to camera distance increases, the lights will gradually come in focus. I tried upto a 15 feet from the subject and all I got was the lights getting even more blurred and dull.
@ 4 Feet
Experiment 2: Subject to Camera Distance changing with Av fixed
I had expected that as the subject to camera distance increases, the lights will gradually come in focus. I tried upto a 15 feet from the subject and all I got was the lights getting even more blurred and dull.
@ 4 Feet
@15 Feet
Experiment 3: Custom bookeh shape
I learnt about this method on the DIYPhotography.net site. This needs a fast lens which can open up to a minimum of f/1.8. Custom cutout was made in star shape and placed infront of the lens. The results were very nice with ample scope of experiments.
Consulsion:
Consulsion:
50mm f1.8 provides a very good bookeh for the price you pay for it. It is sharp as it gets and worth every penny you spend.
Happy clickin ;-)
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