50 mm f1.8 ??????????

illuminati919

I shoot alot of sports photography, mostly BMX and sometimes skating, I can usually get really close up if I need to or things like that. Would the 50 mm f1.8 be a good lens to buy ? I'll be using it with my Canon D60.

If anyone has any kinds of opinions please help me out it would be greatly appreciated.

Marko

gus

Great lens for the $ & what you need.

ultravox

"Would the 50 mm f1.8 be a good lens to buy ?"

YES It's a good one with good optics. And for the price U pay its a "must have".

rahmonster

Getting mine in a couple of weeks. Great all rounder.

DoctorIt

ditto, ditto, and ditto. I've actually never thought of using it for sports, but sure, if you can get up close, it's definitely fast. However, I have to say, it doesn't focus sports-fast. Again, I've never tried it in any sort of action, so I could be wrong.

But you gotta love that you can go to any camera shop, lay down a c-note and walk away with an awesome piece of glass.

DavidTO

DoctorIt wrote:

ditto, ditto, and ditto. I've actually never thought of using it for sports, but sure, if you can get up close, it's definitely fast. However, I have to say, it doesn't focus sports-fast. Again, I've never tried it in any sort of action, so I could be wrong.

I don't shoot sports, but I wouldn't rely on the 50 1.8 for sports solely because of the focusing. I have the lens, and I like it a lot, but I don't love it because of the focusing.

KA0TVO

Great lens,
Check out the FM and the flea market here. Can be found at times for less than $65.00 delending on condition. Got mine used and it's great, very sharp.

KA0TVO

Check this out
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/329568

Red Bull

I just ordered mine from B&H 2 minutes ago....literally.

I had some Christmas money so I decided to go ahead and get it since I hear its a must have for the price.

DoctorIt

I may be sticking mine up for sale on flea market soon... waiting to hear back from DanielB, he expressed early interest in it.

Justiceiro

I've had the 50mm f1.8 for about 3 months now- shooting it at f8-f11 is astounding, it's really crisp and beats the kit lens all to hell (not that the kit lens is too bad). My problem with it is that it is simply too long for most of the shooting that I like to do, particularly with my 20d's 1.6 focal length multiplier. I'm thinking about upgrading to the 28mm 2.8.

However, for low light it will blow your mind, and for the price it may be the best deal out there. Not even worht messing around buying it used.

KA0TVO

Another one, going fast

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/329224

Velu

It's a great lens for "little" money. Fast (1.8).
One you should have anyway !

Rgds
Velu

leebase

It's not a great sports lens. It's a good lens at a great price, pretty much a "must have" -- well, unless you pay more for the 50mm f1.4

The sports prime you might want to consider is the 85mm f1.8 -- now THAT'S a very nice lens, and focuses fast enough for sports, and gives you more reach to boot.

Lee

Matthew Saville

ACK!!! Fellow BMX etc. photographer here to save the day:

Do you have a super-wide lens yet? I can HIGHLY reccomend a 12-24mm Nikon DX / Tokina DX, or a Canon 10-22mm EF-S, or a Sigma 10-20mm DC, etc. etc.

You will find THIS to be your most useful lens BY FAR in the BMX / skate photography scene. In fact, a fisheye is also something you should ownl, only Nikon makes one for DX specifically but usually BMX shooters don't really care too much about the crop on a fisheye lens. Cropping a 15mm circular fisheye by putting it on a 1.5x or 1.6x DSLR is perfect for awesome quarterpipe shots or dirt jumping shots etc. etc.

Here's some shots at 24mm on a 1.5x Nikon, which is 36mm FOV and REALLY pushing the envelope, I WISH I had a 12-24mm lens so I could get to 18mm FOV...















I don't know about you, but I like to shoot BMX from up close instead of at a distance, with exaggerated perspective. And it's almost impossible to do without a digital-specific super-wide angle lens. So, first and foremost, look into getting a super-wide zoom such as the one's I've mentioned. Tamron also makes an 11-18mm super-wide zoom that is probably perfect for BMX since corner sharpness is NEVER a concern, even stopped down in bright daylight.

If you already have a super-wide, then I still won't yet reccomend a 50mm focal length prime lens. Not until you have a good zoom that covers that area. Unless, of course, your main interest is shooting in low light without flash. (although with BMX, it's often ALL ABOUT using flash...) If you do want to shoot in low light w/o flash, I'm still going to say you might be better off looking into the wider-angle primes that, when on a cropped DSLR, take you to 50mm or so. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is ideal, but expensive for BMX kids. I dunno if you're doing this professionally or just for fun with friends, but I wouldn't invest that much money in just one prime lens if I were the latter. 50mm f/1.8's are a fine thing to own since they're cheap, but for BMX it might prove a little less useful than the wider focal lengths. Just my opinion! At any rate, good luck and happy shooting! Let us know what you end up with...

Take care,
-Matt-

Matthew Saville

leebase wrote:

It's not a great sports lens. It's a good lens at a great price, pretty much a "must have" -- well, unless you pay more for the 50mm f1.4

The sports prime you might want to consider is the 85mm f1.8 -- now THAT'S a very nice lens, and focuses fast enough for sports, and gives you more reach to boot.

Lee

Oh, I forgot about that. If you ARE shooting "from the grandstands" of a BMX event or something, then yes, get an 85mm f/1.8 instead of the 50mm f/1.8. An 85mm lens is awesome for shooting "from the stands". I just assumed you were "in the action" which I guess may not always be the case, and if you're restricted to the sidelines, a super-wide is going to be almost useless... Thanks for reminding me, leebase!

-Matt-

illuminati919

What do you guys think about the 20mm f2.8 USM ? Now I am interested in that one, thanks for all your tips everyone and especially Matt.