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F 1.8

Michael Sessio
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p.2 #1 · F 1.8

I'd heard rave reviews about the Canon 50mm f/1.8 so I bought one to check if it really was that fantastic. NOT. Contrast is so so, wide open it's soft. I think most of those opinions came from people with kit zoom lenses who'd never experience the beauty of high end glass. Perhaps this is the same for the Nikon f/1.8.

People have already made the comment about shooting 1/60 second. Without a tripod and a static subject you're going to have problems often.

Focus and recompose MAY be another culprit here but if you look at the image 100% zoom you should be able to see where the lens focused and whether or not that area is sharp and contrasty. I'm guessing you might be disappointed.

Btw, I focus and recompose at f/1.2 on my 85L all the time. With experience you will get much more accurate.

Nov 06, 2009 at 05:14 PM

capguy
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p.2 #2 · F 1.8

Ian Bower wrote:
Wow! I've never gotten so many responses to a picture before

I should just rip them out of camera and throw them on here more often !!! ^^;;;

Seriously though, thank you all for your answers. I am going to make my wife pose for a few experiments here in about an hour - will post those results. I am going to try it again at the same distance with different aperatures.

You think this picture is over exposed? hm. I need to get a light meter. =/

You don't need light meter. You can just see that the face is very pale without the surface texture, and especially the further side of her face looks solid white.

You should keep checking the histogram and see how much is clipped out. In this shot I guess only the face matters and it's the brightest area of the frame, so you can clip blacks but you mustn't clip the highlights at all.

Nov 06, 2009 at 05:24 PM

kakomu
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p.2 #3 · F 1.8

Michael Sessio wrote:
I'd heard rave reviews about the Canon 50mm f/1.8 so I bought one to check if it really was that fantastic. NOT. Contrast is so so, wide open it's soft. I think most of those opinions came from people with kit zoom lenses who'd never experience the beauty of high end glass. Perhaps this is the same for the Nikon f/1.8.

The praise is more about cost/benefit. The 50mm f/1.8 is the cheapest new lens in the Canon lineup. Every other 1987-era prime is at least $150 more expensive and the cheapest zoom (18-55 IS) is at least $50 more expensive.

If you're comparing the "plastic fantastic" to an L prime, of course you're going to be disappointed (especially considering the 85 f/1.2 is 18-20x more expensive). The 50 f/1.8 is soft at f/1.8 (it's to be expected with a cheap prime), but sharpens up remarkably by f/2.8. Moreover, the softness of the f/1.8 doesn't render the lens unusable either.

Nov 06, 2009 at 05:44 PM

Ian Bower
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p.2 #4 · F 1.8

Jacob D wrote:
Ian Bower wrote:
Wow! I've never gotten so many responses to a picture before

... well everyone loves to talk about gear and specs whether they admit it or not

I used to own the 50/1.8. I found it to be a sharp lens wide open; not as sharp as say 35L or 135L... but certainly not soft. As mentioned, when shooting at 1.8 the dof is thin, so you have to adjust accordingly. Longer lenses (85, 135 for example) are actually a little easier to use wide open since you are further away from the subject most of the time.

BTW, I found the AF on the fantastic plastic unreliable and sold it for the 50/1.4 - which I didn't find much better. Eventually I sold that one and ended up with the 35L.

thanks Jacob. 50mm is a lot Narrower than I thought it was going to be anyway =/ I bought the 50mm thinking I would use it as a walk around. Light, Fast, Sharp, it sounded perfect.

Now i'm not so sure.

I am thinking about getting a 35 mm Prime as a walk around. the Idea is that I want to force myself to use only one focal length in the interest of making myself see differently. Instead of being able to rely on a zoom you know?

Anyway - I digress. Pretty soon here I am gunna go do some shooting

Thanks for your comments.

Nov 06, 2009 at 05:47 PM

jfinite
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p.2 #5 · F 1.8

jdben622 wrote:
^ comparing a $500 macro lens to a $100 plastic-o?

Naw, you can get it for $300. Anyways, I dunno much about Canon/Nikon lenses, just what I've heard and read (dpreview, etc.).

Nov 06, 2009 at 06:05 PM

kakomu
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p.2 #6 · F 1.8

Ian Bower wrote:
thanks Jacob. 50mm is a lot Narrower than I thought it was going to be anyway =/ I bought the 50mm thinking I would use it as a walk around. Light, Fast, Sharp, it sounded perfect.

That's what I thought at first, but I just didn't use it much on my Rebel. However, once I got my 5D, the 50 f/1.8 became a great lens for general photography.

I know that Nikon makes a 35mm f/1.8G which is supposed be to the crop cameras what the 50mm f/1.8 was to the film cameras of yore.

Nov 06, 2009 at 06:34 PM

DrewChilly
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p.2 #7 · F 1.8

Focus for the eye and I would also suggest spot metering for the face.

Nov 06, 2009 at 08:53 PM

Ian Bower
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p.2 #8 · F 1.8

Mind if I ask what you mean by spot metering?

Nov 06, 2009 at 09:09 PM

kakomu
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p.2 #9 · F 1.8

Ian Bower wrote:
Mind if I ask what you mean by spot metering?

It's a different metering mode. Spot metering will only measure the light on the active AF point. Other metering modes includes center weighted and average metering. I recommend reading your instruction manual for your camera to learn about metering modes.

Nov 06, 2009 at 09:13 PM

Ian Bower
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p.2 #10 · F 1.8

kakomu wrote:
Ian Bower wrote:
Mind if I ask what you mean by spot metering?

It's a different metering mode. Spot metering will only measure the light on the active AF point. Other metering modes includes center weighted and average metering. I recommend reading your instruction manual for your camera to learn about metering modes.

Holy Crap. Just when I think I have all of the buttons and knobs figured out!!! I'm going to go find it right now!!

Nov 06, 2009 at 09:25 PM

Fantagero
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p.2 #11 · F 1.8

hi,
i'm using 50 1.8 as my walk around lens.
for me, i found that this lens is 50-50.
sometimes sharp enough to satisfy my newbies level.
and sometimes soft.

and i found it most of the soft part because of low light.
and anyway. you used 1/60th shutter speed, dont you think camera shake could caused this??
and also, at 1.8, there was a possibility you moved yourself a bit between AF confirm and shutter click, hence the "almost sharp" hair focus.. coz that's what always happened to me.

anyway, i just had my shot that i think the most sharpest that i ever got.. pm me if you want to see. wont dare to post the pic here.. still new :P

Nov 06, 2009 at 09:39 PM

Jacob D
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p.2 #12 · F 1.8

Ian Bower wrote:
Mind if I ask what you mean by spot metering?

In any situation where the camera is not metering what is under the active AF point make sure you understand what it is metering. If you are in any of the auto-exposure (not "M") modes this is important to grasp. You may want to meter off a face, but inadvertently meter off a wall instead, or vice versa etc... This is where you need to AE lock or use other button customization (I don't know what Nikon offers) that allows you to separate AF and/or AE from the shutter release.

Nov 06, 2009 at 11:21 PM

Erik Moore
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p.2 #13 · F 1.8

kakomu wrote:
Ian Bower wrote:
Mind if I ask what you mean by spot metering?

It's a different metering mode. Spot metering will only measure the light on the active AF point. Other metering modes includes center weighted and average metering. I recommend reading your instruction manual for your camera to learn about metering modes.

Depends on the camera, actually. Lower end Nikons meter off the center focus point no matter which focus point is active.

Nov 07, 2009 at 02:58 AM

Ian Bower
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p.2 #14 · F 1.8

I took some test shots with the 50 1.8

I put it on a tripod and set it to aperature priority. I stopped down 1.8 - 8.0

It seems like the Lens took the best shot at 4.5 at 2.5 feet from my subject

Nov 07, 2009 at 03:04 AM

ht1948
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p.2 #15 · F 1.8

I'm so glad I found this thread. Controlling the DoF is one of the thing that's bothering a newbie like me. I'm still learning but I feel like I'm getting better. An yes, Ian, a handy DoF calculator is very useful. I use an Android phone and there are a few programs (FREE).

Nov 07, 2009 at 04:08 AM

sav1977
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p.2 #16 · F 1.8

In the case of the Canon 50 1.8, I have read of big front focus issues...and mine does it.

In your shot, the leading hair and nose are sharp. Chances are that is the back edge of your DOF range. Unfortunately, without testing with a ruler or other object it is hard to tell since you cannot see what really is in focus. It would be vacant air in the case of a portrait if you really are FF'ing.

Nov 07, 2009 at 04:18 AM

paulhodson
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p.2 #17 · F 1.8

Ian Bower wrote:
You think this picture is over exposed? hm. I need to get a light meter.

Assuming you have Photoshop open the image and then open Levels (Control L)

Now, holding down the Alt key, click on the right hand arrow under the graph. See those colors? That shows you have overexposed the channels of the colors you see displayed. If all the channels were overexposed it would show up as white areas

So the red channel is blown for the skin and the blue channel for the clothes.

Nov 07, 2009 at 01:32 PM

RobertLynn
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p.2 #18 · F 1.8

Using those super wide open apertures are a pain in the ass at first. I"ve got a Canon 50 1.8, and it's pretty sharp, however, my 85 1.8 is about 400X sharper at f/1.8

It's a narrow DoF and a pain to shoot. Once you get used to it, you'll shoot it, realizing that it's not the sharpest DoF, but does the look you want.

Nov 08, 2009 at 04:38 AM


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