Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II

MileCreations

MileCreations

Has anyone used the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II for video and have some advice associated with it? I'm looking at purchasing it so that I can shoot in slightly lower light situations. I use a Canon 660D/t3i. I currently only have the kit lenses 18-55 & 55-250.

I will also likely be doing Steadicam shots with this.

If anyone knows of a relatively low cost lens to shoot in low light conditions feel free to mention it as well
 
Last edited:
Sort by date Sort by votes
I don't have experience with this one you mentioned, but I recently won an ebay auction for Sigma 30mm 1.4 $325, which in my opinion is awesome not only for low light, but for everything.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I've got a nikon 50mm 1.8 It's beautiful. On my T3i, I have to apply a 1.6x crop making it an 80mm, so a good wider closeup lens.

Ultimately (soon) I'll have my kit built out to:
a couple of zooms for versatility in WELL lit environments where longer DOF is fine. 18-55, 70-250 ish
Primes:
18mm
*23mm
35mm
*50mm
*85mm
100mm
*200mm
250mm
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A 30mm would probably be nicer, do you know what the macro distance is?

The issues I see with the Sigma is its a bit more expensive :/ (the canon is $150 AUD) + I'm not sure how I feel having a non Canon lens on it. What camera do you use it on Fernando?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
That Sigma retails in Australia for about $550 which is looking to be on the expensive side.

Knightly, excuse my extreme ignorance but would you kindly explain to me what it means by a Prime? I've only just reached a level where I'm actually looking at different lenses and am still coming to grips with some terminology
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Not a good macro, Mile. It's 40cm as minimum distance.
I use a rare Olympus mount in a GH2. But I started to look for this lens after watch some Canon footage. In my opinion, this lens is absolutely magical. This is the word I have for. But it is a little expensive, yes.

Answering your question for knightly, a prime lens have a fixed focal lenght. It's the opposite of the zoom lens.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
FernandoAndre said:
Not a good macro, Mile. It's 40cm as minimum distance.
I use a rare Olympus mount in a GH2. But I started to look for this lens after watch some Canon footage. In my opinion, this lens is absolutely magical. This is the word I have for. But it is a little expensive, yes.

Answering your question for knightly, a prime lens have a fixed focal lenght. It's the opposite of the zoom lens.
Click to expand...

I'm not looking for macro, just meant what's the focus distance or whatever... Yep ok. I can deal with 40cm. The kit lenses are 25cm and 45cm anyway.

I might see if anyone I know owns any of these so I can give them a test.

Ok simple, thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You should be able to find the minimum focus distances for every lens out there online somewhere (google search for the manufacturer, focal length (mm) and aperture (f/1.8) should get you there).

Explanation of prime was correct. The 50mm you're asking about is a prime. They generally have a smaller f-stop number due to having fewer elements in them making the barrel shorter (the aperture is a ratio between the length and the aperture opening distances). Fewer elements also means there's less glass eating the light that's coming through, so they allow you to use lower ISO to help get better image clarity.

The drawback is that you can't zoom, which is why you have to have a range of them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mile, I haven't shot video with it, but I have the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 and I love it for still photography.

B&H has it on sale now until...today, or 12/1 for 339 U.S. dollars. Normally 399, it says.

Anyway, not speaking from experience, but it's difficult to believe it wouldn't perform well shooting video, as well. Is the higher cost worth it compared to the F1.8? Maybe not. I'll let smarter people answer that.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
My big AHA! moment happened a while ago when I figured out that video and film both capture light and have no differences until you get to the capture medium. Now the capture medium that is being used in photography is the same one being used for video on a grand scale and finally at an approachable price.

It's a great time to be in the visual arts.

The lenses that will look good or your photography will look good for your video. The understanding of light and composition is fundamentally the same between both. Now that we're using the same gear for each, the worlds are colliding nicely.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If it helps your confidence I shot a music video using 50mm 1.8, il also be shooting my new short film in January with the same lens, although had I known what I do now, I would have bought t3i body only and got the samyang 35mm 1.4 .. From what Philip bloom says that thing is a beast !
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Miles, try to buy at DWIdigitalcameras, they're cheaper and they ship quickly. you can get that 50mm f1.8 for less than a hundred now.

50mm f1.8 has no IS and so it's really jerky handheld and considering you'll use it on 600D it will be cropped to like 80mm.

But the shallow depth of field will give you more artistic shots so you may go with it. it's time to use other then your kit lens!

seriously? i will recommend buying Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. I use the same with my backup camera (600D) and they are good buddies.

cheers!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i forgot to add, 50mm on steadicam (or glidecam) is hard combination. try to invest on shorter lens like the tamron 17-50mm or if you can get a shorter prime like 35mm. shorter lenses work well with steadicam/glidecam. the wide angle makes the gliding more obvious compared to 50mm.

but you still need to buy 50mm, that shallow depth of field it gives you can use for ECU, CU and medium shots and you see how different it gets for your shots. you will get that more film look.

cheers :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
FernandoAndre said:
I don't have experience with this one you mentioned, but I recently won an ebay auction for Sigma 30mm 1.4 $325, which in my opinion is awesome not only for low light, but for everything.
Click to expand...

Thanks to Shuttered I just found this lens for $376 AUD (I'd originally seen it at about $500) and is within tempting price. Fernando do you use the Sigma on a T3i or similar?

A shorter lens would obviously be better for Steadicam work.

EDIT: Also does anyone know its minimum focus distance? Found! It's 40cm
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mile, I never used it on a t3i. But I have a friend who is a DOP, and agree that this lens is precious. But I recommend you to watch videos on vimeo, searching for "sigma 30mm 1.4 + the camera you want to know", and look if it is good to your purposes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi,

I use the 50mm 1.8f on a regular basis for video on a 600d and love it, the image quality is so much sharper than your kit lenses which i also have the same. The 50mm is by far the most used lens i have although i will give a huge recommendation to the Samyang line of lenses!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I own the 50mm and it is excellent. It has great image quality, bokeh, sharpness, but I would always use it on manual focus for moving shots (but that's just me). Because the DoF is so small at the widest aperture, it's not the best for anything beyond a close-up great for close-med and two shots in my opinion.

Here's a photo I took using the lens at it's widest aperture so you can see the DoF: linky
And another for extreme close-ups (macro for photographers): linky
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top