18-55 mm, vs 50mm,f1.8II

[SVG84R]

if you are taking landscape photos, i strongly suggest you use the kit lens. 50mm prime is too tight on a dx body...hence the FOV will be different. When it comes to picture quality, the kit lens is actually pretty good if you know how to maximise it...
my take is...have both lens...cos the prime is really cheap and you can always sell it in BS if you find discomfort using it...

 

[calebk]

hahah, 18-55MM is like crap, i just bought an 50mm F1.8 and it has been on my camera since (no money to buy better lens =).

you can see the colour difference saturation difference, i feel an good 50mm F1.8 IQ is comparable to an L len IQ at 50mm

Ho ho ho. Very strong statements here.

Anyway, can you tell which is from a 18-55 IS and which is from an L lens?

Anyway, we digress. Threadstarter, I think you still do not understand the concept of a prime lens. A prime lens means that you have no zoom functionality at all. To try and grasp this, take your 18-55 lens and just fix its zoom ring position at 50mm, and try and shoot without touching the zoom ring at all. That's what a prime lens is.

Now, if you ask me if I can live with that, I'd probably say yes because I am used to shooting with primes. If you ask yourself whether you can live with that, I think the answer would probably not be so straightforward.

Like the others have said, 50mm on a crop camera is rather restrictive for general purpose. Again, try what I said in bold above and you'll get what I mean. To shoot a group of people larger than three pax is going to be a problem already. Secondly, you cannot change your frame like you can with the convenience of a zoom lens.

 

[Cartman2000]

1st image from L, 2nd from kit?;p

 

[Alex chong]

ohh i see. You own a 50mm lens right? What you usually use it to shoot? More of portrait shoot or just general shooting. Tell me more about your opinion on this lens. I intend to keep my kit lens already. I need a slightly cheaper lens just for my portrait shoot.

TBH, I hardly use my 50mm lens. I have the 24-105mm on my camera most of the time as I like to zoom in and out.

 

[Sweetest Romance]

Okay. I get what you all mean. Thanks for all the valuable advice. I'm getting the prime 50mm lens this weekend and give it a try on portrait shooting. As for landscape shooting, I will still use my kits lens to play around with it. Anyone got any advice of the any technique to use when come to portrait shooting using prime lens?

 

[calebk]

...Anyone got any advice of the any technique to use when come to portrait shooting using prime lens?

What kind of technique or advice are you looking for specifically? There's pretty much ground to cover with regards to portraits, not so much using a prime lens, but more to do with the art of portraiture. Please do grab a book or research on some resources. Portraiture is not just about shooting a smiling face.

With regards to using a prime lens, it's quite simple, you move yourself and your camera to get the composition you want, make sure your subject is in focus and well-exposed and shoot.

 

[ayotee]

so which means to say it's not neccesary to get a prime lens if i can also use my kit lens to shoot potrait?

 

[icelava]

Not "necessary" but "preferred". Potrait prime lenses typically give you wider apertures for better boke options. You can still capture potraits with kit zooms but don't expect superior results to primes at their rated focal lengths. (This is not to state that kit lens produce lousy results)

 

[Limsgp]

necessity depends on "needs".

If you need aperture < 3.5, than it is necessary. If you only want to shoot at 50mm, then it may not be necessary.