I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this...I've been considering getting myself the oh so popular 50mm 1.8 or 1.4. I've had people question me about why I would get that since my kits lens falls with in that range. From what I know, the benefits are really being able to capture images in low light settings, clarity & the speed of the lens, right? Or am I missing something? Is there a better lens for me to get that would give me more options? I really want to shoot in low light settings ,shoot things up close & portraits.
You've pretty much got it. The kit lens is something like f/3.5-4.5, which is a bit limiting in terms of low light and getting a really shallow DOF. If you're looking to do portraits or low light photography without a flash you really can't do much better than a fast prime lens.
I love my f/1.8 because of the shallow depth of field that it provides. You can shoot in lower light.. but only if you want a shallow depth of field.
I once took a photography class where the teacher told us that a 1.8 wasn't very useful because you couldn't get the entire portrait in focus. (I totally disagree with him about it not being useful... it is my Favorite lens).. the point is though, a good portion of picture won't be very sharp. I hope this makes sense.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
see this article for a good explanation.
I once took a photography class where the teacher told us that a 1.8 wasn't very useful because you couldn't get the entire portrait in focus. (I totally disagree with him about it not being useful... it is my Favorite lens).. the point is though, a good portion of picture won't be very sharp. I hope this makes sense.
I love my 1.8.. It is almost all I use.