Shooting with a Fast 50 Lens
So I purchased my first prime fast 50 lens a year ago and have learned a lot about it during the year. The lens is a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM and I use it on a full frame body. I obtained this lens mainly to shoot portraits, especially my family members. I chose the f/1.4 over the other common Canon 50’s (1.8 or 1.2) for two main reasons. The f/1.4 has a more substantial feel than the f/1.8-II, mainly due to less plastic in the construction and has a metal mount over the plastic one on the f/1.8. Since I plan to keep this lens for a long time I was worried about small bangs doing big damage to both the lens and camera. The other factor was cost; the f/1.4 is more than the f/1.8, but still fit in the budget. The f/1.2 was way too much for what I needed or wished to pay.
There has been a much bigger learning curve to using this lens than I had originally thought. Without thinking to deep, I figured I could just continue to use this new lens like any other I had used in the past. Wrong! First, it does not zoom. Feet start moving. Looking back now I had never really used a prime lens. (more…)
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