August 14th, 2007
Depth of Field on the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Lens
This image is very similar to the one I used in our Weekly Photo Assignment #4, but I thought it was a good image to show while talking about a lens I bought recently. It’s the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. It’s the cheapest (and lightest) lens that Canon makes. You can easily find it for about $80 USD.
I originally bought the lens because I needed something that would give me more options in low-light situations. This lens opens up to f/1.8, so it’s considered to be a pretty ‘fast’ lens.
Although I bought this lens for speed, I’ve actually been having some fun playing around with depth-of-field. When shooting with the aperture all the way open, you get a pretty limited depth-of-filed, especially if you get very close to your subject. The image above only has about 1/4 inch depth-of-filed. I really like the effect.
I would personally recommend this lens. In addition to the extra speed, I think it produces very crisp images (assuming you’re not intentionally limiting the depth-of-field). And, you just can’t beat the price.
If you’re interested in seeing how this lens stacks up against some of Canon’s pricier options, check out this review on The Digital Picture.
Tags: Lenses, Plants, Tips