Is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens good for beginners

Moose

I was talking with a fellow T2i owner over on my Facebook page and he was wondering if the Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 lens is good for beginners . I thought it would be beneficial to share our conversation with all of you...

Trudy's Question: Hello, I recently purchased my first DSLR - a CanonT2i with the 18 - 55mm lens. I have been reading a lot of posts that suggest a Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 as a great lens for beginners to have. Can you please tell me if this is accurate and what I can expect from that lens?

Moose's Answer: Yep, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 EF II is a fantastic lens for isolating subjects against blurry backgrounds...ideal for shooting portraits, small groups, food, flowers, products, etc. This lens is known as a prime lens, which means you won't be able to zoom in or out. In order to compose a shot, you'll need to get up and move around. This can cause some problems when shooting in small rooms or cramped spaces. If you think that might be a problem, then the next step up would be a lens like the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 which will allow you to zoom in or out, while still maintaining a low f-number for isolating your subject against a silky smooth background.

athena

Hi, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on my first DSLR Canon EOS 550D, and I intend on focusing on portrait photography. I found a very interesting 50mm f/1.8 lens for only $100, so I thought I'd buy it instead of the standard 18-55mm lens. I was told by someone that the lens won't work unless I use an adaptor. I couldn't find any information on the web (or maybe I wasn't searching hard enough), and I was hoping I could get some of your expertice on this matter. Thanks a lot.

Auston

@athena - it will work if it is a Canon 50mm.