Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens: AKA the Nifty Fifty

There's nothing like the excitement a photographer has when testing out a new lens.  In our arsenal thus far we have the following mix of lenses:

1. 17-40mm f/4L Ultra Wide


2. 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6


3. 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom


4. and my very first piece of glass - 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

[caption id="attachment_78" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Canon's 50mm f/1.8 lens"][/caption]

I am adding a new, inexpensive lens to our bag that has great reviews and is often a photographer's favorite.  It is nicknamed the "Nifty Fifty" by Canon users.  This lens, despite the inexpensive (under $100) price tag, offers excellent optical quality and large aperture.  This is an ideal portrait lens and offers outstanding results in low light.  My business partner purchased one a while ago.  We recently tested it in an outdoor setting and it gave us some amazing photos with wonderful bokeh. 

For those unfamiliar with this word, "bokeh" is a Japanese term for the out-of-focus area in a picture, otherwise known as a shallow Depth-Of-Field (DOF) to a photographer.   This blur-like quality gives a wonderful tempo to a photo, highlighting the subject in the photo.  Because the lens also has a wide aperture, it performs extremely well in low light situations. 

We recommend if you don't have this lens in your photo bag, to check it out.  You can't go wrong for the price and you may find this will be one of your favorite lenses of all!