Why I always keep my 50 prime lens in my camera bag part 1

The main advantage of owning a prime lens are for the the sharpness and the bigger max aperture compare to the zoom lens of simliar focal length.

Althought quality of zoom lenses had improve alot and the all entry level cameras now can give you usable photos at ISO1600, I still feel it is necessary to have a prime lens over the more versatile zoom lens in my bag.

I never thought there will be any need for any other lens then the EF-S 17-85mm my brother loaned me until I read on the subject called "isolation" and was absolutely enchanted by it.

A good portrait photos will always have isolation on the subject and it can be acheive with many different ways like creative composition, finding a clean background, changing angle to used the floor and the sky as backdrop, tighter framing, use of lighting etc...

I have 2 little gals that will not pose or listen to you when they are having fun, so the easliest way to acheive isolation will be a swallow DOF with a big aperture prime lens with a tight framing.

Canon offer very affordable solution to my problem.

EF50mm f1.8

1. It is light at 130gm
2. On a crop body, the framing is just nice for a little gal with a comfortable working distance of 1-3 meters.
3. Keeping my shutter speed above 1/100 to reduce motion blur.
4. Most important is that at wide open and keep the working distance close, the lens can isolate them from all the messy background that is dominating my neigbourhood :D

It don't take me long to buy it during last Chinese New Year:D and the result is almost a complete disaster...

1. The AF is much slower than my USM zoom lens, so I need to predict the movement of my gals to get the right moments.
2. Focusing is very unforgiving due to the extreme swallow DOF, and taking more than 1 subject is a pain...
3. my leg need alot of move alot more to get a good composition on the sujects that is constantly running around.

I would have given up on the len if not for the very few photos out of the hundreds I shot that few days. Althought they are not very well taken, have what I am looking for.

With some practices, my hits rate with it steady increase until I took almost all my photos with it.

Below are some shots I took after owning the lens for about 3 mths and begin to get comfortable with it.

Indoor lighting become less problematic with the big aperture too :D

Looking at photos taken almost a year back is always been a strange experience for me... I am always surprise by how different they can looked to me a year back.

will continue with more recent photos soon :P