While the 28-105mm and 35-80mm zoom lenses are ideal for most travel shoots, the 50mm lens is always a good choice for any beginner to learn the fundamentals of photography - there is an over-tendency to shoot only with either the wide or telephoto end of these zoom lenses, and very rare for the focal lengths in-between. Using the 50mm lens as your standard of evaluating focal lengths, you will learn to understand why interchangeable lenses are an important part of SLR photography. After you have realized what you can or cannot achieve with the 50mm lens only will you be able to appreciate what the other focal lengths can do. In this aspect, you will see why the 50mm lens still fares strongly in the EF lens line-up despite the availability of high performance zoom lenses, fast aperture wide-angles and medium telephotos. And Canon makes sure there are three versions of the 50mm lens to suit everyone's budget, from the beginners to advanced amateurs and professionals. Get creative with the 50mm lens? Like I said, you are limited by your own imagination as to what sorts of images can be captured with the EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. The photos from the previous pages are some examples of this lens' capabilities. If more examples are needed, here are some more photos to show just what the EF 50mm f/1.8 II is able to achieve: Banners promoting an exhibition View from Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Square A car park view from above Converging lines method to frame the subject A busy street Abstract photography? What do you think? Another example of travel photography   Now the question is: Should you invest in the EF 50mm f/1.8 II standard lens? For most beginners who have already bought entry-level EOS models like the EOS 888, EOS 88 (EOS 3000), EOS 500N (EOS Rebel XS) and EOS 300 (EOS Rebel 2000) which may come as a kit form complete with either the EF 28-80mm or EF 35-80mm zoom lenses (depending on the country or region the user is from), is the 50mm standard lens still necessary? That depends on how far you intend to go in pursuing your interest in photography. If your budget is tight and available light shooting is one of your favorite subjects, the EF 50mm f/1.8 II is the most affordable lens to get started in this aspect. As mentioned earlier, you will never be able to appreciate just what the other focal lengths can do if you don't start off by exploring the beauty of what the standard 50mm lens can do for your photography. Just remember, an f/1.8 maximum aperture is half-a-stop faster than f/2.0 and half-a-stop slower than f/1.4. That makes a lot of difference when you compare it with the variable maximum apertures of the budget-priced EF zoom lenses, which range from f/3.5 to f/5.6! Text and photos by Philip Chong. Copyright 2000 by Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .