Author: Jason Nihart

My honest Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens review

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 7, 2020

My honest Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens Review:

Here is what I think!

Are you thinking about buying the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM prime lens? I have been using this lens for a couple years now. It is one of my favorite lenses. In some ways it is versatile, in others it is not at all. Read below for the pros and cons from my point of view.

Hi, My name is Jason Nihart and today I am reviewing the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM prime lens. You can find it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LMm0Ok A small commission may be earned.

The EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens is a lightweight, compact, easy to carry lens that is a fantastic addition to your camera bag. I use mine for portrait, landscape and macro photography when using an extension tube. This is actually one of my favorite lenses. It is along the lines of having a regular point and shoot camera, and using an extension tube, I have had excellent results with macro photography.

For: +

Light weight

Low cost

Prime lens with low F-stop

Compact

Works well with extension tube

Reworked glass/lenses for better performace over previous lens

Against: -

No zoom

You have to phsically move to frame the shot

When using extension tube cannot focus to infinity

Price:

 4.5/5

For the quality and other pros of this lens, the price is excellent.

Size:

 4.5/5

This lens is very light weight and compact. Very easy to transport. Taking up very little space in your camera bag.

Quality:

 4/5

I find the quality to be great. I have had no problems with chromatic aberration. The images have been sharp, even using the extension tube. The image above is a crab spider on a dandelion.

Ease of Use:

 3.5/5

I find the lens very easy to use in most cases. But because it doesn’t have a zoom feature, I knocked it down a bit. It is a lens that is easy to get used to, but still has limitations when composing the image.

Specifications:

Focal Length and Maximum Aperture:

50mm f/1.8

Lens Construction:

6 elements in 5 groups

Diagonal Angle of View:

46°

Focus Adjustment:

AF with full-time manual

Closest Focusing Distance:

1.15ft/0.35m

Filter Size:

49mm

Max. Diameter x Length, Weight:

2.7 x 1.6 in., 5.7 ounces

69.2 x 39.3mm, 160g

The price for the Canon EF 50mm lens is a little more than $100 for a new lens and under that for a used lens, at the time of this posting. The exact price changes between vendors and locations.

The quality is excellent, the newest version of this lens has optimized lens placement and coatings which help deliver better color balance and reduce lens ghosting and flare.

Versatility, I don’t think the lens is very versatile at all. It has a low minimum focal distance of 1.15 ft. which is great. But other than that the lens is fixed and you need to move the whole camera to change any aspect of the composition. Or move the subject which might not be possible. If standing on a bridge photographing a waterfall, you may not be able to move forward or back to get the composition you want.

The lens has been great for macro photography. It has produced sharp images of subjects that are only 1/4 of an inch. The Crab spider above is about 1/4 in. and the eyes are in sharp focus. The extension tube does mean you need to get within about 4 inches of your subject.

This lens is very easy to pack into your bag, it is tiny and very light, my thoughts, others may think it takes up precious room that spare batteries or something else might better be used.

It is a very easy to use lens. Your feet are the zoom, or tilt your body. The composition of the photograph is made by you, you move to get what you want. The 50mm lens is very close to standard human vision. Standing up and snapping a picture may give someone the feeling of being there, good. Or you can change perspective and give a view point that others wouldn’t think about, but it would still be what they would see if they were there.

Ready to buy? or want to look at the accessories that can come with the lens? Check it out here: https://amzn.to/2LMm0Ok on Amazon.

If you found this review helpful, check out the blog page for other reviews and posts, or the gear page to see what other equipment I use.

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Exploring the Wood River area

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 7, 2020

A couple days ago I noticed the clouds above Heart Mountain looked like a giant bonfire with the cloud formation above the mountain. Very fun with dark boiling clouds with some blue sky and sun peeking through on the mountains in the background. The next day was a beautiful sunny day and I had been wanting to get out near Meeteetse to see what wildlife might be out and about and what the mountains and rivers looked like in that area. Somewhat quickly you get off the paved roads and onto gravel. This worked out great for me, since I wanted to drive slower and try to see what was in the brush and on the peaks. I drove out far enough that I was on National Forest lands and enjoying seeing the snow on hills and mountains around me. Then I found a thick layer of ice on the road, I really do need to get a 4 wheel drive for some of these adventures. The wildlife stayed hidden for the most part. There were a couple flocks of turkey, several pronghorn and deer. The journey continues. Have a good one.

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What to do on frozen mornings!

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 7, 2020

Things have not worked out quite how I hoped they would the last week or so. It was near zero degrees the other day. I thought I would be able to get out and get some pictures of the frost and some frozen bubbles. The wind was blowing quite a bit and I had a hard time getting anything to sit still long enough to freeze. I am going to set up something to help me be more successful. I only had one bubble and it didn’t freeze how I wanted it to. It really seemed to frost up more than freeze into the crystals that I have done before. On some of the other days I drove out to different locations for the wild horses, maybe some elk, big horn sheep, nope not on those days. Some of this is just needing to be out there more and be in the right place at the right time. Either way, it is great seeing the landscape, and watching storms or snow coming in. It is a beautiful area. I will have some images to share in the near future.

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The Edge of the Storm!

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 7, 2020

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Mostly blue sky with a few puffy white clouds, a lot of wind and about 50 degrees. I figured I could go out along South Fork and see some animals moving and get some pictures. As I was driving I could see some clouds with some streaks angling towards the ground. The light on the falling rain from that distance looked pretty interesting. It was also not the direction I was heading. But, up ahead of me I could also see dark clouds, some deer I spotted were all laying down in taller grass behind trees and I started thinking some of the animals were taking shelter for the incoming storm. I drove a little farther and saw the sun being covered by clouds and the valley with fun highlights from cloud cover. I pulled over and got my camera out and started to see a couple little snowflakes being driven on the wind. I quickly set up the camera and still didn’t quiet get what I originally spotted. The edge of the storm slammed into me and I had to stand between the camera and the wind to take pictures. Within a couple minutes my fingers and face were numb from wind and snow, but I captured a couple pictures. One of them I had to tweak a bit with Photoshop but it does bring out a lot of feeling to the image. I try not to do very much in Lightroom or Photoshop, I like my pictures to be what I saw while I was there.

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Discovering the North Fork and South Fork!

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 7, 2020

Learning the area, the North Fork and the South Fork.

I would go to a restaurant or listen to the news or at different times in conversations. I would hear someone say the North Fork or the South Fork. So I wanted to find out what they were all about.

During a week to 10 days of good weather, sometimes good weather, I traveled the roads making up the North Fork and the South Fork. The different directions both head mostly west. The North Fork heads west out of Cody, Wyoming and takes you to the East entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The South Fork goes south at first out of Cody and then turns mostly southwest.

When heading west on the North Fork you will pass the dam, which has a visitor center with a lot of good information, and the Buffalo Bill Reservoir both on your left or south in this case. On the other side of the reservoir you can see houses and some cars moving on the roads. That is a glimpse of the South Fork.

Near the Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Park is a road heading north, Jim Mountain is north of you and you can hike up there. The view from the upper portions of the road and trail are incredible. This website will give you a good idea about the trail: https://naturalatlas.com/trailheads/jim-mountain-1936305. It is such a beautiful place to hike, of course be careful of wildlife in the area.

I mostly drove on the North Fork to get to the East entrance of Yellowstone. There are Inns, B&B’s, Campgrounds and ranches all along the road. Once you get to the National Forest the speed limit drops and the road starts getting a bit curvy. The East entrance is about 52 miles from Cody.

On other days I went out on the South Fork. I would love to have a house out there. The South Fork has a lot of places to hike, and they are all fantastic. Bobcat trailhead off of South Fork will be one of them and it has a large loop and a couple smaller trails. Looks like I will be able to hike anywhere from 1 mile to 8 miles. There are a couple other trailheads off of South Fork that I will explore later.

I of course took my camera with me it is a Canon 77D. I have a couple different lenses and I like taking all of them with me. I don’t know how many times I have hiked someplace with just 2 lenses and found something to photograph that would have been better with a different lens. If you are curious some of the stuff I take with me, take a look at the My Gear section. I will be adding bear spray to this very soon.

Winter is coming, we had about an inch of snow last night. Once they close Yellowstone access down for the winter, I will have to find other places to photograph and places to get outside. I have started taking my spotting scope with me. I am able to get a better understanding of the land and which animals are out there roaming around. I am using a spotting scope like this one. But like a lot of my gear, my spotting scope is older and not made anymore, but it still works great. The link shows one close to what I have.

There was construction out on South Fork, I hope that is done soon, you can wait for the flagger to let you pass, but I went down to Bobcat trailhead to see what was there before heading back.
I just re-worked the website. I will be adding more images to the galleries soon.

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The Beautiful Grand Prismatic!

Post author By Jason Nihart
Post date April 3, 2020

An afternoon in Yellowstone National Park including the Grand Prismatic.

I spent the afternoon on September 10th, out at the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone. The trip there was very interesting. The day was beautiful, sunny and a warm 65 degrees. Then I started driving towards Yellowstone. The skies turned dark and a small smile appeared on my face. Dramatic cloud formations are frequently able to be captured after a good storm.

Well… the storm part turned into hail coming down so fast that the whole road and surrounding area turned white. I had to slow down just for visibility and decided to pull into a picnic area for a snack as I waited to see what the storm would turn into. As soon as I stopped the hail turned to rain and the hail on the roads was mostly washed away in a couple minutes. What a great start, I had not even made it to Yellowstone yet.

Once inside the park the day stayed mostly cloudy and windy. The Grand Prismatic Spring was pretty and there were many people walking the boardwalk and up on the overlook. After my trip around the boardwalk I drove down the parking lot farther south that is the trailhead for the overlook.

I took my Canon 10-18mm lens and my 55-250mm lens, and one was took close and the other wasn’t close enough. I still like some of the images, but I will have to go back with a lens in between those two. On the way back down to the car, there was a bison about 20 feet off the side of the trail grazing. I stayed on the far side of the trail and was able to get some nice pictures of him.

Heading back I saw brake lights and several cars slowing or stopping… sure sign there is an animal near the road. As I get closer I see three Elk cows and each had a calf. You have to be really quick with the camera, or really lucky, which I was neither this time, but one of the calves started nursing, and momma did not like that. All I got was a picture of momma Elk walking away. Further on down the road were more brake lights and two more Elk cows.

The trip was eventful in getting some images, but also finding more places to take pictures, and times to take pictures. The journey continues….

Planning your own trip? Visit https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm the National Park Service website for Yellowstone. They have alerts, road closures and hours of operation. If you are visiting and coming in through the East Entrance you will be driving through or maybe staying at or near Cody Wyoming, check out the city website here: https://www.cityofcody-wy.gov/ . Or a quick trip from your desk, check out the Galleries several images of Yellowstone are in the Nature section. Enjoy your trip, it is a beautiful area.