Why is Canon 50mm f1.8 Good for Videography?
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Have you ever wondered about buying a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens? Perhaps, you stopped because it’s a typical portrait photography lens and you make videos on YouTube. Isn’t it?
Well, I’m going to discuss whether or not you should buy a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens.
If you have a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, chances are you have heard about Prime lenses. A prime lens is a lens in which focal length is fixed meaning that you can’t zoom in and out using the lens. Although you can do that is post-production anytime, which is slightly different than zooming using the lens.
A 50mm lens is an essential gear for portrait photography. A famous photography term “bokehlicious” is used for expressing the amount of bokeh created by any particular lens.
A 50mm lens is made to separate the foreground from the background with the beautiful looking bokeh effect.
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I use Canon’s 50mm f1.8 STM lens which happens to be one of the cheapest lenses canon has to offer. I have been using the Canon 50mm f1.8 Stm lens for more than two years now.
3 Things You Should Know About Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens
I have gathered three of the best-case videography scenarios for using a 50mm lens:
1) Recording A-Roll Shots
A-roll is the video or the audio that tells a story acting as the backbone of the video. Typically the interviews are shot as A-roll only. Since the 50mm lens has a fixed focal length and a relatively cropped/zoomed-in frame so you have to put your subject slightly far away than you normally would. Once you pull this off, you will have a perfect A-roll video.
| Focal Length is the distance between the camera’s sensor and the glass of the lens. The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view and vice versa. |
The sharpness of the Prime lens will make the video look instantly professional. You can do for pretty cheap because as I told you before that this is one of the cheapest lenses that canon has to offer.
2) Shot Where You Need Sharpness
Product videography is a great example where you need a sharp video to capture every detail of the product. A 50mm lens captures a very sharp image that even the tiniest of the detail cannot go unnoticed.
A prime lens like 50mm is able to capture impressive details because they have a fixed focal length. Any lens that does not support zooming in and out will always have better sharpness in the image it captures.
3) Low Light Videography
The aperture of a lens is responsible for letting in the light into the senor of the camera. The lower the aperture the more light it lets in and vice-versa. There are three versions of the 50mm lens that Canon sells. One with f1.8 which is the cheapest, the second one with f1.4, and the third one with f1.2.
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| Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 | Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 | Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 |
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I won’t recommend getting an f1.2 lens for letting more light in as f1.8 is a very good aperture for shooting in low lighting conditions. Just try to not overdo the ISO settings.
A Bonus Tip for Canon 50mm f1.8 Users
Handheld shooting while using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens won’t a good idea. Always use a tripod or whatever you have for stabilizing the footage.
The reason is the longer focal length of the lens; a small shake in hand movement can make the footage look horrible.
These were the three scenarios in which if 50mm can be used with effectiveness. If you have any queries or suggestions, please contact me on Instagram or leave a comment down below.
Hello Zain,
It’s a good post.
Can you do a head-to-head comparison of the Canon 50mm and Yongnuo 50mm?
I have not used Yougnuo 50mm so the comparison won’t be genuine.
Oh, okay.
That’s fair.
I’ve seen the footage coming out of this particular lens, I have used the footage in one of my videos as well. It is best for B-roll shots. I was advised to buy this lens along with the kit lens but you know Sony’s pricing is kinda high so left that at the moment. But for the future, it’s my first choice lens to buy.
Yup. I am sure 50mm will not disappoint you.