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How much better is 50mm 1.8 over 22mm 2.0 in terms of taking portraits?

Started Jan 14, 2018 | Questions thread
brightcolours Forum Pro • Posts: 15,885
A few points
3

doraemon784 wrote:

Hi, I recently got my M10 and 22mm 2.0 but I have been quite disappointed with the amount of bokeh that I get when I am taking portraits.

The amount of BLUR. Bokeh is a term used when describing the quality of how "blur" (out of focus areas) are rendered.

So I have been looking into some other lenses that may give better results and after extensive searching online, it seems like either 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 is a reasonable option for me.

Yes, they are reasonable options. The 50mm f1.8 STM is very affordable, and pretty good wide open.

But seeing that 50mm 1.8 is only 0.2 different from my 22mm in terms of focal length,

You must mean f-stop, not focal length?

The f-stop number means focal length divided by this number = aperture diameter.

For the 22mm f2 that means: aperture of 22 / 2 = 11mm maximum aperture diameter.

For the 50mm f1.8 STM that means: aperture of 50 / 1.8 =  27.8mm maximum aperture diameter.

That means that the 50mm lens will give almost 3 times (2.53x) the amount of blur at the same distance. And with the same subject magnification (you have to get closer for that with the 22mm lens) 1.7x the amount of blur.

I was wondering if this would still make a whole difference in terms of bokeh.. or would 50mm 1.4 be a wiser choice for me?

The Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM is not the sharpest lens wide open, with also quite low contrast. It also is not of the best mechanical design (easily damaged internals). The Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG HSM has very nice bokeh, but I am not sure how well it focusses on EOS M, and it has been out of production for a long time now. The replacement Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art is big and heavy, so because of that not the most logical partner for an EOS M10. The Tamron 45mm f1.8 IS USD is an ok lens, but I do not know how well it behaves on EOS M.

The Canon EF 50mm f1.8 STM is a cheap and quite good lens, the bokeh not too smooth but not that bad either. So, quite a logical, light and small choice.

Thanks!

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