Need advice on a new prime lens for a crop sensor camera

when i got into collecting lenses, i did a lot of thinking, such as: why do i need this lens, what benefit, what am i missing, and is this the right FL. you know your style better than anyone else ans see what prime or tele is missing for what you need. if you are asking "what prime do i need", then people will start telling you their own story and i am not sure if it is a sensible way to collect lenses! it used to take me a long time, sometimes 6 months, until i was sure about the lens that i was going to acquire and as another respondent suggested, some reading wouldn't hurt, either!

regards.

Almost all gear is good to excellent now, even your lowly kit lens.  That lens is quite capable of making "art" photos, the question is usually the quality of the equipment behind the camera - You. All kinds of artsy fartsy (I like artsy fartsy) images have been made with the 50 f1.8.  The 50 f1.8 produces L lens quality images, I won't get into the how but it does.

By the way, Sigma's 35mm f1.4 is an excellent lens.  My advise is hold off, take at least 5000 images with your two lens then see where your interests take you.  Purchasing lenses is fun, no argument from me, I own 9 of them.  But most experienced photo types have bought lenses that just sit in their bag, that lens bought because they thought they could use it, versus they needed a lens that met certain requirements to take the images they were interested in.

The longer I'm in photography (since 1973) the more convinced I've become that equipment isn't as essential as we think they are.

If you are taking inside pics of your sorority sisters, a flash might serve you more than a lens.  But I must warn you, more flashes sit in more bags, virtually unused.  There is a bit of learning curve but your are more than capable to learn how to use a flash effectively.

For natural ambient light inside, I'd first attach the cheapy 50 f1.8 maybe close it down to roughly 2.8 and boost the ISO, you should get some decent pics if the room lighting is reasonable.

Here's how to effectively purchase lenses (or any equipment for that matter) 1) develop an interest in a subject or project 2) figure out what techniques and equipment you need to make those images 3) purchase that equipment that is critical to their image making.

So lets say you decide to take static photos of your sorority sisters sitting in a chair, more a portrait thing to hand out as a remembrance of their stay in their residence.  Well excellent side lighting can come from a large window so you could place the chair near the window and shoot only in the day.  Or you could use flash, a create light from one or more flash units.  But then you have to decide how the flash is to be used, but on a tight budget you could place one flash off the camera on a cheap flash stand, and fire it either remotely or via wire.  You could purchase an umbrella to shoot the flash through, or if on a budget at least bounce the flash off the wall or ceiling or a bit of both.  For these portrait pics, you 50 f1.8 lens will work just fine but stop it down to f4 or f5.6; those f stops are probably that lenses "sweet spot."

I think a 35mm is too close to your 50mm, so I would recommend the 28mm IS or the 24mmIS, alternatively the 24mm EF-S.

All of them are of super optical quality. I have both the 28mm IS and the 24mm EF-S and I like the 28mm the best.

The 35 F2 IS is my favorite lens and great on crop. It is sharp, and IS is useful. You can't go wrong with this lens. If you want people photos, it will work better than a shorter lens. If the other shorter IS lenses were F2, they might get my vote. Once you get the 35 F2 IS, your 50 will sit on the shelf.

AF is very fast and accurate, and the lens has great resistance to flare. You won't regret getting this lens.

No text.

Since you don't know much about photography >> I want to take more artistic shots (hard to do with the kit lens)<< you are wasting money buying more equipment when you fail to understand the very basics of what you already own.

The kit lens is a good lens, and artistic shots can be taken with it. As simple as that.

Learn the basics, and if you decide later you can't take pictures of a particular type, then go buy a lens to solve this problem.

BAK