EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

What sport?

It's geat for darts.

Darts? The way my friends throw darts, I'd want at least an 85mm - 50 pushes the trust factor a little too far.

I've used it a few times to shoot my Canadian friends in curling tournaments. Worked like a charm. Not very demanding lighting or fast action though.

What sport? and are you using a cropped body or a full frame. I own this lens and on my film body its beautiful but on my digital cropped body its a little tight. You may want something longer depending on what sport your shooting.

I found it (I use a 50/1.8 MK1) actually works well on indoor Karate matches on a full frame 5D body. If you use it on a 40D or 4XT/XSi, it could make do with club volleyball..

It should be fine... if you can get close enough.

the sport is rollerblading, or as a more exact term 'aggressive skating.' I will be taking pictures of people grinding down handrails, on ramps, etc. it will also be used for portraits and just going out and taking pictures of things that interest me, but my main focus is on rollerblading. I dont think a telephoto is really necessary ($$$) when a decent prime lens will do fine. I wont be sitting in bleachers yards away from the people I will be taking pictures of, I would have the ability to pick my own spot, so the money put out for a nice zoom lens doesnt seem like the best purchace right now.

The f/1.4 version doesn't have the lightning fast AF that a ring type USM motor does. Not to say it focuses slow, but it's not much faster than the low cost f/1.8 version either. Image quality isn't improved a great deal either. I have one, but I don't find it worth the extra cost, and wouldn't consider it a great sports lens either. The 85 f/1.8 and 100 f/2 are much better lenses, but are too long for some uses.

so given that I have enough area to cover the 85mm it would be a better choice for sports over the 50? they are about the same price, so that is definately something I will concider.

and to expand on what kind of pictures will be taken on it, here is a picture I took with the 18-55mm stock lens on my rebel xt.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2050/2689330567_cba0a58d65.jpg

Yeah, most likely, you'll be better served by an 85mm focal length over the 50. Especially since you're already covering the 50mm focal range with the kit lens (albeit slow).

You have the lens you need. Just do the Robert Capa thing "If your pictures aren't good enough you aren't close enough.".

Don't spend any more money yet, get much much closer. You should be filling the frame with the blader when at 18mm.

Sports?

Dude, you need at least 200mm for sports. If I were on a budget I'd at least go for an 85 1.8 + 1.4x extender.

For chess photography, a pinhole camera inside the clock would make the most fascinating pictures. Also a sport... [signature removed]

The 85/1.8 is an excellent suggestion. It lets you put a little more distance between you and the action, which can be an important safety factor. It is also fast enough to let you work with fast shutter speeds to freeze motion. Wide open, or nearly so, it is excellent for separating the subject from the background. Great ring USM, fast AF, and much better built than the 50/1.4. Other possibilities are the 100/2 and if your budget will support it, the 135/2 L. The 85/1.2L is not a great choice for this because of the slow AF speed. It is a full stop faster but the depth of field is so thin that you would have problems getting in-focus images of moving subjects (the same applies to the 135/2). It is also much more expensive than it's 1.8 sister. Both 85s also make excellent portrait lenses.

I agree that a fast and short prime is a much better deal that a slow zoom. Even one of the 70-200/2.8 L zooms is going to be handicapped in some lighting situations compared to a lens that opens to 2.0 or wider.

You still have not mentioned which camera body you are using.

Unless you are shooting in low light, you may want to consider a lens other than the 50mm or 85mm. Depth of field is quite narrow wide open. You will likely end up having to stop the lens down to get satisfactory results much of the time. Of course, the bokeh is excellent when shot wide open.

I have owned many lenses of varying focal lengths from both Canon and Nikon. My Canon 24-70mm is probably the sharpest lens I have ever used (I am using it with a 5D). I find it as sharp or sharper than my 50mm f1.4. Its zoom range would probably work well for you.

I'm going to say for "aggressive skating," don't overlook wider lenses. Yes this will put you closer to the action and closer to danger, but, a lot of this kind of photography seems to be done with wides. Sure, you don't need a fisheye or anything, but if someone is doing a trick off of some steps or something, it makes the trick a little more impressive (in my mind) when more of the environment is in the shot. It gives you context for the trick. Maybe a 35 or 28?

Then again, if this is more organized and not occurring wherever/everywhere, maybe the 50 or 85 is a better suggestion.

so right now im leaning towards the 85. for Joe Richards, im putting it on a rebel xt. I would like to have a wider lens like a 35 or 28, but right now I am looking for something more practical that I will use more often.

and Elliot Bernstein, if your referring to the 24-70mm USM, wish I could afford it, but that is a bit out of my price range.

Canon 35 f/2 or Sigma 35 f/1.4 will work, if you can pick your spot, a 35 on a crop is almost a 50 on a full frame. A very usable length

I think that should be Sigma 30 f/1.4 which I like so much.

I think you should consider taking a leaf out of skateboard photographers' books and consider really wide and fisheye choices such as the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 or 10-17 fisheye zoom, or the Sigma 10mm diagonal fisheye. Shoot from almost floor level on a tabletop tripod with a remote release (wired or radio based) and add some slave flash (gelled with different colours could also be effective). Time to get creative and put some emphasis on those blades!

Let's see... the suggestions so far have you buying: a fisheye, an ultrawide zoom, 28, 30, 35, 50, 85, 100 and 200.

Sorry you asked?

I recently shot some skate boarding and found my 20mm and 28mm to be my most useful lenses. This was on a 1.6X crop camera.

Corey, not sure what your price range is. Once in a while a good deal can be had at places like eBay or KEH. Sigma makes a 24-70mm f2.8 lens that if much more affordable than Canon's. I have never used it and know nothing about it. Good luck!

For most sporting events I would go for a decent zoom. Reasons are simple. safty, distance, and shot anticipation. I have an f/1.4 usm. I've only attempted to use it in a 'sport' one time. a bunch of stunt cyclists going back and forth. But had found that timeing was very crucial to getting a good shot. Even more painful is when the action happened to be 50 foot away 90 percent of the time. As for focusing, I didn't have any problem in that department.

thanks for the answers, guys. I want to be able to take different types of pictures of skating, but primarily long angle pictures, which is why im leaning towards the 85mm (especially because the same lens will also be used for portraits.) generally im looking for an all around good lens for around $350. so far it seems like the 85mm is the best buy and probably the best lens for me at this moment.

I actually have a semi-fisheye, given that it isnt a great fisheye, I payed $20 for it to decide how much I like using lenses like that. I enjoy it, but I like using the long angle better, so my purchase will more than likely be a decent prime lens.

My Canon EF 50mm F1.4 was typical. From F1.4 to F2.2 it suffered from flare, ghosted hilights, and other poor quality image problems. It was good after F2.4 to F2.8.

What is the point of a F1.4 lens that is not usable until at least F2.4?

I bought a Sigma 50mm F1.4 and it is good from F1.4 on.

Paul Get closer to smaller objects ;)