50mm lens for canon EOS 20D

[rudeboy]

Hope someone can help me,i want to buy a 50mm lens for my canon EOS 20D but i have been told that for digital cameras i have to look at a lower lens in (mm) that is which will equal the same as a 50mm normal lens,if this makes sense

[OsmosisStudios]

Your 20D has a smaller sensor (like most dSLR cameras) that means that all focal lengths give an image similar to a photo shot with a lens that is 1.6x longer. So, a 50mm lens on your camera would be similar to what an 80mm lens would give on a full-frame or film body.

Reach for a 28 (45mm equiv), 30mm (48mm equiv) or 35mm (56mm equiv) to get a similar field of view.

[rudeboy]

Thank you Osmosis for your help,got an idea now what to look for

[Swisstony10]

Why do you want a 50mm lens though?

Is it because you're used to taking pictures with a 50mm lens on a film SLR (or a full-frame DSLR), and want to be able to carry on shooting in the same style and with the same results on your 20D? If that's the case, then Osmosis is (as usual) bang on. Expect to pay a few hundred Euros for one of those prime lenses though.

Is it because you want a fast lens which is reasonably sharp and not terribly expensive? - many people love having a "nifty-fifty" in their bag. If you like to shoot portraits, then a 50mm on a crop body (like the one you and the majority of non-pro DSLR-users have) is ideal, because the physical characteristics of the camera gives the 50mm focal length the effect of being around 80mm (as Osmosis explained), which is getting close to the ideal preferred focal length for portraits. If that's the case, then get yourself a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens - it'll cost you around 100 Euros (probably less - they're about £80 in the UK).


Russ.