[Brightcolours]

Hi, my first post here 



I'm looking at getting a lens for my Canon 550d for portraits and food photography and was just about to get the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. read some great reviews, but as my camera is crop sensor camera I guess it will work out to 80mm.

50mm will be short tele, as mentioned yourself, 80mm FF equivalent. Just a tad short to be ideal for portraits, but it should be fine for that. Food, that depends on the field of view (and resulting perspective) and distance you want and need. The 35mm f2 has smooth bokeh when you shoot close up, so ok for food, and average bokeh when shooting further away.

So, would anyone recommend the 35mm f/2.0, which I guess would work out to 56mm on my camera? I'm looking for sharpness and nice smooth bokeh.

Which out of these two would best suit my need?

The 35mm f2 will be a standard prime with its 56mm FF equivalency. So that makes it a bit less ideal for portraits (the "ideal" portrait range is 85 to 135mm, long enough to be flattering and short enough to not be to flattening). But it of course depends on what FOV you are after or find attractive. And the distance you can or want to have to your subject(s).

I really fancy the 50mm 1.2 but not sure I can justify it as have already bought the 70-200 f/2.8 IS and 24-70 f/2.8.

Since you have bought a FF standard zoom, the 24-70mm, you can try for yourself which focal length will suit your food and portrait needs best. Then you can decide on which lens. 

 

An alternative for a standard prime is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM (the old version has nice bokeh). Also nice is the Voigtlander 28mm f2.8, It is manual focus only, metal, and a very compact pancake design. It renders things nicely on APS-C.

 

For portraits I would prefer a Tamron 60mm f2 Di II macro. 96mm FF equivalent just looks nicer to me FOV wise, and it has very nice smooth bokeh. Or the Canon 85mm f1.8 USM. 136mm FF equivalent puts it in the long end of the "ideal" portrait range, and that gives it a FOV I find very attractive. In fact, I love 85mm on APS-C.

Thanks