My new Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens arrived 10 minutes before I left for the JCCCNC (Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California) Halloween Carnival in Japantown. I put it on my camera while on the bus, and tried photographing some bus riders. So far so good. Would it be up to the low light challenge of the JCCCNC gym?

I was impressed. As long as kids weren't moving too fast, this lens did a great job. Background blur was fantastic - really makes the foreground subject pop. My white-balance was a bit off, resulting in the yellow-ish hue. I really liked photographing kids without assaulting them with a bright flash. The biggest challenge was the fixed focal distance, which as long as there was ample space to backup, wasn't a problem. When examined closely, some of the pics are not as crisp as I'd like (due to not quite enough light for a fast enough shutter speed), but for these purposes, they're sharp enough.