I'm planning on giving my college age daughter my Canon 40D sometime soon. (Not Christmas, but the Christmas sales are getting me thinking).
She has a point and shoot and turn out pretty amazing work for her age. I'd like to see what she can do when I get her some "real" equipment. My crop body 40D is sitting gathering dust but I don't have any lenses to spare for it.
There seem to be three choices, the Canon 18-55mm kit lens (which is pretty good from what I read), the new 40mm f2.8 pancake lens, and the classic and venerated nifty-fifty, the 50mm f1.8.
One problem I have sometimes when shooting is going too fast, I know I need to slow down, so I don't want to get the kit lens, shooting with a prime will slow you down, make you think more about the shot.
Now, if she had a full frame camera I'd go with the 50 no questions asked. But the 40D is a crop body with a 1.6 factor, so the 40 will act like a 64mm, and the 50 will act like a an 80mm (which is close to perfect for portraits.)
The 1.8 will, of course, give her a narrower depth of field.
So, what does she shoot? That's the classic question when someone asks about lenses. How would I know what she'll be shooting years from now. She's just learning it all, started with film in high school and now is off to college. Her point and shoot will be great for snaps, but I hope the 40D will help her become who she can become in the future.
So, if you had only one lens on a crop body Canon, would you recommend a 40mm f2.8 or a 50mm f1.8?
Update: I got the 50mm, gave her the whole kit and she was ecstactic!
Answer
I own the 40D, and I have all three lenses that you are considering.
The 40mm f/2.8 is fun, but f/2.8 isn't nearly as "eye opening"(literally and figuratively) on a crop sensor APS-C body. The 40D really can only go as low as ISO 1250 or so before it becomes unusable(opinion). Indoors without a flash, ISO 1250, f/2.8, and no image stabilizer isn't going to work all that well. It is a great indoors low light lens on a full frame camera that is also capable of great high ISO performance well beyond ISO 1250. I enjoy it a great deal on my 6D full frame Canon, but I am very comfortable even at ISO 6400 with that.
The 50mm f/1.8 is cheaply built, but has very good IQ and is still very small. It is the lens that opens up the eyes of many shooters coming from point and shoot cameras. Why? Mostly because of the f/1.8 low light options and beautiful bokeh(comparatively speaking). The IQ of the 50mm f/1.8 is good, not excellent, but stopped down a bit it is still considerably better then people are used to with a cheap kit lens or old point and shoot. The focal length is challenging for indoors, as many times you don't have enough room to move back. But it is very possible to shoot indoors on a 40D without a flash with this lens.
The kit lens? I would caution against this. Many people purchase their first DSLR and only a kit lens, to find the IQ and maximum aperture not to be much better then the previous point and shoot that they owned. I would worry that your daughter could get stuck in this rut if this is the only lens she uses for a significant amount of time. She may never fully come to realize the capabilities of the 40D if she starts and continues to use something like this for a time.
As others have suggested, the Canon 35mm f/2 would be a great option. It does cost close to $300, but I think the focal length is better suited for indoors with the 40D. If indoor low light photography is not the main interest or the price is too high for you, I think that the 50mm f/1.8 is still great - and well worth investing in.
You don't provide us any details on what your daughter likes to shoot, her style - her main subjects. Does she shoot landscape, street, portrait, macro? We don't know. That makes it tough to recommend anything but what we would get.
Back to your original question - "If you had only one lens on a crop body Canon, would you recommend a 40mm f2.8 or a 50mm f1.8?" I would buy the 50mm f/1.8.
Samples
Just to prove the haters wrong, here are some indoor portrait examples, straight from a 40D and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I also added in one other example, just showing the versatility. It is possible to take portraits indoors with this lens, and very good ones. You just might have to back up! If you live in a 200sq ft flat, then yes it might be a challenge, but you can do it!
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