When I bought my canon EOS 300(twice successor to the 500) it came with a 35-80, which was a useful focal length range but it suffered from quite a bit of distortion and was soft when used wide open-its best stopped down but being a f3.5-4.5 optic this is quite limiting! Having quite a bit of experience under my belt I decided to part exchange it for to the 50mm f1.8. It may seem a backwards move to many but it was one of the best decisions I ever made! Quality glass is what counts, and the 50 is a corker. My only niggle is the lack of a distance scale and the general build quality(same with the 35-80 though). If you can look for the earlier version of the 50,(Mark I) which is more sturdy and has the distance scale just like a conventional lens.