Spookily, I just got the Canon 50mm f/1.8 Mk II (yeah, my budget is smaller!). It's such a great thing to use these kinds of lenses. I first got into SLR photography with a Pentax 50mm f/2. That was all I had for a long time. I think what really makes 50mm, whether for SLR or DSLR, is that you get the best range of apertures, from the wide open great for low light and that professional look in portraits throwing the background right out of focus, to way stopped down with good depth of focus. As you go up or down the focal lengths you begin to lose the versatility, and zooms never cut it with the aperture (unless you have serious money).