The Forgotten Lens

  The 50mm lens is probably my favorite lens of all. If I could only pick one lens to shoot it would be the 50mm. A 50mm lens on a full frame digital camera will give you an angle of view very close to that of the human eye. The 50mm lens is sharp, inexpensive, and lightweight, just to name a few advantages. For a long time the 50mm lens was the kit lens that came with film cameras. Today they have been replaced with the compact zooms. Let me list some the advantages that 50mm lenses have over the consumer grade zooms. Usually these zooms have variable aperture starting at F3.5 and going up to 5.6 depending on the focal lengths of the lens. A 50mm 1.8 lens can cost a little over one-hundred dollars. Zoom are considerably more expensive. If you are like me and hate to use flash this lens is a must. I do a lot of existing light in-door photography. The 50mm fits right in. I also own a Canon 24-70mm L 2.8 lens that cost me over a thousand dollars, when set to 50mm the images are almost identical in sharpness to a prime 50mm 1.8. I have argued at times that images taken with a 50mm (prime), seen on the monitor at 100%, are as sharp if not sharper than images taken with the 24-70mm L zoom lens set at 50mm.

If you like a shallow depth of field this lens will do it well.  If your camera has an APS-C sensor then the lens will have an angle of coverage close to an 80mm lens. 80mm is great for portrait photography. The convenience of a zoom gives the photographer the flexibility to stand in one place and zoom in and out to compose the image. With the 50mm you will need to move (walk) in or away from the subject to compose the image you want. Some photographers see this as a disadvantage; I see it as an advantage to learn better composition. With a prime lens the photographer must look closely though the viewfinder to compose the shot. With a zoom the photographer tends to zoom in and out quickly, taking less time to compose, and does not get the same results in the final product. Some of the worlds’ best photographers have shot all their lives using a 50mm lens. Most different manufactures have a 50mm lens in their line-up. I know that Canon, Nikon, Leica, Pentax offer the 50mm in several different flavors. They can cost from one-hundred to several thousands dollars. 50mm lens come in F1.8, F1.4, F1.2, F1.0 etc. The difference between these lenses is their light gathering capabilities.  

If you are a photographer on a budget, but want professional results, go back to basics and buy a 50mm lens.

Thanks for reading and KEEP SHOOTING……