Imagine you are lost on an island or a desert, and you could use only one lens to photograph everything. Which lens would you choose? If you thought of any other lens other than 50mm, then my friend, you might be wrong. It's the kind of lens that you can attach to your camera and forget it for the rest of your life.
What makes 50mm so special?
Two lenses, 35mm and 50 mm, are really similar because they both have an angle similar to the human eye. The difference between them is just a few degrees of the human eye. These lenses don't bend the light at wide angles or magnify smaller parts of the eye image; this lens has the aesthetic familiar to our photographs: the world we all see when we wake up. Provides a realistic expression.
So if you think that it'll limit the photographer's creative vision, no, it will not. Sometimes it increases the photographer's creativity. It allows the photographer to take creative images in the familiar field of view.
Size of a ball
One of the most special things about this lens is that its size. It has a size similar to a cricket ball, and it can easily fit in your pocket also. When you have big lenses attached to the camera, like 24-70mm zoom lenses or 70-200 f/2.8, it can definitely limit your creativity because you can take the shot of something interesting from far away without going close to the subject. If you have 50mm attached to the camera body, you have to close to take that shot, and by going close, you will capture the real emotion and beauty of that subject.
Regardless of the camera's size, attaching 50mm to the front of the camera will change the way your arms and back approach your photos.
Cost-Effective
The 50mm is really cost-effective for any other lens, and if you purchase it from the used market, it will come really cheap. The 50mm with the f/1.2 or f/2 will be cheaper than the normal one.
It will improve your composition.
Ironically, if you don't have the flexibility of zooming, not limiting your photos, your composition will improve over time.
You may ask, "Why would you do this?" “You can go from wide-angle to short telephoto in just one turn of the kit zoom!” The
50mm prime lens zooms with your feet instead of zooming by hand.
Approaching the subject Isolates the subject from the distracting background. The backgrounds are mostly abstract shapes (especially if you're using the f/1.4 version).
You will also learn to add context off-topic. After a while, you can pre-visualize the image before putting the camera in your eye. The
50mm field of view gives you an idea of what the scene will look like.
The Low Light master
No, it would help if you never used your inbuilt pop-up camera flash; in fact, you need to trust your nifty fifty in that low light mastery of a shot.
Even with a modest 1.8 50mm prime lens, you can shoot indoors without a flash. The faster the aperture of the lens, the faster the shutter speed is available at any ISO. Hard-to-shoot portraits at
f/5.6 at 1/15 sec (the normal aperture on the long edge of the kit lens) makes a comfortable 1/140 at f/1.8!
Most basic DSLR cameras have a limited ISO range, so they have a fast aperture, which gives them higher shutter speeds and allows you to shoot indoors at lower ISO ranges.
The Bokeh Master
What you know when using a 50mm lens is half the battle. Blurring is an example of endless possibilities. This is because the faster aperture means a shallower depth of field.
This means that the subject is physically separated from the surrounding environment and the hazy background and foreground with beautiful bokeh. A 50mm photo with a
wide-angle aperture produces beautiful bokeh and creates an image with a much more professional feel!
If the foreground or background is out of focus (especially at f/1.4), the subject has a huge impact on the composition.
Out-of-focus elements assist in framing (without distraction) for the eye to focus on the subject in focus. It's also a lot more fun.
So what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a 50mm and start clicking better photos from day one and make your photography unique and experience a new adventure?
You must be logged in to post a comment.