Posts Tagged ‘50mm’
Photoblog – The Mighty Reliant
I love this pic. So simple but just goes to prove that anything from the right angle can be eye catching.
The go-faster flames and cross-processing effect help a lot! But sometimes just getting down to the level of what you want to shoot rather than standing and pointing your camera at the subject, can make all the difference.
The Mighty Reliant – Matt Preston
The thin depth of field works really well adding a slightly surreal quality to the subject. I used a 50mm lens with an aperture of F3.2. The prime is great for perfect picture quality. Sometimes you really do notice the difference.
Critics and comments welcome. Let me know what you think.
Review – The "Nifty Fifty" 50mm f1.8
When you start to get serious about photography you start looking at lenses to extend your photographic abilities. The internet is a great place to view lenses of all different types and qualities. You’ll soon find they range from the cheap and down right dodgy to the amazingly fantastic and shockingly expensive.
But there’s one lens that breaks the mould. Where image quality is sublime yet the cost makes you think they must have it priced it incorrectly.
The trusty little 50mm lens is affectionately known as the “Nifty Fifty”. A prime lens (meaning a fixed focal length rather than zoom) that offers an image scale comparable to the human eye.
The Mighty Robin – Matt Preston
Less is more
Prime lenses always offer superior image quality to that of their zoomable cousins. Less elements within the lens means less distortion as light passes through each one. It also means the lens is much smaller. Both of these factors mean lower manufacturing costs and much less development so the price to the consumer is much lower.
Depth of Field
One great thing about a prime lens is it’s aperture. It’s much easier to produce “fast” prime lenses where the aperture can be as high as F1.4. Canon do a couple of great 50mm prime lenses at f1.8 and f1.4. This creates fantastic depth of field that you really notice. This coupled with the high quality of the image really is noticable. Here’s a great example of a very narrow depth of field in a wide shot.
My Beach – Matt Preston
Sounds great but…?
So it’s small, high aperture range, light and has amazing image quality? Surely it can’t be THAT cheap? Well think again. In the UK the Canon 50mm 1.8 is a bargain at just £80 from some retailers. I bought my 50m f1.8 from Amazon here. The latest version (Mark II) is slightly better build quality and has autofocus. Just remember you’re not paying much so expect a plastic feel that won’t stand up to too much abuse compared to £1000 lenses. Still it’s so cheap you can always buy a new one!
Hanging in there – Matt Preston
If you’re a Nikon user it’s a little bit more expensive but still a decent price at around £105. Amazon link.
Best uses for a 50mm
The nifty fifty really lends itself to Portrait photography. Narrow depth of fields close up coupled with a nice Bokeh effect (the circular blurs in the background). It also works well for landscape shots as the perspective distance between objects closely resembles the human eye.
My nifty experience
I’ve really enjoyed using this lens. You instantly realise that you don’t have to zoom to get the right composition. You can actually move yourself! The quality of my photographs with this lens have blown me away at times. Having such a narrow depth of field at f1.8 creates a whole new effect that my other lenses can’t come close to. The build quality isn’t particularly great, it’s not waterproof and i don’t expect it to last a lifetime but I think everyone should have a 50mm in their camera bag.
If you’ve got a 50mm why not post your photos here and any comments you can add for people thinking of purchasing.
And if you’ve got any questions about the 50mm feel free to ask.