What can you do with a 50mm?

str1nger

str1nger

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Mike
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This is just a random post. I have borrowed a 50mm F1.4 from my brother and was wondering 'how much use is a 50mm'.

I tend to take wildlife shots and was wondering what scope a 50mm lens had.

So post some pictures of your efforts with a 50mm
 
Not used it for wildlife (to short for me) but for low light/landscape/portrait/even macro (well, close up) should be fine!
 
Probably not the best lens for Wildlife photography as its fixed focal length
The 50mm prime (nifty fifty) is generally used for portrait shots
 
It's a people lens in my opinion, but sure you can use it for anything y'like really.

I had a 1.4 50mm for a long while before I actually got some good use out of it, now it's the first lens I reach for when shooting a 'portrait'.

 
put a 6 inch nail through it onto the floor and use it as a door stop ?

I have used mine for basketball and its great... :)
 
Better than a 600L F/4 for shooting an elephant at 10 paces.

All lenses have their reason for being. If you are not using that, then either change your subject matter or lens.

Clearly it's not a long telephoto lens, so you probably need to stick in on the camera and see what you would like to shoot with it.

Graham
 
i think its good for portaits....

3813278606_c474763717_o.jpg
 
^^^ Looks like she was given one for her birthday.
 
This is from my 52 thread.

IMG_1249b-800.jpg


Although I also use it for low light stuff where I don't want to use a flash, like parties.
 
Here is another possibility, this was the 50mm 1.8

R2645x800.jpg
 
I'm in the midst of playing with some macro tubes with my 50, will get the results up later tonight.
 
HCK said:
i think its good for portaits....

3813278606_c474763717_o.jpg
Click to expand...

On a full frame it looks fantastic, I just can't find a use for it on my cropped body though. I've had my 50 1.4 for a few months but have hardly used it, doesn't get a look in while I've got my Sigma 30m 1.4.
 
I just got one to play with ,quite like it for portraits.

4457134804_c63b9b1866_o.jpg
 
Ah well, I have a fifty 1.8 and it's my favorite lens. I use it daily, but then again, I mostly do childrens shots and it's great for that use.
Also, if you want to play around with DOF, it's a great lens.
 
For a couple of hundred quid, you get a lens that's as sharp as any zoom cosing 4 times the price, you can take the proverbial blackcat in a dark outhouse type shots, it's an extremely fast lens, therefore autofocus will hunt less in low light, it's light therefore easy enough to carry around as a second lens.

I use mine (on a FF body) for portraits , group shots and landscapes.
 
Tomas Whitehouse said:
:D Indeed, and she only has a crop sensor body :lol:
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Whats wrong with it on a crop???

Its the same FOV as the 85mm 1.8 on a full frame which is regarded as the best FOV for portraits? Its a fantastic portrait lens on my 400D, and will be on my new 50D I'm sure.
 
odd jim said:
Whats wrong with it on a crop???

Its the same FOV as the 85mm 1.8 on a full frame which is regarded as the best FOV for portraits? Its a fantastic portrait lens on my 400D, and will be on my new 50D I'm sure.
Click to expand...

There's nowt wrong with it on crop. It was a little humour as a fair few folk complain that a 50mm is too tight and frequently end up selling them on. ;)

An 85mm is indeed regarded as a great lens for portraits due to the compression, provided you have adequate space ;)
 
odd jim said:
Whats wrong with it on a crop???

Its the same FOV as the 85mm 1.8 on a full frame which is regarded as the best FOV for portraits? Its a fantastic portrait lens on my 400D, and will be on my new 50D I'm sure.
Click to expand...

Think he meant the child has a crop body mate.

ooops my typing is too slow sorry :coat:
 
yep, a a people lens, but when used outside of that its also great, it makes you think more about composition, I'd not long had the camera was jut practicing with film (just a P&S prior to that) and at first I found 50mm a hindrance, but then i liked how it made me take different shots to what i would have done usually (prior to then, when taking a shot of a building I would have done just that, a shot of the whole building) it was when i got my film cam with a 50 that i started to think about composition.
3128502333_77399f131a.jpg
 
Dman said:
On a full frame it looks fantastic, I just can't find a use for it on my cropped body though. I've had my 50 1.4 for a few months but have hardly used it, doesn't get a look in while I've got my Sigma 30m 1.4.
Click to expand...

have to disagree, I also have the sigma 30mm and it is great, but more for full body or half body or two people. I don't have any problems using the 50mm with a crop:

4292263781_5053d7f98e.jpg
 
My 50 was always on my 40d till someone pinched it!! Come on Mike let's have it back!
When I did have it, this is what I used it for.

IMG_8726.jpg
 
First shots with the D700 and 50mm f1.4. I really rather like this lens and it's going to get some work! Only "problem" with it is that I love primes and want an 85mm! :)

4458449328_3abac5f859_o.jpg
 
I find mine very useful for full length portrait stuff on FF, especially when space is an issue.
 
odd jim said:
Its the same FOV as the 85mm 1.8 on a full frame which is regarded as the best FOV for portraits?
Click to expand...

You've managed to get both wrong ends of a stick there. Firstly, the 85mm should not be considered as the best FOV for portraits, simply because FOV is a function of framing/cropping. You can get the same FOV with any lens, you just have to alter your distance to subject, the trouble with that is it alters perspective.

It is perspective which I think you mean, which, as I said, is dependent on the distance to subject. The 85mm gives a pleasing perspective for headshots in the studio, which has given rise to the urban myth that it is 'the best portrait lens'. There is no such thing as a 'best portrait' lens, it all depends on your subject, location, lighting and the effect you want to achieve.

Putting a 50mm lens on a cropped sensor will give you the same perspective as it would on a full frame body, all you are doing is cropping the image.

The 50mm lens is a great portrait lens, just ask Jane Bown who over her career has shot with virtually no other focal length.
 
Using available light the extra stops help if you want to use higher shutter speeds; click thumbnail and view exif:



... OK it's a 50mm f1.4 stopped down to f3.3 at 1/500s.
 
Nice to see that I'm not a lone voice in this NorthernNikon.

I tend towards wider lenses and often read that these are unsuitable for portrait shots and that a longer lens flattens and flatters the subject whereas I and some others are petty convinced that optical illusion and habit / fashion are what people are really talking about.

If you make a sensible decision based upon the working distance that you and your subject are happy with and are able to achieve the effect you want there is no reason why you can't choose a wider lens over something like a 50 or 85mm or something even longer which at this point in time is probably more widely thought by many to be more suitable.

Anyway, I use my 50mm lenses for three reasons, for achieving tighter shots at the distance I'm working at, for lower available light shots and also in the hope of achieving a higher image quality than I would with a zoom lens.
 
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