Why can't you get cheap non 50mm primes?

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danprice

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Sorry if this is a stupid question but I'm just wondering why you can't get primes at focal lengths different to 50mm for a similar price?

I have a Canon 450d and love my nifty fifty I picked up on here. I'd now like to add some wider angle primes to my bag but I've noticed they're much more expensive. I know they have USM motors etc but why don't Canon product other cheap primes like the nifty fifty?
 
danprice said:
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I'm just wondering why you can't get primes at focal lengths different to 50mm for a similar price?

I have a Canon 450d and love my nifty fifty I picked up on here. I'd now like to add some wider angle primes to my bag but I've noticed they're much more expensive. I know they have USM motors etc but why don't Canon product other cheap primes like the nifty fifty?
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The 50mm is a simple focal length to design and manufacture, as you get wider it gets more complex.
 
carlosftw said:
nikon 35mm is cheaper than the 50mm I believe.
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If we're talking about the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S G with the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D, then no, it's not - the 50mm is the cheapest. 50mm is the most common focal length, the one that is most similar to our own FOV, so the simplest design to implement, and it's been honed down due to it being the standard lens for decades.
 
And by giving us a low cost affordable prime lens we realise how good they are, and then want more primes......(better start saving face)

or maybe i'm looking in to it too much.........
 
GlenPhoto said:
And by giving us a low cost affordable prime lens we realise how good they are, and then want more primes......(better start saving face)

or maybe i'm looking in to it too much.........
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Head...Nail...comes to mind...
 
Paid £180 for a new Zuiko 35m f3.5 1:1 macro. It's super sharp and focuses quite fast for a macro.

My Sigma 30mm 1.4 ex DC hsm was about 350 used in eBay.
 
I think that we don't get cheap primes because most people want a 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 zoom. I'm sure that you can get one of those cheap but they must be more expensive to make than a fixed length lens.

Some primes were designed back when God was a boy too but it's nice when someone bothers to design a new one but I suspect that compared to zooms the numbers sold are quite small.
 
Thanks for all the replies on this. Makes more sense now.

CaptainPenguin said:
But high quality manual focus M42 mount wide angle primes can be bought very reasonably and fitted to your Canon with a cheap adaptor
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Does anyone have more info about the above? I've searched for M42 lens on eBay but not sure what's best/what to avoid etc? Would quite like to have a play around with a manual focus lens.:thumbs:
 
danprice said:
Thanks for all the replies on this. Makes more sense now.



Does anyone have more info about the above? I've searched for M42 lens on eBay but not sure what's best/what to avoid etc? Would quite like to have a play around with a manual focus lens.:thumbs:
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What camera are you shooting with? M42 is a camera mount type, like Canon EF or Nikon F. There are plenty of cheap maunal focus and aperture lenses around in that format, and they can be adapted by screwing them into an M42 adapter. Not recommended for Nikon users though, although older Nikon lenses are very good.
 
manualfocus-g said:
What camera are you shooting with? M42 is a camera mount type, like Canon EF or Nikon F. There are plenty of cheap maunal focus and aperture lenses around in that format, and they can be adapted by screwing them into an M42 adapter. Not recommended for Nikon users though, although older Nikon lenses are very good.
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It's a Canon 450d.
 
What do you like shooting?

I went for a 28mm vivitar f2.5 (I like it loads) works well on a crop sensor camera.

I think there is a manual focus lenses forum - search google. They have info on lenses which they feel are the better ones.

Also use the search function on this forum - loads of posts on m42

Adapters around 15ukp. Lenses anywhere from 5ukp upwards...
 
The cheapness of the basic 50mm lenses is because of the amount if 50mm's they make, and have made in the past.

The 50mm prime was the lens that all manufacturers used to stick on bodies as kit lenses in the 35mm film days, they made millions of the things and still do!!
 
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