Well, it’s the 50mm lens of course! Even if you suddenly lost all of your other lenses, you could manage with just this one for a while.
If you’re not convinced yet, DigitalRev TV will give you five specific reasons why all photographers need this lens. Do let us know if you disagree or have a better option! You could get a relatively inexpensive 50mm f1.8 or you could even go for it and get the 50mm f1.4. Here’s 5 reasons why.
Most photographers wouldn’t think of using a 50mm lens for their landscape photography, but you can actually get stunning images with it. Check out the following video for examples.
My d7100 with 35mm~ 50mm on FF … 🙂
Slowly appreciating the awesomeness of the 50mm 🙂
Yup, first extra lens I got!
sadly I don’t have the 50mm in my kit are you going to buy me one. 😛
I absolutely love mine. The one I use most of the time!
Got rid of my 50mm, didn’t like it on Nikon DX cameras. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 on DX is another story! Love that lens!
Nikon 50mm f/1.4……LOVE IT!!!….
I call it the nifty fifty
I think that’s what it’s generally known as 🙂
When I first got into photography…back in the day of “s r t 201’s. it was the only lens I had…and yes I called it my “Nift Fifty”… I now have a Nikon D-7000…several lens and my 50mm f 1.4 is STILL my go to lens…also have a 20mm f-1.2 that’s “the bee’s knees”… to use a classic phrase….
My first and only lens for three years..loved it
It’s the one you used to get standard with any 35mm slr, simple optical construction (comp to zooms) astonishing image performance, and really wide aperture (1.8, 1.4 even 1.2 on some for those with $). Cracking portrait lens on cropped sensor Dslrs (80 odd mm F1.8, try buying one of those for a full frame camera without having a heart attack) yes you need a 30mm to get the same-ish field of view as you do with a Fast Fifty on a full frame. Thoroughly agree that this lens or its equiv should be STD with all cameras sold, makes photogs think and move a bit. Excellent piece of kit, get one!!
I felt that way ’til I got my 35mm
Traci Lang
Had it, needed more versatility. 24-70 is what I keep now.
I’m with you. My 24-70 2.8 is my go-to lens for most things. I have different lenses for sports, but that one covers most of my day-to-day needs. That said I do have a 50mm 1.4, which is nice for certain occasions, but if I could only have one, the 24-70 would be it.
Nikon 50mm f/1.4,got one.Not so good,for motorsport.lol
yep i agree with a few here and use 35mm 1.8 on my d7100 which is as near as damn it on a cropped sensor
I have the Olympus 50mm prime and is very useful and so sharp, love it on the EC1.4 or as it is, get nice sharp prints from it.
Have a 50mm or rather have two of them but would never choose 50mm over a 35mm as my only lens. People claim that the 50mm provides a normal field of view when shooting with a 35mm (36×24) camera/system when in fact a 43mm lens actually provides a normal field of view, which means a 50mm provides a slightly tighter FOV while a 35mm provides a slight looser FOV. Some people prefer that former while others including myself prefer the latter.
I knew you were going to say 50mm even before opening this. I disagree. My go-to lens is the 70-200 f/2.8. I have a mid-range zoom but seldom use it, I do use my 17-35 f/2.8 a lot (full-frame). Depends what you shoot.
Yes! I totally agree about the 70-200 f/2.8. It is by far my favourite lens! Of course, like you said, it depends on what you like to shoot. I just find that I can isolate my subject and cut out distracting elements so easily with this lens.
A 50mm Lens may be good for all those Touristy shots, and if it’s an f 1.2 or wider, it’s ideal for those low light shots. But it doesn’t give me an ideal Moon Shot!!!
As others have noted: A 50 mm was the kit lens with nearly every 35 mm film camera sold. It is the ‘normal’ field of view for that camera format (and thus with FF DSLRs). No magnification factor, therefore no compression. Put a thrifty-fifty on a FF throw it to f/8 and be there. It’s versatile because it does a lot but it doesn’t do any of it outstandingly.
10 minutes and 10 seconds to tell me that! Get your thumb out of your ass and be concise FFS !
Great video
Great video
Witty video; the 50mm 1.8 is the most undervalued lens today.
Witty video; the 50mm 1.8 is the most undervalued lens today.
Already have a 50mm 1.8. Very reasonable and one of my most favorite.
Already have a 50mm 1.8. Very reasonable and one of my most favorite.
I’ve got one of these and I use it frequently. Inexpensive and produces some great images.
I’ve got one of these and I use it frequently. Inexpensive and produces some great images.
lemme guess, the nifty fifty
lemme guess, the nifty fifty
FAIL… THE one lens for any particular individual depends upon his predominant subject matter and preferred working distance…
FAIL… THE one lens for any particular individual depends upon his predominant subject matter and preferred working distance…
on the canon I’d rather have the 1.4, the build on the 1.8 is crap, too much plastic, easily broken. I’ve heard some people state a tiny bump made it fall apart.
I think we would all prefer the 1.4 Kathy but it is out of a lot of people’s price range. I have taken some incredible home studio images with a crop sensor and, the nifty fifty in portrait orientation. Shooting around f7. Shooting an infinite white background you can easily extend them into landscape images with Photoshop. Does the 1.4 and FF outperform it. Sure but, I have gotten a lot of praise over those images in various photography groups. So the question is whether the type of photography you do warrants the extra cost.
image quality is very good, sorry to say the build is not 😉
image quality is very good, sorry to say the build is not 😉
I cannot argue with you there
I cannot argue with you there
I use a Nikon ..35mm f1.8G. Pleased as punch with it! Of course, on my D3100 (crop sensor), it’s more like a 50mm. Sharp as a razor, small, clean.
I use a Nikon ..35mm f1.8G. Pleased as punch with it! Of course, on my D3100 (crop sensor), it’s more like a 50mm. Sharp as a razor, small, clean.
I use the 50/2 on my Leica M8 quite regularly. For my Nikon’s I have the 50/1.4G & the 50/1.2 mf lenses. Great fun and great to learn composition with.
yawn. 50 is so boring. give me a 28 any day
Facebook “Suggested Post” for me today. Two pages for a two paragraph article, citing a third party video to do your argument for you.
Shame on you. More importantly, shame on me for thinking it would be anything other than bullshit.
I have used a 50mm lens as my main lens for decades. Today I use it rarely because what is best for my work is 24-70 2.8 lens and I carry it all the time. Note that 50mm is right in the middle of 24-70. In my case all I need most of the time is a 24-70 and a 70-200. My favorite is a 85mm 1.4 but I cant use it too often either.
For me, it is the 70-200 f/2.8. I am so in love with this lens! I bought a 50mm 1.8 right away with my first camera, and I have to admit I don’t use it at all. I never found it to be the right lens for what I was shooting. If you are too far away, it allows for distracting elements in your photo, and if you are too close, distortion can start to creep in. I know the nifty-fifty gets all sorts of praise, but I never understood the fuss, personally.
Canon 5DS with the 85 1.2L 🙂
The praise for the 50 was valid 25 years ago, maybe 15 years ago but the new modern zooms like the Nikon and Canon 24-70, and the Sigma 24-105 have pretty much put that argument to bed. The better zooms are so close to the sharpness of prime lenses that unless you plan to shoot billboard size work, you’ll never see the difference. So why lug around a lens that is limited to a single viewpoint when you can have the equivalent of three or four lenses in one. Yes, the 1.4 is nice for the brightness and limiting the DOF to totally blur the background and I agree it is nice to have one, but I disagree that it is the “one” lens to have above all others. I have prime lenses in 24, 50, 85, 100, and 189 and the only one I use often is the 100mm Tokina macro which is as sharp as any lens I own. It’s a great macro lens and doubles nicely for a portrait lens as well.
What a BIG BUNCH OF BULL!
While I have 50mm f/1.4 for my Nikon D800. it is NOT what I MUST have nor my choice of prime lens.
A 50mm lens is NOT necessary the correct lens for any camera.
The ideal FL (Focal Length) of the lens for any camera depends on the film or sensor format.
The FL of that ideal lens is the dimension of the diagonal of the film or sensor.
For a 36mm film or Nikon FX DSLR, 43mm or about 45mm is that ideal lens.
For the Nikon DX DSLr, 28mm to 30mm lens is that ideal lens.
Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Nocturn is my PERSONAL Prime Lens choice for my Nikon FX DSLR.
For my Nikon DX DSLRS, Nikkor 28mm f/2.0 AiS is my personal Prime Lens choice.
For a walk-about lens, I prefer the Nikkor 24-85mm F/2.0 D Macro on the D800
and the Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 G on my D300S.
These two lenses are the most versatile walk-about lenses for their respective Nikon DSLRs.
Gee, I’ve been shooting since 1963, started with a Petri 7s rangefinder eventually got a Nikkorex F and 50mm f1.4 and shot with that for years. I shot with a 21/4 square, 4X5 press and a a 6X4, When I went digital my first dcamera (for trial purposes) was a Fuji 2600 point & shoot with a 5Xzoom, now I have a Canon 6D, a 40D and a Fuji XT-1 and although I have had the Canon 50mm F1.4 for years, it barely gets used. With the great advancement in zoom lenses that have been made and the development of sensors & processors I find the 24-70mm f2.8 L much more versatile and coupled with the 70-200mm f2.L a great everyday walk-A-round combination
85mm 1.8. This lens does so much very well!
Lenses a lot of time is the luck of the draw. I have friends that have Canons 24-105 that are absolute garbage. I have one that is extremely good at F/8-F/11. The more expensive lenses also have variations on quality. You can test 3 quality lenses and find that there will be difference in sharpness. Also when testing lenses check the contrast of each lense. More contrast will make the lens look sharper. There are a lot of varibles when testing lenses.
Best lenses ever are Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and Nikon 85mm f1.4. First is the most versatile and second is best portrait lens ever.