Last update:24 January, 2022
On several occasions I explained to you the types of lenses that are on the market and their characteristics, but today I want to talk to you about a special lens that deserves its own article.
The objective that we should all have in our backpack as photographers, or at least try, is, without further ado, the magnificent and splendid 50mm lens.
This lens is available as both a canon 50mm lens and a nikon 50mm lens, (and other brands, of course). There is both f/1.4 and f/1.8.
Below I explain what happens with this objective and why I consider it to be one of the best purchases of photographic material that you can make at the moment.
INSIDE THIS ARTICLE… 📖
50mm lens… Why?
By now, you probably already know what a focal length is (and if you don’t, I’ll tell you here). We have all thought that the longer a lens covers the better. There is nothing more wrong. The lenses that cover wide ranges of focal length (for example an 18-300mm) lose specialization, since they have to give a good result whether we shoot at 18mm, 120mm or 300mm, so they cannot do it in an EXCELLENT way, but rather achieve moderately “acceptable” results.
Instead, a fixed focal length lens, for example 35mm, 50 or 80mm is a lens specially manufactured to perform well at that particular focal length, then it is its domain of specialization and therefore it will offer us the best possible optical quality. Definitely.
And why a 50mm lens specifically?
Well, because it has been shown that this is the field of vision that our eyes normally cover in real life. A photo taken at 50mm has the aspect and proportions that our eyes see and our brain processes in real life.
On the other hand, an ultra-small (10mm for example) or longer (600mm) focal length produces small optical distortions, sometimes imperceptible: this experiment clearly demonstrates it.
Now comes the best part
The real beauty of this lens lies in the extraordinarily generous opening of its diaphragm. Many people buy lenses without noticing their diaphragm, but I would say that it is one of the most important things that will add or detract from our lens.
The aperture or diaphragm is what allows the lens to capture more light. For you to understand me, think of a situation in which you had to take photos in low light and without a flash. You will have suffered a lot, because either the photo comes out blurred, or it comes out with a lot of noise from the ISO, and things like that.
What I am telling you now is the possibility of capturing much more natural light without having to resort to any tricks. Having a lens with a large aperture will allow you to capture much more light than you could with a normal lens.
P.S: For your information, the aperture of the diagram is expressed with the f/… value and the smaller this value, the larger the aperture (and therefore more light, the better). If you look at your stock lens, the basic one, you will surely find some aperture value of f/3.5 or f/4 written on it. The one I’m talking about today is an f/1.4 lens, which is an AMAZINGly wide aperture. One last.
The beauty of f/1.4
With a diaphragm opening like this you will not only be able to get much more light but you will also be able to greatly highlight the subjects and objects that you are photographing.
This has to do with something that I explained here on the blog called shallow depth of field, and that consists of having the subject hyper-focused and the background behind it very, very out of focus, which undoubtedly highlights the person, animal or object portrayed. I imagine that you already know how to achieve it, but if you don’t know it yet, in this tutorial I’ll explain how, it’s super easy.
Canon 50mm f/1.4 and Nikon 50mm lens price
The 50mm lens is well known and you will surely have no difficulty finding it at any photography store. Prices vary but are around 500 euros. As always if you live in Spain I recommend buying from Amazon for service and price. Ah, depending on the brand of your camera, here’s the same lens by brand:
Is the 50mm f/1.4 lens an expensive lens?
When I first saw it I thought “how expensive!”. He was dead wrong. After verifying the virtues of this magnificent optical piece, I think it deserves double or triple its price. If you doubt it, I invite you to take a look at this:
to this:
to this:
and that:
and this too:
They were all made with ordinary SLR cameras, sometimes from beginners, very cheap. And to top it off none was retouched in the slightest. The secret was in the target. But what insensitive soul could be undaunted by such beauty and not feel like producing similar things?
conclusion
There’s a reason most professional photographers feel helpless if they don’t have the 50mm lens f/1.4 in his backpack. If you are fed up with your basic 18-55mm lens and want to take photography a step further, enhance and beautify your subjects, make any object around you fascinating and transform any boring moment into an indelible graphic memory, you are already late. in giving a 50mm to your camera.
Note: My love for the 50mm f/1.4 lens does not mean that every situation has a suitable lens. Not all lenses get all kinds of photos. But the 50mm f/1.4 is a marvel, for the record 😉
Did you like this article? If so, I would appreciate it if you would share it with anyone who might need a lens change on their photography 😉
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