The 50mm lens sometimes has a bad reputation for being a boring lens. Unlike a wide angle lens which takes in a wider view of the world or a telephoto lens what lets you see things further away, the 50mm lens doesn’t do anything special. It is approximately the same field of view as your eye so objects appear to be the same size as you see them.
I will be totally honest – I never really wanted a 50mm prime lens. The 50mm lens just isn’t a lens that photographers dream about. It doesn’t do anything special. It looks pretty ordinary. The focal length is easily covered by standard kit zoom lenses that come with beginner cameras. It isn’t even expensive.
A 50mm F1.8 lens can be purchased new for around $200 and even less on the used market. So what is special about this boring lens? Nothing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t capture beautiful images with it.
The first time I used a 50mm prime lens was the Nikon 50mm F1.4 version which is more than twice the price of the F1.8 version. When I focused on something close to me, I loved the blur of the background when shot wide open at F1.4. I came to realize that it was a great option for images of people when you are close to them as you get beautiful blurry backgrounds.
Some of the first images I captured with a 50mm F1.4 lens demonstrated the beautiful shallow depth of field.
So that started my affection for the ‘boring’ 50mm lens. I don’t have the F1.4 version – I got the Special Edition Nikon F1.8 G lens with the classic style look. Even at F1.8 the backgrounds are beautiful and blurry when focusing on something close to the camera.
I came to appreciate the humble 50mm lens. I also find that it is the perfect partner for my classic looking Nikon DF camera which is what I decided to use for this 50mm challenge.
In this challenge, I went to the world famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore and explored. I wasn’t a guest at the hotel so I had to stick to the public parts of the hotel where there are shops. There weren’t very many people around as it was early in the day but I had a lot of fun capturing images.
I found myself capturing lots of images of a mixture of light and shadows and looking for details around the hotel.
Although I may have once thought that the humble 50mm lens was boring, I definitely see what a great lens it can be. It is in between a wide angle and telephoto but I don’t hold that against it. That defining feature of seeing what our eye’s see is definitely one of this lens’s strength. Couple that with the ability to focus to quite close and a shallow depth of field at its widest aperture, and it is a great lens that everyone should own. As far as lenses go, it isn’t expensive and it is a great leaning tool.
I hope you enjoy my 50mm challenge.
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