Photography Article Yes, You Need a 50 mm Lens|Photography Artist Statement

The holiday season is just around the corner, so now is a great time to think about giving yourself a photography gift (or to start dropping very specific hints). If you are looking for something that will make a dramatic difference in your photography and widen your photographic options, all without spending a large amount of money (right at $100 for the Canon version and $109 for the Nikon version), then you should look no further than a 50 mm prime lens.

What is So Special approximately a 50 mm Lens?

A 50 mm lens is a high lens, because of this that it best offers one focal duration (50 mm). The advantage is that the entry-level 50 mm lenses are also very 'fast' lens: they have a extensive most aperture, normally f/1.Eight. As a comparison, maximum entry-stage zoom lenses and kit lenses have their widest aperture at f/3.5 or up in the direction of f/five.6 as you zoom in with the lens.

A huge aperture, like f/1.Eight, brings with it a whole host of photographic possibilities that are not as smooth to achieve with other apertures. Shooting huge open at f/1.8 creates a completely slender depth of area (place of the picture in attention) and without difficulty creates 'bokeh,' the colored circles of light and blur created by way of a intentionally out-of-recognition heritage. This capability to control the intensity of subject and control the focal point to this kind of slender area provides infinite photographic possibilities. Read extra approximately What an Aperture of F/1.Eight Can Do for You right here.

This photo of a single leaf demonstrates the ability of the 50 mm lens to create bokeh at its widest aperture (f/1.Eight). Because the depth of subject is so slim at f/1.8, the unmarried leaf and its department are the only things in awareness, and the leaves inside the historical past fall out of focus rapidly. These leaves and the light on them are rendered instead as a set of colourful circles of mild (the bokeh). Bokeh can be very attractive and is extraordinarily prominent in artwork pictures, as well as in graphics.

A 50 mm lens may be very small and pretty inconspicuous (or at least, as inconspicuous as you can be with a full DSLR body). 50 mm lenses have constantly been famous with street photographers, individuals who fee the 50 mm's small size and speedy capturing. A 50 mm lens is likewise very mild and makes sporting round your complete DSLR a little less hard. With the 50 mm lens on, I can without problems convey my complete DSLR in my handbag, which became now not designed for photographer and in all fairness small as handbags cross in recent times. Having a small, transportable lens also makes it far more likely that you will remember bringing your digital camera along side you, and having your camera is the first (and critically crucial) step in the direction of taking pictures that when-in-a-lifetime shot.

The 50 mm lens is likewise a totally adaptable focal duration. It is considered close to the view and vision of everyday eye sight (despite the fact that the view is greater zoomed in on a crop sensor camera than on a complete frame one). 50 mm is wide sufficient with a view to seize massive sections of a landscape view, like the farm above, or to get close up to something small. It is also a very good length due to the fact 50 mm does no longer create noticeable distortion while shooting images (that's a not unusual problem at very wide focal lengths).

Lily shot with 50 mm lens and +4 close up lens

A 50 mm lens also provides an opportunity to experiment with macro and close-up photography without also investing in a separate (and far more expensive) dedicated macro lens. You can buy a simple reverse ring for less than $10 USD that allows you to mount your 50 mm lens backwards on your camera, creating a microscopic magnification. Read more about the benefits of using a reverse ring here. The 50 mm lens is also ideal for use with extension tubes that make your subject even larger, relative to your sensor, or with close-up lenses that change the minimum focusing distance and allow you to get closer to your subject. Read more about how to use extension tubes here and how to use close-up lenses here.

50 mm lenses have the added benefit of being fairly inexpensive, especially for camera lenses. While lens-envy is the curse of many a photographer, the 50 mm is a lens that is actually within budgetary reach. The entry-level version of the 50 mm lens, the 50 mm f/1.8 is available from Canon for $110 USD (list price), currently retailing for $101 on Amazon; from Nikon for around $110 USD (list price on Amazon), from Sony for around $170 USD (list price on Amazon); and from Pentax for around $180 USD (list price on Amazon). Faster versions of the 50 mm lens, such as the 50 mm f/1.4 or 50 mm f/1.2 rise in cost as the aperture widens but are something to consider if you have had a 50 mm f/1.8 for a while and want to get even wider.

A 50 mm lens is an brilliant improve, providing you with a extensive aperture at low value and presenting tack-sharp snap shots with incredible background bokeh. It is a fantastic lens for any photographer.