PHOTOGRAPHY

 50mm Lens: Here are 9 Reasons You'll Definitely Want to Buy It!

  In the past, I bought a Nikon D3100 which came with an 18-55mm zoom lens.

  At first, I thought I could shoot whatever I wanted with this lens and would never need another one.

  But at some point when I started to develop my photography skills I discovered the limitations of this lens, especially when shooting in low light where I need a wide aperture like f/1.8 to capture a lot of light, I find that the aperture of this lens only reaches f/5.6 at the maximum zoom which is 55mm.

  So I started searching for a lens that fits my budget and requirements as a photographer and also gives me clearer photos.

  After a long search, I found that the best lens to upgrade to is the 50mm prime. The Prime Lens is a fixed lens that cannot zoom in or out

  Wondering why exactly a 50mm lens with so many lenses? Here are 9 reasons why you should definitely consider including the 50mm in your collection.

50mm Lens

   1. Low Price 50mm Lens

  Camera equipment, in general, is really expensive! Surprisingly enough, you can get a new 50mm lens for only $100-200!

  You may have heard the phrase “low price means low quality” well, believe me, this lens completely denies this statement because it's really cool despite its low price.

 You can get 50mm prime lenses at very reasonable prices on almost every brand, including Nikon and Canon.

  A 50mm f/1.8 lens can cost just under $125.

  Also, if you look for used 50mm f/1.8 lenses, you will find them at very low prices.

  So if you can't buy a new 50mm f/1.8 lens, you can find a used one for as little as $50.

  You may have noticed that I'm only talking about the 50mm f/1.8 lens and not the other 50mm lenses.

  Yes, there are other 50mm lenses, some with f/1.4 or even f/1.2, but they cost a lot more.

  For example, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 is roughly $300, and an f/1.2 aperture comes in at $1,269.00. But believe me, the difference between this lens and a 50mm f/1.8 lens is very small so you don't have to spend a lot of money.

  These are the best 50mm lenses in different brands:

•  Canon: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens - Black---- price: $120.

•  Nikon: Nikon 2199 AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G------- price: $217.

•  Sony: Sony FE 50mm F1.8 ------price: $248.

•  Fujifilm: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 50mm F/2 R WR -------price: $389.

   2. 50mm lens has a Small size

  The 50mm lens is small and light, making it easy to carry with you wherever you go.

  If you love street photography where you need to take a picture quickly, then this lens is definitely your companion.

  You can also take it with you while traveling without burdening your shoulder.

  3. 50mm lens produces crystal clear images

  Fixed (Prime) lenses that do not have zoom often produce high-quality images.

  Since this type of lens does not have a zoom, this means that it has fewer moving parts inside the lens, making it easier to design and simpler to manufacture.

  In the illustration below, notice how a zoom lens has several elements inside it instead of a prime lens, which has a few elements, making it easy to design.

  This means a cheaper manufacturing process and less chance of error; Thus the quality and cost of the lens become better.

  Lens makers have figured out how to make good quality 50mm lenses with the excellent optical performance. And they've been doing it for a very long time.

  Generally speaking, if something is made for a long time, it will improve greatly over time.

   4. Versatile 50mm lens

  The 50mm lens is a great addition to your camera bag as it's a versatile piece of glass.

• Start your day by taking pictures of the landscape with 50mm.

• Take pictures of your kids indoors with 50mm.

• Head into town in the afternoon to take photos of the architecture with the 50mm.

• Take a portrait of your friend to post on his Instagram account with 50mm.

  I often use 50mm in portrait photography

• Take a walk into the city and carry a 50mm lens for shooting casual portraits of strangers.

  And many, many more things you can photograph with just this lens.

  You can spend an entire day with this lens alone, taking any type of picture you want without having to carry multiple lenses and then stop to switch them every time you encounter different types of subjects.

  I advise any beginner to buy this lens because it will enable him to try many types of photography until he discovers the field he wants to specialize in and then buys the appropriate equipment for this field.

  For example, if you shoot different genres with a 50mm lens, then find that the genre you prefer is landscape photography.

  In this case, you have to buy a wide lens such as 16mm to capture a wide angle of the scene.

  Consider all of the above and add to this that Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the greatest street photographers of all time, took the 50mm as his favorite lens.

   5. The 50mm lens is great when shooting in low light

  If you really want to expand your photographic possibilities, the 50mm lens will allow you to do so because it is great for shooting during the day as well as when the light is low.

  I took this picture of my daughter in low light using a 50mm f/1.8. lens

  With maximum apertures of f/1.8 and greater, 50mm lenses can collect a lot of light.

  To understand better, f/1.8 aperture means that the aperture you see when looking through your camera lens is very wide.

  Aperture Open means that it allows a lot of light to pass into the camera. (For More information on aperture in photography you will find it in this article).

  When you're faced with a low-light situation, you'll set your aperture to a small number like f/1.8 or f/2, so the camera will capture a lot of light and you won't need to use a flash that produces disastrous photos.

  Since the light from flash usually produces ugly images, the fact that you often don't need a flash with a 50mm lens means you can get more natural shots.

  I took this picture of my friend using a 50mm f/2  lens

  It may not sound like much, but keep this in mind...

  The 50mm f/1.8 lens delivers eight times more light than a typical lens that comes with the camera where the aperture limit stands at f/5.6.

  Just think of all the things you can shoot in low light with eight times the light-gathering power!

   6. 50mm lens is a fast lens

  A fast lens means a wide aperture lens. I will explain more!

  In photography, three elements control the light that enters the camera, these elements are aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

  If you set the aperture to a large number like f/16, which means a narrow aperture, not much light will pass into the camera, so you will get a dark image.

  To fix this, you need to set the shutter speed to a long duration, such as a second or two, meaning a slow shutter speed, to compensate for the lack of light that the aperture did not allow to pass.

  Or if you don't want to slow the shutter speed and leave it fast, you can raise the ISO to 1600 or more.

  Well, now I will answer a question; Why a wide aperture like 50mm f/1.8 is such a fast lens.

  Let's say you are shooting with an 18-55mm f/3.5 – f/5.6 lens indoors, where the light is low.

  We know that in low light you'll need to open the aperture as wide as possible to let in plenty of light.

  We know that if you are shooting with 55mm in your lens the maximum aperture you can use is f/5.6.

  f/5.6 is an aperture that is not very wide meaning you will need to slow down the shutter speed to compensate for the lack of light.

  A slow shutter speed means that you will not be able to shoot with the camera in your hand because the slightest movement will cause the images to appear blurry and not completely clear, so you will definitely need a tripod.

  You may be wondering; Why not leave the shutter speed fast and the ISO higher?

  The problem here is that when you raise the ISO too much, small grains will appear in your image and this greatly reduces the quality of the image.

  But with a 50mm f/1.8 lens you can use a wide f/1.8 aperture and you don't need a slow shutter speed. You can even use fast speed.

  That's why a wide aperture lens is called a fast lens.

   7. 50mm lens is a great lens for portrait photography

  When Photographing people or the so-called portrait photography, you always need to isolate the person from the background, meaning the person is clear while the background is blurry like the image below.

  The 50mm f/1.8 lens is brilliant at this.

  You should know that the wider the aperture, the more blur the background will be. Meaning that the f/1.8 aperture will give you more blur than the f/5.6 aperture.

  This background blur is called shallow depth of field or bokeh.

  With a 50mm lens, you can get beautifully shaped blurry backgrounds that are well-shaped for a great creative effect, especially if the background contains lights like the image below.

   8. 50mm lens help you be more creative

  The best thing about 50mm lenses is that they are an excellent teaching tool.

  Since it's a fixed lens that doesn't zoom in, you can't just zoom in to frame a specific shot.

  Instead, you have to use your feet and move around and work a little harder to frame the shot as you like.

  On top of that, as mentioned earlier, it's a versatile lens, so you can try out all kinds of photography without having to switch lenses.

  In other words, the 50mm lens makes you think more purposefully about how you compose your images.

  This in turn helps you grow as a photographer because you have to work constantly to get the shot you want.

   9. 50mm lens looks like your eyes

  Essentially, when you look through a 50mm lens on a full-frame camera, you see the same field of view that you see with your eyes.

  This's especially useful in street photography, as it makes it easy to compose your shots quickly and accurately – you see a scene with your own eyes, then capture it with your camera.