Why does every one recommend a nifty fifty

9designs2

9designs2

9designs2

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It always gets recommend as must have lens..... Why ?
On a crop DSLR it's around an 70-80 mm in real money I guess.
Is it simply for the fast aperture ?
When standard zooms cover the same focal length.
So I should rush out and get a 85mm F1.4 for my 5D ??

No axe to grid just, curious as to what need it for fills for people.
 
I think mainly because it is (for the price...) one of the sharpest cheaper lenses you can get! £50 is nothing in lens terms..but it is capable of a lot!
 
Both the Nikon and Canon 50mm f/1.8s are some of the sharpest lenses each manufacturer makes, they're also pretty darn fast, and yet they cost £50-£75.
 
I bet that I haven't used my 50mm f1.7 in 20 years though.
It sits in the bag but never gets used.
 
BUFF said:
I bet that I haven't used my 50mm f1.7 in 20 years though.
It sits in the bag but never gets used.
Click to expand...

Well I have to confess similar, I have what is probably one the THE finest 50mm lenses made, a Contax/Carl Zeiss T* F1.7. But it's used occasionally, normally end up with a 25 or 28mm attached.

That said am a bit tempted by a 50mm F1.4 Canon, mainly for the speed, as the zooms are slow. Though with an adaptor I can use some of the Contax lenses on the 5D in manual mode. Unfortunately some hit the mirror on a 5D. On the crop DSLR's I think it's ok. :(
 
This was taken at ISO1600 at 1/125 (I think)

Drugdealer_Cheerleader_4_by_je_design.jpg


The full size version is just a sharp.

That £50 got me a £300 on 12 images from that gig. It's paid for itself 6x over and I still use it all the time :)
 
People recommend the 50mm because it is an excellent and cheap lens.

For a full frame camera, I would say that the 50mm is even better, as it works out a little long on a 1.6x sensor for a general lens. We should be recommending a fast 35mm lens, but they are not so cheap.
 
aztechnology said:
People recommend the 50mm because it is an excellent and cheap lens.

For a full frame camera, I would say that the 50mm is even better, as it works out a little long on a 1.6x sensor for a general lens. We should be recommending a fast 35mm lens, but they are not so cheap.
Click to expand...

only sigma make a fast 30mm lens and its £260 :(
 
nolimit said:
The 1.8 version tends to hunt a lot. but for £50 you can't go wrong with its image quality.
Click to expand...

I got a 50mm 1.8 mk1 ages ago, and I don't think mine hunts a lot. It just takes a while to lock focus because it doesn't have any of the new fancy USM stuff.

Mind you back in the day when my 1000F was the latest thing on the market, everything seemed to take a while to lock focus.
 
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