50mm - Why I Don't Recommend This Lens & How To Choose Your Next One! 

What is a lens you keep getting recommended but when you actually got it, you were kinda disappointed? 😔 Capture One Pro - 65% OFF! geni.us/bXP1c FREE Filmmaking Course: www.jasonvong.com/freefilmcourse

I use a 500mm on an apsc sensor and am very happy with it. My neighbor isn't though.

This should be a series for beginners! “You’re doing it Vong!”

This is SO TRUE! People used to shout about how usable and versatile the 50mm focal length was but I found I never had enough space for me to back up and was only really good in wide open spaces or controlled environments. Having switched to a full frame years later, I now see what people were talking about! And properly understood that I was actually at a roughly 80mm focal length on my APSC!

I found the part about you not fully understanding crop sensors dope. Would love to see a video about your journey as a photographer from beginning to now. Like about your first camera, your first big break, your inspiration or what led to you becoming a photographer. I think it'd be dope.

Would have been nice to have this video when I started a year ago. But I love your humor and knowledge. Always talking about important stuff that we all need to be aware of. Thanks dude

For portraits I like to still stick to a 56mm to 85mm f/1.4 or f 1.8 crop or not. Regardless of having to move back sometimes, the compression plus the large aperture are hard to beat when working together for separation. People can also start looking a little unnatural if you happen to get too close with those wider focal lengths.

I really hated my 50mm on a crop sensor, until I moved to a full-frame and it was awesome. Then, I went back to a crop and I love the 50 mm now. It's essentially the portrait lens that we all need. Terrible for street and general use, though. I like my 23 mm most for that.

I agree Jason. The Sony APS-C Cameras are great! But, you do have to buy the lens that’s right for you.

"Moral of the story is GET A FULL FRAME CAMERA" LMAO I fell out of my chair 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This has been an emotional carousel, being a beginner and having ordered the 50mm 1.8 for an apsc...

This video was so helpful in recommending good lenses. I feel like I say this every video but it was amazing as usual!

whenever im about to forget, jv here brings out potatojet again🤣

Great vid! Thanks :) The number on the lens is usually the “true” focal length (on on super zooms or compact cameras you many times will see the FF equiv. field of view. What you mean is that a 50mm lens on an APS-C body gives you a 75mm FF equivalent field of view. This point is that we use the FF equivalent field of view as a reference to compare the field of view on bodies with ither sensor sizes.

TIPS: If you have taken images on your kit-lense and you want to get a prime lens - your first job is to take your image library and sort it on focal length. Now - beginners have a tendency to use zooms either full wide or full long (depending on the kit-lense zoom range), so expect that most images are grouped around those two focal ranges. But also take note if a lot of images that you like are grouping around either 35 or 50 mm full-frame equivalent (23 or 35 mm APS-C). Then start to consider if the topics of such groupings vary (landscapes/arcitecture/friends around cafe-table typically group towards more 35 mm. More intimate street photography and portraits are probably grouping more around 50 mm equivalent as a rule of thumb). Now it is time to ask "why do I want a prime" while looking at your images. Do you like to get up close to the "action" while getting in some wider context as well? 35 mm is your first frame. Do you like to isolate people/subjects - the 50 mm is your friend (also because it will compress depth of field more and get you a blurrier background). When learning with a kit-lens we are usually not conscious about where we place the zoom-ring. But many will have an instinctive preference - indicating if one likes the wider look or the more closed in look. So trust your own catalogue of images. And remember, if you are getting a new lens and not a new sensor-size, one does not need to convert the millimetres. The only reason why we use 35 and 50 mm "equivalent" is that we grew up with pretty much only one "sensor" - 35mm film. Since the sensor on my Fuji is APS-C with 1.5 crop, it just means that 23 mm is equivalent to a 35 mm analogue camera/full-frame digital camera. Personally, I am leaning to 35 mm. But not totally. Because my first camera (for 10 years) had only one lens - a 40 mm 2.8. By shooting with that alone, the field of view became internalized. I did not really have to look through the viewfinder since I knew what the lens/camera/film was seeing. So I guess I can blame childhood for my "choice".

I'd really love to see more on event photography, low light situations, performance of arts as well as studio stuff.

When I started photography I got a kit lens and 50mm and most of the time it was difficult to get the frame I want with the 50mm. Therefore I went to 35mm on a crop body and it felt perfect for portraits. As for what tutorials I would really want to see "how to pose a model"'. Keep making great videos!

I'd like a tutorial showing start to finish of planning, filming, and editing a RU-vid video.

Your videos are so clear and on point and also entertaining:) Thank you!

Very detailed video, really appreciate the effort you put in

Can you post the pictures of the models? For research purposes.

have a 30mm 1.4 sigma on my canon 1100d, its wicked ! A bit expensive for a 2nd lens especially if you do it as a hobby and you're like 16 or so, but definetly worth !

Good food for thought, Jason. You really gave us a PEACE of your mind!! I do appreciate that you freely share your own learning curve in photography.

hey brother , i bought a new Sony a 7 iii but i am getting trouble in shooting moving objects video , the focus point is not moving as the object moves , is there any solution? does lens matter for this one? i have basic 24-78 lens

OMG I thought Potato jet was you and vise versa for months now 😂😂😂 I’m so confused rn 🤷🏼‍♂️

I came to a lot of these came conclusions when I started doing photography 😅. One thing to note is the crop factor on Canon is actually 1.6. On Sony it's 1.5. However if you're using a Micro 4/3s system, it's a 2x crop. Also the Canon M50 w/ the 50mm on a speed booster is pretty sweet. It gives you an equivalent focal length of 57mm.

Omg this is such a funny AND informative video!!! Thank you Jason Vong!!

I just love your videos. Great info and fun to watch.

I find myself going back to using a 35mm equivalent lens (that would be 23mm on an APS-C camera) for documentary images. Anything wider starts showing distortion, especially in faces near the edge of the image, and anything longer does not always let you get close enough. If I carry one lens it’s that one, not a 50mm.

Sigma 30mm f1.4 for my APSC SONY A6400🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Awesome explanation, thanks Jason

great info made a lot of sense and easy to understand

also keep in mind that each crop camera system can have a different crop factor. For instance, canon APS-C is usually 1.6x and Micro4/3 is usually 2x

5:24 they do that because the number printed on the lens is actually the exact value and the "true focal length". And not when you multiply it .

Man! Your video is pure Gold ! Thank you very Much.

This video is exactly what I need, thank you!

when he said “who needs gir-“ and the gear flew across the room 🤣🤣i lost it

I still love my 50mm. I bought it for my t3i about 6 yrs ago. Still use it on my now 5dm4. Love the bokeh that’s always given me. I don’t regret buying it

Love all the smooth transitions in your video! man now i gotta step my video quality up! haha

so I recently just got a Sony e mount 50mm f1.8 lens and on the box where it says "50mm" It says right below it "35mm full frame" so even though its clearly stating on the box this is 50mm for an apse sensor, does your reasoning still apply!?

great info

Please do a review of the sigma 16mm ,30mm and 56 with the a6400 on the FeiyuTech G6 Plus Gimbal PLEASE!

Great video! Learned a lot.

Hlad someone finally did this for the beginners out there! Thanks Jason!

I was going crazy with my 85mm with my nikon d3400... only to know now that would have been a 127.5mm focal length!

Long story short, A 50mm is the best starting focal distance for all-around shooting. Just know the crop factor of your camera, and what you want to shoot. If you're using a cropped APSC sensor, get a 35mm instead. If your focus is landscapes go about 1/2 that.

I absolutely love your content and your personality!

Great video my dude! My buddy forwarded me your video since we just started using old legacy Canon lenses on our APS-C cameras. We're both using 50mm and indeed noticed the crop factor; their basically a 75mm focal length. Amazing lenses for portraits but definitely something we both gotta get use to. Keep up the good work 👌

I remember when I first bought my Canon T3i people told me the same thing, get a 50mm. I got and was like “wtf it’s so zoomed in”. Now that I know what I’m doing, I enjoy it on crop cameras for that “portrait” look, though I do love my 40mm a little bit more lol

Maybe more "what not to do as a beginner" videos

Glad you covered this topic, man! As for tutorial info, I’d be interested to see your approach to file management and backups after a shoot!

Is there any Similar lens to Olympus 75mm for A6400

85 on a APS-C, why not? The recommendation a portrait lens is 85mm to 135mm

I just got 50 f1.2.. damn, where have YT recommendations been..

Finally! Thank you! Been wondering about a few of those points for ages. Would love to see a video about old/cheap cameras still worth buying. Cheers

This video really helped me out! That’s what I was told to must get the 50, and I did go back to my kit. Wish seen this sooner!

So true, wish I had seen this earlier...

50mm is almost always better on full frame. On a crop sensor, it's basically an 85. Not terrible for portraits still, but you're going to have to have a bit of space in your studio. I would recommend for everyone to get a 50mm AND a 35mm.... Both are really close to the human perceptual range of 42mm, but one is slightly telephoto and thus very flattering for facial features on portraits and the other is slightly wide angle and thus you're able to get really close to your subject and shoot a bunch of different stuff in tight spaces. I use the 2 of these primes for like, 90% of my photography.

Yes more rabbit holes please. I love these types of videos and it’s really helping me choose what lense to start out with.

This is so useful bro thanks alot.. 🤩

If they wrote anything else but the true value of the focal length on a lens... they would straight up lie. Because a 50mm lens always remains a 50mm lens. The glass is shaped to have it's focal point 50mm from the center of the principal plane. Full frame or not, what you mean is that the angle of view is different when you put different sensors behind the lens.

Literally ordered the sony 50mm 1.8 last night...just changed my order to the sigma 30mm 1.4. I didn't know I needed this video, but Jason Vong did...what is this sorcery?

I'd like to see more videos on composition in various settings. Love your work Jason!

Thanks. You surely have covered a lot that took me so many years to learn and understand

Where was this video when I bought my a6400 lol that was the first lens I bought after watching hours of RU-vid .. then my son's kindergarten classroom graduation I was pushing myself against the wall for a shot 😂😂 Was going to say a macro extension vid should be next but guess your on it already , so how about some water photography tips since it's summer

OMG I thought the same thing. I was originally going to get the a7iii bit ended up getting the a6400. You are totally right it feels really close.

Thank you for all the insights. Just got the a7c with the 20mm 1.8

i've got a sony a6400 and it came with the 16-50mm kit lens, if i understood correctly its more like its working as a 24-75mm lens?

There's also a thing like speedboosters for removing that crop factor (when using vintage FF lenses)

i just ordered the 50mm f/1.8 for my 200d and its on its way lol, no going back now

I went through the exact same thing with my first camera. Found the digital rev channel and it was all about the 50mm. When I got it great, but I had no idea how tight the shot would be. I loved the bokeh, but it was super soft at 1.8. Ended up getting the sigma 30 1.4 for canon and once I moved to sony a6000 first lens I got other than the kit was the sigma 30 1.4. Now have the a6400 and 18-135 kit. Been using the kit more than my sigma 30. Great kit lens. You have great videos that cover pretty much everything so it is hard to suggest another topic. Maybe indepth look at 18-135 kit lens if you have not already done one.

I love your way of making these video interesting and the way you did this is awesome 😉

damn the feels, i can relate you should've made this video 4 years ago lol

What is obsession with wider angle lenses. I love the crop / zoomed in portraits (shoulders and higher). Tack sharp eye AF and bokeh. Less distortion

get a 50mm if you're looking for that foreground-background compression, and do understand that you need considerable amount of space between you and subject, which means, either studio scenario or scripted shot with full control over your set. it's kinda fun to do full/long shot with a short tele like the 50

Awesome job! Love the video! Thanks

I would love to see a astrophotography video from you, or a collaboration with Sony ambassador Kyle Meyr, and see you take photos together.

It really depends on what type of photography you are in when choosing the next lens, and man this is a really good guide

which lens should I buy next for video work. I have 16mm 1.4 56mm or 30mm? Thanks!

Great video and kept my attention!!!

I’d love to see more tutorials on portrait photography! 😁😁 I Love the 50mm focal length, perfect for portraits. But I really agree that 50mm is too tight, so 35mm or 24mm is good for all around.

Finally one talking about that. I made the same mistake

*Not Sure if you've Done is yet, but have you made a Similar Video like this but for Video not Photography?*

Very clear explanation! I have a full frame but still got a lot of useful info! Thanks!

So today I learned "Jason Vong" isn't "Potato Jet" 's secondary channel ... They aren't the same guy. Hope I'm not racist

Marking aps-c lens with ff focal length rates just ridiculous, and I never understand that

Thanks Jason ! I love ur channel 😍 waiting for dji ronin sc video 😋

You and Vivian are SO funny! Your videos are also very informative and well organized. I look forward to your reviews and learning and laughing with you. Thanks guys

Dudeeee finallyyy a newwwwww videoooo

"5 tips when going freelance"

what is the best video lens for sony a7r3 ? is sony 16-35mm f2.8 gm best? but more expensive.. is there any other recommendations?

I have a 85mm 1.8 on crop sensor which is basically 135 full frame. It's kinda tight zoomed but amazing for getting candid head shots when someone is across the room or a distance away.

Lmao 30 seconds in the video and I'm already laughing

50 is a horrible recommendation for many. Recommendation needs to be on FOV

Thanks to videos like this I learned very early on how to calculate the proper field of view for my apsc camera. I’d love to see a video on how to construct a solid portfolio or website, or walk us through how you made yours!

Wow I actually learned something, thank you brother.👌

I'm glad I just found this video, I have an a6400 and was thinking of getting a 50mm but now you changed my mind. Love your videos!

Thanks for the video. Over the years, I have tried 50mm, 55mm, 45mm, and 40mm focal lengths. All four are considered “normal” or “standard” focal lengths for “full-frame” cameras. I personally prefer the 40mm.

Just love the lens you’re with. Period.

Wich lence is best for Nature closeups?