The 50mm lens is an amazing tool that has been a favorite for many photographers since before you were born. The concept that it is boring… the photos you shoot with it may be boring, but this lens is far from boring.
My first own camera back in 1974 was an OM-1 with a 50/1.8 Zuiko lens. For 6 years I didn’t have any other lens, but boy how you learn to shoot with a 50. Today, I still have that camera and lens here and the 50 (nowadays a 50 Lux) is still my single favorite lens. It should be anyones ‘deserted island’ lens. You’re so right to make this point again…
I recently bought a Nikon Df and a 40mm f/2 Voigtlander lens. This combination has brought the joy back into photography for me. It's all so refreshingly simple. Not having all of the "information" that and evf provides and thinking more about composition and the emotions motivating me to take a photo is just so cathartic. I appreciate your video.
Back when I was a newspaper photographer back in the 90’s, I shot exclusively with the Nikon F3 with the 50mm and Tri-X 400. I have a 50mm on my F2 and one on my Nikon S2. I also find the 80mm on my medium format is also great. I find that any focal length above a 85mm is too tight and usually mostly good for nature shots.
I found your videos recently and I really love them, I started photography as a hobby in the late 70's and decided that that was what I wanted to make for a living, I quit my rep job with a top of the line pharmaceutical company (Now responsible for the number 1 Covid vaccine) and started venturing into commercial photography, right at the beginning of my photography venture, I shot weddings for only 3 years to supplement my income, my point is that the first year as a wedding photographer, I only shot with a 50 mm lens, all manual mode and I had a lot of requests to shoot weddings, people didn't care about the camera gear, they loved the results, my second year I got a 35-105 lens and that is all I had to shoot weddings, but nowadays, I see all the gear this guys shot with and it has to be auto everything, sometimes I come across the DP preview guys and feel sorry that these new guys can't live without automated cameras and camera grips, it's like they almost want the cameras to do the job for them, anyway, sorry for the long comment. Keep up with the great videos.
Great video! I was using 28mm/35mm mostly for street/every day in the last year and then went to 50mm and used it exactly the same way zone focussing...it can be a wide angle if you want it to be...it can be a tele if you want it to be...all up to the user.
Just bought Carl Zeiss Loxia 50mm f2 for my Sony A7rII ….. basically, to go back to my ‘roots’ (40 years ago) when I started this hobby/profession of ours called photography!
I'm on and off again photographer now, and I 98% use the 50 mm lens. There's something about it that makes me more invested in my shot. Whether I need to go closer, farther away ETC. I feel like I think about my shots a lot more when using it. I also love how it can soak up so much light!
I committed to 50mm earlier this year without really understanding the ramifications of doing so, but I've been really appreciating the gains I've made from the decision. Thanks for the video
Thanks a lot for an inspiring video. I love my 50mm lenses, l got 4 of them. Lately l have’nt used them that much, but after watching your video, l would certainty go and have a day out with my camera and 50mm’s again. Thx a lot😊👍
THANKS FOR THE INFO ON THE NIFTY FIFTY! I started out with a 50mm 1.8 Nikon lens, and when that was damaged, I found myself possessing a classic 55mm Nikon macro lens with MANUAL focusing: once I got used to the focusing, I fell in love with it! It's razor sharp and is a great walkaround lens..agaon, THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO!
So true. Just got back into photography after 40 years. Now 62 I have a very old but lovely M8 and I have partnered it with a 35 mm Voightlander lens. (46mm with the crop factor so a fifty really). Its a great lens and yes, its not easy to get great shots with a fifity ...without some bloody effort. Bresson shot with a fifty, didn't stop him! The camera is a tool, no more...Its up to you to hone your skill. Do the work!
I think that the 50mm is my favourite focal length, I own, not sure, 12 or 15 different 50mm lenses, vintage (leica, takumar, fujinon, industar...) and actual (fuji, sony, canon) and I really think it's the perfect all-terrain lens. Boring? Maybe, I don't know, I like it too much, you can have a lot of separation if you want, bokeh is really amazing in some lenses, and the image is not distorted. Maybe it's not perfect for everything, but it's really, really good. Totally agree with you today!! A suggestion: Maybe a video commenting the materials that you use for the background drops? Is it paper, or do you use fabric?? If so, how do you iron it?? 😀
Truly enjoy your honest content! Kept my 50mm & 85mm then traded in all other lenses for the Leica Q2 28mm. A 35mm one day, maybe, but I am able to do what I enjoy.
I take walks in our nature park with a lumix pocket zoom. Sometimes I take a dslr with a zoom. But for my regular job head shots, I use old film 50mm, 55, 58 glass...on a dslr or sony adapted. They give such nice, consistent quality.
i started shooting photos 1 month ago with my canon 600D + EF50mm1.8stm. Its a magic combo outdoors! Indoors there is no much space....but you can do some portraits also!
In the late 70s and the 80s 50mm was the standard normal lens and the only one I had on my Canon. I still have it and sometime use it together with my Fuji and Kodachrome64 or TRI-X simulation.
I agree with your assessment on your comments.. about before RU-vidrs criticize what they don’t really know about what is take a photo with manual settings on SLR
I wouldn't sign on to your "In the oldie times, we ate pebbles, and it made us stronger!!" notion (and I took my first photos about 50 years ago with a Kodak Instamatic 110 ...) But what makes the 50mm prime interesting to me is it's closeness to the perspective of the human eye. That idea that I can preserve something I see or have in my mind and preserve it very nearly the way I see it is a quality in itself! As to the dominance of "unqualified *high-tech gear photographers",: The fact remains that they pick up their cameras and take photos! Were they to fail in reaching their artistic potential or that of their gear because they are distracted and lack the skills, I can't say anything to them but "Keep on going making photos and have fun with it!" It isn't easy to motivate someone to try making art. It is very easy to discourage someone, especially young people! *The Lomography community makes photos with Holgas, Dianas and old analogue cameras! I've seen videos in which 18-year-olds demonstrate how to load a film.
For normal street photography what I have found with different focal lengths is that the environment you're in is as important as the focal length. If interesting detail and people are sparse then something from 85 to 200 (maybe longer or a macro) feels like a standard view because the area your eyes are focused on is much smaller. If you live in a tightly packed city then something from 14 to 28 is nice because usually you want to get some context to your subject and you may not have the room to step a few steps back. To me 35mm and 50mm feel normal in cities I live near as they are small and quite sparsely populated.
My pentax me came with a 50 1.8 that I used for 20 years. I have dozens of lenses but 50 isn't a favorite... yet I somehow have 5! The 50 1.4D came with my newly acquired f6. Cartier Bresson shot with a 50 and his images are not boring. Ansel nailed it, the most important part of the camera i s the 12 inches behind it. I too love my voigtlander , a 58 nokton. The pancake is fun and makes a small package on a vintage fm2n. The 15 yr old sigma has gorgeous bokeh. For street, I lke a 50 and shot it's equivalent in 645, 6x6.
I have shot with many primes from 24/135 for about ten years as an intermediate skill level photographer. The focal lengths I seem to be able to compose best with are 28, 40, 65 and 90. I don't know why its just a flow with those 4 lenses
I have always had a 50mm but never really used it much. Maybe a few shots then I would swap it for a 35mm or 28mm. You have made me think about why. Maybe it is just difficult to use effectively. Challenge accepted!
I always say 28, 50, 90 (85 for some) is one crew, the other hovers around the 24, 35, 75. The 28 at close focus when you have to be in the action is phenomenal and dynamic, but when you have to step away or want to communicate with your subject in a portrait or simply just keep a little more distance a 50 is the best. The 90 (85) for detail, for up in it when you can't get close enough with the 28 and you want to see the sweat on a brow. Instant separation just barely stopped down with that 90 (85). The 24, 35, 75 crowd like it wide, and not so close. The 75 is a portrait lens, but almost works like a 50 in so many ways. The 35 can also work a little like a 50, and the 24 is just point at anything and you will likely get it. So with this formula of primes, you can see that the 50 is literally between the 35 and 75 and has attributes of both. For environmental portraiture, wide enough to get in some context like the 35, but close enough to show some detail for particulars. The 50 is not as easy to zone focus as the 24, 28, 35 but you can with practice remember it enough to not always have to look to focus - so it can be fast, especially on manual cameras.What do they say, "zoom with your feet"? In my experience this is what the 50 does, it becomes physical photography when you have a 50 and pay attention. The 50mm kens context and detail at the same time is what makes dreams dreams. Good video.
Since smartphone the 50mm is not the "normal" every day look anymore. This became wide oder super-wide angle, which most people are not able to use. 50mm meanwhile gives a classical / different look for young eyes I guess. I personally prefer to take the 35mm along, to not be too long for a scene, just to realize often enough, the fifty would have fit better.
Never heard someone say that the 50mm was boring (luckely) but if someone would say so I would wonder if he/she understands the effect of the focal lenght on the look and feel of your picture (and therfore I would not trust his advice). If the story is that 'a blurry background = Artisic' I would also not take advice from that person. I own an old minolta 50mm f1.7 I use it a lot (fun fact: it makes you move around a lot).
I own 5 different 50mm lenses. Not sure why. From the Nocti f0.95 to a 1959 Elmar f2.8. It’s horses for courses - but I invariably come back to this focal length. Why boring?
100%. I almost expect anxiety from beginners who buy the 50mm as one of their first lenses, as it's very tricky to get results! (I'm still halfway in that category myself). I think a lot of 24-35mm etc photos are too lazy, relying on the basic wow factor of distortion and only weakly considering the background. With the 50mm, it can be like having to portrait the foreground and portrait the background simultaneously. I love that. It's like composing a comic strip panel or a miniature model vignette.
I got the 50 and then later the 28 with my Pentax k1000 a few (48) years back. I was always most comfortable with the 50. But in today’s “the camera does everything for you” age, I think you have a valid point with new photographers.
The 50 mm lens is not at all boring. It is a tool, and like any tool it takes skill and vision to master it. Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ralph Gibson used it almost exclusively for photography, and the master filmmaker Yasurjiro Ozu used the 50 mm exclusively. I would not call their work boring. It is exceptional. Yes it’s difficult to master. Remember, “a poor carpenter blames his tools”. Don’t dismiss the tool, master it. Find your vision within the discipline … dare to be great 👍! PS. I too love the Voigtlander 50 Apo Lanthar an exceptional lens, and am endeavoring to master it. It’s not up to the paintbrush to paint your masterpiece, its instrument of your vision.
@@kaskoPhoto can i ask you what lens you would recommend to grow with as a photographer and explore photography: 18mm, 23mm, 33/35mm or 50mm? I like to photograph my dog and like, trees/reflections and stuff but i want to photograph various things! :D
Can’t agree more. Amateurs talk about cameras, professionals about lenses, only true artist speak about light. Btw, everyone should start their photography journey with a 50mm prime lens…
Love the video! I prefer to shoot on a 50mm vs. 85mm for portraiture any day of the week. Why??? That’s simple. I can interact/direct my subject from just feet away instead of yelling out commands from 10 feet away. If you shoot at 1.2…yes, you risk one eye being in-focus and one eye out, but that’s an easy fix. Back up a few feet and boom. Now your entire subject is in the same plane and now in focus. Distortion…eh, there’s barely anything worth getting your panties in a twist. It’s not wide enough….you must be an amateur. And to your credit…people that say - “It’s boring,” well…you’re boring. I keep my 50mm on 24/7 unless I need a specific lens for a specific reason. Then I change. I hope more people continue to buy into the BS that 50mm is boring so I can pick up older MF lenses that have wayyyyy more character than these newer lenses. I just found your channel and love that you’re telling it how it is. No BS or fluff.
For me a 35mm lens is much more boring than a 50mm lens. I have to use it a lot more to get used to it, I guess. A 50mm, or 45mm, or 55mm, I don't find boring at all.
It certainly provides content creation ideas for your channel, no doubt.... but otherwise I'd say you *really* need to cull your subscription list at this point! LMAO You're going to explode on camera soon.
Some people may not like 50mm because they depend on a shitload of blur behind their subject to make anything "look good". Can't take any extra effort.
