What's the big deal with the cheap 50mm lens?

elven

Well, it's cheap, and it's fast.

If you want to shoot in low light, you want to open that aperture up as much as possible and f1.8 is about as open as you're going to get without splashing out on an 85mm f1.2.

The lens can be bought in a shop in Dublin for about €130 I think, in Gunnes, Berminghams or Pixels on Grafton St - but if you get one on ebay from a familiar seller like Kea-photo you can go down to about 70, before postage.

It's also great to use in conjunction with extension tubes to get you started with macro, but that's covered elsewhere in the FAQs...

If you're looking for shallow depth of field (your subject in focus but everything in front and behind blurred) then this is also the guy for you.

There is a slightly more expensive alternative, the 50mm f1.4 which has better build quality, quicker/quieter AF, gets in that extra bit of light and doesn't have a moving front element when it focuses but I think you pay about 3x the price. The jury is still out on whether it's worth the extra money... borrow one and decide for yourself

TelePaul

elven wrote: »

Well, it's cheap, and it's fast.

I think you answered your own question there Elven!

challengemaster

you forgot to mention on crop bodies (eg. 400D - it's a 80mm f/1.8 really)

Borderfox

I find the AF more accurate on the 50mm f1.4. The f1.8 is such a good starter lens though.

melekalikimaka

Borderfox wrote: »

I find the AF more accurate on the 50mm f1.4. The f1.8 is such a good starter lens though.

i found the opposite, the af struggles when at 1.4 for mw when i used it

elven

TelePaul wrote: »

I think you answered your own question there Elven!

That's good I did the post for the FAQs sticky *points upwards*

Thirdfox

To follow up on what CM said:

In 35mm equivalents:
On a Nikon DX camera (and most camera brands like Sony, Pentax and Sigma) it becomes a 75mm f1.8 (but doesn't autofocus on 3 of Nikon's newest cameras) - on a FX it is 50mm

Depending on what Canon camera you use it can be a 80mm, 65mm or 50mm f1.8

On an Olympus it comes to a 100mm f1.8

TelePaul

elven wrote: »

That's good I did the post for the FAQs sticky *points upwards*

Yeah i read the FAQ, I was just joking around.

nilhg

Thirdfox wrote: »

To follow up on what CM said:

In 35mm equivalents:
On a Nikon DX camera (and most camera brands like Sony, Pentax and Sigma) it becomes a 75mm f1.8 (but doesn't autofocus on 3 of Nikon's newest cameras) - on a FX it is 50mm

Depending on what Canon camera you use it can be a 80mm, 65mm or 50mm f1.8

On an Olympus it comes to a 100mm f1.8

Just to avoid confusion, (I know what you meant) on an Olympus, it wont fit (without an adaptor), though there is a lovely 50 F2 macro, much dearer though.

Thirdfox

Sorry - I don't know the Olympus lens line-up that well (nor the Sony/Minolta or Pentax line ups either) - but I'm assuming they have similar lenses.

Sebzy

Thirdfox wrote: »

Sorry - I don't know the Olympus lens line-up that well (nor the Sony/Minolta or Pentax line ups either) - but I'm assuming they have similar lenses.

The Oly range is quite a bit more restrictive than C&N as they have few primes and all their(Leica/Panasonic/Olympus) lenses are newly developed just for digital but that said if you have the cash you can go from a 7mm to 800mm with no gaps.

Have a look here for the full range
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/lense.html

Thirdfox

Thanks for the link - wow - 1600mm (effective) focal length lens. Good thing they have built in IS

So no real cheap nifty-fifty for the Olympus camera then? (Apart from mounting a Nikon/Canon via adapters?)

nilhg

Thirdfox wrote: »

Thanks for the link - wow - 1600mm (effective) focal length lens. Good thing they have built in IS

So no real cheap nifty-fifty for the Olympus camera then? (Apart from mounting a Nikon/Canon via adapters?)

Gone completely OT, but its worth having a look here and matching the E410 with the Sigma 300-800

sheesh

bought my first dslr camera just before Christmas bought the body and a 50mm f1.8 so its been my only lens for all that time I've used it for landscapes gig photography and portraits very happy with the results one draw back is that it is not very wide so it takes time to get used to that the sharpness is great.

magicbastarder

nilhg wrote: »

Just to avoid confusion, (I know what you meant) on an Olympus, it wont fit (without an adaptor), though there is a lovely 50 F2 macro, much dearer though.

there's the panasonic 25mm f1.4 or sigma 30mm f1.4, but i can't find prices for them after a quick search.

Thirdfox

Around 300 euro if I remember correctly (Nikon fit)

stabo

Got my 50mm f1.8 in Gunnes the other day, for 117euro. Rang a few other shops and they charging 130euro.

Freddie59

stabo wrote: »

Got my 50mm f1.8 in Gunnes the other day, for 117euro. Rang a few other shops and they charging 130euro.

You can buy that Canon 50mm 1.8 (delivered) from Scotland for €82 with no duty. I bought the 50mm 1.4 for €253 (delivered). It costs just under €500 here.:)

stabo

Freddie59 wrote: »

You can buy that Canon 50mm 1.8 (delivered) from Scotland for €82 with no duty. I bought the 50mm 1.4 for €253 (delivered). It costs just under €500 here.:)

I
know i had seen that post. But i was passing Gunnes the other day and seen they lowered the price and i wanted it this weekend. Very inpatient i know:)

Freddie59

stabo wrote: »

I
know i had seen that post. But i was passing Gunnes the other day and seen they lowered the price and i wanted it this weekend. Very inpatient i know:)

I've been there friend! Hands up.:o I'd be just as impatient at times!

Dundhoone

Apart from all the above stuff, the thing I like most about my 50mm on my nikon is that its neat and light. I've stopped trying to haul everything I own around "incase I might need it" and grab the camera with 50mm and off I go.

leinsterman

Well I had the nifty fifty 1.8 and dropped it one day ... to my horror its insides popped out ... it was a gorey scene from a horror movie ...

I remember my surprise when I first used it and saw the amazing quality it can produce ...

I have since replaced it with the 50 1.4 ... it is far better and more suited to my needs ... since when I travel I sometimes need something light and fast, partiuclarly indoors where flash is restricted ... but it also needs to be sturdy since it gets thrown around when you travel ...

Only problem is it rarely sees my camera mount ... despite the fact it is nearly always in the bag ...

shotcaller

Hey,

Just to avoid starting a new thread on this, I'm posting here. I'm thinking of buying Nikon D40 (body only) and, separately, a 50mm f1.8 lens for a combined price of €340. Seems like a good deal to me but as I'm a noob, not too sure.

Thanks for the FAQ, it answered lots of questions for me.

unreggd

whats go great about the 1.4???

and how often do people shoot at 1.8, let alone 1.4?

Thirdfox

shotcaller wrote: »

Hey,

Just to avoid starting a new thread on this, I'm posting here. I'm thinking of buying Nikon D40 (body only) and, separately, a 50mm f1.8 lens for a combined price of €340. Seems like a good deal to me but as I'm a noob, not too sure.

Thanks for the FAQ, it answered lots of questions for me.

With the D40 the 50mm will not autofocus but will still give you auto exposure.

That could be a problem for you (especially if it's going to be your primary lens) - however I have a D40 with a 50mm f2, which means I get manual focus and manual exposure which I tremendously enjoy using for photographic enjoyment...

but for ordinary day to day shots I imagine many people will be turned off by the lack of autofocus (especially if you need to focus in low light). Nikon and Sigma have released 50mm f1.4 lenses that will autofocus on the D40 though.

shotcaller

Thanks thirdfox. this is the lens i'm talking about. where it says type of focus, it says automatic?

Sorry, I'm a spa. i take it it's the camera's fault, not the lens.

Thirdfox

Yes it's the camera's "fault" (I'm defensive about my camera :P) as it lack an inbody motor that focuses all the AFD lenses (AFS, HSM and Di-II are the kind of lenses that work fully with the D40/x/60) these are the most modern lenses Nikon, Sigma and Tokina(?) make so any new lens will work with the D40

On the other hand - because it doesn't have the motor and a tab that's used alongside the motor it can mount really old lenses (like that 50mm f2 I'm have) - these are pre-AI and will damage the cameras that have an in-body lens. Why buy such an old lens? For me, it's cheap (30 euro for the 50mm f2), great quality (construction wise it blows any new lens out of the water) and just the experience of owning a 30+ year old metal lens that will still take fantastic pictures (not that the plastic fantastic 18-55mm kit lens is a great disappointment).

edit: here's a picture of it
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/images1/50mm-f2/50mm-f2-KEN_4011-460.jpg
(image taken from kenrockwell.com)
distance scale, hyperfocal length settings, aperture ring, all metal construction, infra-red compensation indicator... compare that to the plastic 50mm f1.8 AFD - not many lenses nowadays have these "features" anymore *sigh* and lol - almost no Nikon lenses are made in Japan anymore either (good for vintage collecting I suppose! but I use my lens as a photographic tool - great for macro when reverse mounting 2 lenses together)

CabanSail

Sigh .... I have 3 primes in storgage in Australia.

50mm f1.4, 135mm f2.8 (IIRC) & a 200mm f5.6

All circa 1972. All Manual Focus. Would love to use them again.

Ostrom

can you still mount old lenses on newer in-camera af bodies?

DaireQuinlan

efla wrote: »

can you still mount old lenses on newer in-camera af bodies?

If we're still talking Nikon here then yes. Practically every lens ever made after 1970 (or whenever Nikon introduced the AI lenses) will certainly -mount- on every camera made since then. There are gotchas though. The cheaper digital bodies won't meter with AI and AIS lenses, the d200/d300 up have the neccessary metering connection to allow it. You can still shoot manually though, and chimp it. More annoyingly, the newer G lenses can't really be used productively on the older manual bodies (like my FE2) because there's no aperture ring.

DanGerMus

Hey guys just wondering i have a d90 and would like to invest in one of these nifty fifties. Is it worth the extra to get the 1.4 over the 1.8 i really like night time stuff indoor and out so would i be better to get the 1.4. Do they perform pretty much the same all the way up to f1.8 and then the 1.4 starts to come into its own?

leinsterman

DanGerMus wrote: »

Hey guys just wondering i have a d90 and would like to invest in one of these nifty fifties. Is it worth the extra to get the 1.4 over the 1.8 i really like night time stuff indoor and out so would i be better to get the 1.4. Do they perform pretty much the same all the way up to f1.8 and then the 1.4 starts to come into its own?

I doesn't really work like that ... as a general rule any lens get less sharp at its extremities (F-stop, zoom) ... so even at F1.8 the F1.4 lens will probably be sharper.

In addition 1 stop = twice the amount of light at the expense of less dept of field (which is sometimes desirable for creative reasons) ... in practice this means for you - with low light shooting you can use a higher shutter speed or a lower ISO - i.e. less risk of shake or noise in the photo ...

In addition the F1.4 is probably better build quality all around .. I have no direct experience with Nikon on this but I have the Canon equivalent and there is a marked difference in quality ...

If budget is a big limitation you will find the F1.8 pretty good most of the time ... but if not then go for the fastest you can afford.

Sleepy

Just to update the ebay price, I just picked up the Canon 50mm 1.8 for €71.70 including postage.

DanGerMus

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NIKON-Nikkor-50mm-f-1-4D-f-1-4-f1-4D-f1-4-AF-Lens-NEW_W0QQitemZ390022444107QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item390022444107&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

So this is what i'm after then. Are there better or close to prices closer to home does anyone know?

pete4130

The majority of my 50mm 1.4 shots are shot at 1.4....the majority of my 50mm 1.8 shots are shot at 1.8.

unreggd wrote: »

whats go great about the 1.4???

and how often do people shoot at 1.8, let alone 1.4?

melekalikimaka

pete4130 wrote: »

The majority of my 50mm 1.4 shots are shot at 1.4....the majority of my 50mm 1.8 shots are shot at 1.8.

I'd agree

Zxc

Sleepy wrote: »

Just to update the ebay price, I just picked up the Canon 50mm 1.8 for €71.70 including postage.

Hey Sleepy.
This is a deal which would also interest me.
Can you give some details of where you found it?
Also, would you expect to have to pay additional customs, duty, etc on delivery?

ThOnda

I have to second what was mentioned above. I have 50/1.8 and most pictures are being shot at 1.8. The percentage will increase in two days time when my work horse (24-70/2.8) arrives. It has been loaded into the plane in Philipines at 4:30 PM

Sleepy

http://myworld.ebay.ie/citiwide-online/

It's from Hong Kong so there's probably a possibility of getting hit for import duty *******. Will update here if I get stung as so far I've only ordered cheap accessories which would fall under the threshold for duty...

Zxc

Sleepy, thanks for the link.
I hope you get your lens quickly and without extra cost.
I look forward to hearing about your experience.

Thirdfox

I have a 40 year old 50mm f2 - cost me 35 euro delivered to my door. And it is *very* sharp.

Here's one of San Francisco that I took during Christmas - (there was quite a bit of fog in the distance unfortunately).



Click here for the original file:
http://pix.ie/thirdfox/781899/size/0
*warning - very large file*

I believe this was at f8 and focused at infinity.

While I love my 18-55, for high details the 50mm beats it every single time (as long I hit the focus correctly).