The Nifty Fifty: The 50mm Prime Lens

What is a prime lens?

For those who are quite new in the world of Photography and are wondering what a prime lens is, here’s a simple definition of what it is. A prime lens is a lens that has a fixed focal length as opposed to zoom or telephoto lenses that have a wide range of lengths. prime lenses vary from 20mm, 24mm 35mm, 50mm to 600mm. This article will focus mainly on the Nifty Fifty 50mm prime lens.

Why buy a 50mm prime lens when you already have a zoom lens that has a 50mm mark on it?

It’s a fact that a 50mm prime lens is less versatile compared to a 28-80mm lens or other zoom lenses that include 50mm in their range, however, it is also a fact that a 50mm prime lens has better optical quality, thus produces sharper images. Besides the image quality, 50mm prime lenses are also easier to carry as they are smaller and less bulky. It is also a fact that with a 50mm prime lens you can produce astonishing images at a lower cost. Most prime lenses, especially the 50mm prime lens f 1.8 and f1.4, are sold in the market at a cheap price, because their design and parts are simpler compared to that of a zoom lens that needs more elements and complicated parts that can offer multiple focal lengths.

Most zoom lenses have poor depth of field as opposed to a 50mm prime lens that gives its users a better depth of field control. A 50mm prime lens produces sharper images than a zoom lens, since prime lenses have been modified to produce clear, crisp and sharp images.

Another benefit of having a 50mm prime lens is that it has a larger maximum aperture: 50mm prime lenses have maximum aperture that ranges from 1.8 to 1.0. Having a larger opening gives its users the capability shoot in low-light conditions without having to sacrifice the quality of the image by raising the ISO, and without having to use the slowest shutter speed or the bulb mode.

Lenses that have lower f-numbers or larger openings produce better bokeh. Prime lenses, such as the 50mm lens, produce wonderful bokeh because they have better aperture blades than zoom lenses.

Photo by: BigTallGuy

Photo by: fRandi-Shooters

Photo by: [puamelia]

The disadvantages of using a prime lens

Prime lenses have bad sides too; one obvious drawback of using a 50mm prime lens is that you are unable to zoom in and out like you would with a zoom or telephoto lens. 50mm prime lens users, however, zoom in and out with their feet. If they need a closer shot they just have to move closer to the subject and move farther away when they need to add more context. This aspect makes 50mm prime lens users more careful and more creative when it comes to composing their shots, which is a good thing.

Another drawback of the 50mm prime lens is that its focus ring, like most prime lens’s focus ring, is more sensitive than that of a zoom lens. The AF system of your camera may help you with this, but most photographers would say that manual focus is still best to use, you just have to play with it until you find that sweet spot. The highly sensitive focus ring of 50mm prime lenses will give its users focus variations to choose from.

It is true that the 50mm prime lens has drawbacks, but you can always work your way around each of them, and these drawbacks will help you become more aware of your composition, which will eventually improve your photography skills.

Here are the different 50mm prime lenses you can choose from:

Canon 50mm Prime Lenses

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon 50mm Prime Lenses

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G SIC SW Prime Nikkor

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Other 50mm Prime Lenses

Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT

Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens