So this week was 50mm week and I spent the week with the plastic
fantastic 50mm f1.8. I've been a champion of this lens since I got my
first DSLR; whenever someone asks me what lens they should get after
the kit lens I always recommend the nifty fifty. It's cheap, it's very
sharp, it's very light and it's fast. On a crop factor DSLR it makes a
great low-light portrait lens, however, on a full frame DSLR I'd
forgotten just how 'normal' it was. It took me back to my film days
when this lens was the standard lens that came with most SLRs -
something like it was the standard lens with my 1st,
2nd
and 3rd
SLRs. Back then I couldn't wait to ditch the standard lens to get
something less normal - even then I loved my 200mm to isolate details
and my 24mm to distort things. Maybe I've been relying on lens
dramatics ever since but I did find using the 50mm all week and little
tough. They tell you to zoom with your feet but there are
many times you just can't close or far away enough to get the shot you
want. It doesn't focus close enough to really isolate details. I worked
with it but I did find it distinctly uninspiring most days. It did
teach me something but I am glad to get it off the camera and get back
to me beloved 24-105mm.
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