I'm in love with the 50mm lens!

[Pfreddee]

I try other focal lengths occasionally, mainly 28mm and 85, but I keep coming back to 50mm or its equivalent in DX cameras. I love the idea of zooms (going to get one for my D7000) but once I get one on my camera, I get the colliewobbles from too many choices available to me.😱 Doesn't mean I can't use a zoom, or the other focal lengths, but I really, really prefer my 50mm. Does anyone else have this quirk/eccentricity/lunacy?

Thanks to all who reply.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[Chris101]

Yes, I do, but about 35mm lenses. Having too many choices in lenses is very distracting for me.

 

[daveleo]

I never really bonded with zoom lenses, they are wicked convenient, for sure, but . . . . but . . . . but . . . I don't know. Good for emergencies and fast shooting I think.

I have a 28mm Nikkor on my DX/SLR camera (42mm EFOV) and the X100 (36mm EFOV) and they keep me happy 95% of the time.

Much more importantly, to me, is how the images look, and it took me forever and ever to discover the Nikkor 28mm lens. So . . . don't just lock into a focal length or a EFOV - experiment with the lenses too.

 

[big macker]

same here.

i have like ten 50mm rf and slr lenses, two 35, one 28 and one 85.

i like 50mm the most. when i travel, i sometimes bring one elmar 50/3.5 and one canon 50/1.2. i see no absolute need to bring other lenses.

at times, i use one 35 at night.

and i prefer much m2 to m3, regardless of how good a pair some think of m3/50mm combo. i just compose better with a 0.72 finder

 

[charjohncarter]

All in all, 50mm for 35mm cameras is the best choice: distortion, lens sharpness, perspective, and depth of field considered.

 

[Doug]

Just got back from a couple weeks in Hawaii, taking 28, 50, and 90, and FF camera. Used the 28 only on the plane, didn't touch the 90, and was content using the 50 otherwise. Another time I took 25 and 50 on 1.3x crop camera and was surprised how useful the 50 was there too.

I like 35 or 40 the best for general walkabout. But I can adjust my seeing to see photo ops for whatever lens is on the camera, from 21mm on up... 🙂 But like Dave, zooms throw me for a loop too!

 

[f16sunshine]

Yes sir fully agree !

 

[M Currie]

I've tried all sorts of lenses and love lots of them, but it's true, I find myself going back the 50 more often than not. The perspective is close enough to what I see, and it just seems right. When I'm using a zoom, I'll compose and then look at the setting and find it's pretty close to 50 any way. Of course it doesn't hurt that just about every manufacturer makes a really good 50 that is sharp, fast and cheap, which means that just about any camera I decide to try will have something sharp, fast and cheap available.

 

[Pioneer]

I agree wholeheartedly. I love my 50s (or the equivalent 🙂) Even when I have a zoom on the camera it is almost always set at 50.

 

[Harry Caul]

I share an equally strong love, but I think 40-45mm is my preferred range. All of my favorite cameras seem to use those focal length equivalents -- Plaubel Makina 670 (~40mm), Rollei TLRs (~43-45mm), Contax G (45mm), and the m43 20mm Panasonic (~40mm). I do love 50s, though, and I would choose one over a 35mm for sure. In fact I'm currently using the Panasonic 25mm (~50mm) for probably 50% or more of my shooting because it focuses SOOOO much faster than the 20mm. Damn them for not fixing the focus speed and noise in the mark II release!

 

[Godfrey]

I learned some time ago that the ideal system for me is a set of reasonably fast primes in the wide to portrait tele range, with an ultra-wide zoom and a medium-longish zoom rounding out the ends.

What I shoot with the vast majority of the time is either a fast normal or wide-normal lens ... 40-50mm equivalent focal length ... on whatever format camera I happen to be working with.

That means what I use most on various cameras :
M9 - Nokton 50/1.5
CL - M-Rokkor 40/2
E-M1 - Summilux-DG 25/1.4
500CM - Planar 80/2.8

The exception is the Olympus E-1 where I think I've taken the most photos with the ZD 35/3.5 Macro ... a modest portrait tele on the format.

I am becoming more comfortable with a fast 28mm equivalent in some cases, however.

G

 

[Sid836]

50mm are my favourites and I have at least one for each of my SLRs. I have a couple of 28mm ones but I hate distortions.
Rarely I go beyond 135mm.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Yep, I love my 50s me! And not just from a collector's standpoint. Honest! 😀

Of the 12 LTM lenses I have, 7 are 50mms (Summitars, Summars, an Elmar and a Xenon)....and that's not counting the FSU lenses.

I think it's because subconsiously I learned how far I need to be from the subject to get a certain shot with the 50mm view angle. I find that with shorter focal distances and Teles I'm stepping away or closer to the subject all the time. I'd probably get used to using a different focal length given enough time.





Hi! I'm Rick, and I'm addicted to 50mm lenses.

 

[rbsinto]

I try other focal lengths occasionally, mainly 28mm and 85, but I keep coming back to 50mm or its equivalent in DX cameras. I love the idea of zooms (going to get one for my D7000) but once I get one on my camera, I get the colliewobbles from too many choices available to me.😱 Doesn't mean I can't use a zoom, or the other focal lengths, but I really, really prefer my 50mm. Does anyone else have this quirk/eccentricity/lunacy?

Thanks to all who reply.

With best regards,



Pfreddee(Stephen)

Not me.
The fifty is a lens I almost never use. Never liked it from the very start.
Too long to be wide and too wide to be long, it's neither here nor there. I've got two of them, a Nikkor 1.4 AI and a Nikon rangefinder re-issue 1.4, and they both sit in a drawer.
Except for their high speed, I just don't ever find a need for them.
Instead, I've got two 35mm lens that take the place of the 50s. The 35s gives me just a bit more surrounding when I shoot on the streets, and for me are a much better fit.

 

[Bill Clark]

Yes, I agree.

I have 50mm Leica lenses.

like them all!

 

[iamzip]

For many years I shot with only a 50mm lens; it was the only one I had. However, I must confess that when I am out for the day with my family, I often have a superzoom 18-200 on my dSLR😱

 

[froyd]

50 for SLRs, 35 for RF. Don't as k me why, but that's the way I like it.

I think it as to do with the space around the RF framelines, with a 50 ona .72 body, I see what' "I'm missing", whereas on my SLR, the tunnel vision and 100% vf help me compose more selectively, and in that case, the 50 is my go-to lens.

 

[danielsterno]

Ive been a 35mm only both on RF & x100. Just got my first 50mm, Cron Rigid and really enjoying the framing despite not thinking so… can't wait to see the developed film…..

 

[Samouraï]

50 has always been my favorite as well, though I'm recently beginning to prefer my 85L.

But for photographing a full-length scene, or general street, a 50 just looks so much better than a 35 to me.

 

[kxl]

I have tried to like the AOV from a 35mm lens on a FF body, but have never really felt comfortable with it. OTOH, a 50mm seems just about perfect, expecially when complemented by a 25mm and an 85mm.