Show me your 50/55mm images

[MarkoKovacevic]

I've been using my 28 totally, as my style of photography leans towards documentary, and I like getting in close and using the wide effect.

Show me some photos from your 50mm! Also, what type of photos or subject matter do you think a 50 is suited towards? What is it not suited towards? I'm more of a documentary with people photographer personally.

 

[punkromance]

D700 + 50/1.8
All unedited.

 

[Renegade]

For me, a 50mm is more suited toward emphasizing the subject without isolating it too much from the background or environment. I don't usually use it for landscapes unless my main objective is to focus on something in a scene. The challenge in using a 50mm is to frame your shot in a way that you emphasize on a subject that tells the whole story of the picture. Generally, a telephoto lens evidently conveys the subject as your story. A wide angle lens conveys a summary of the story. But a 50mm should make your audience think about what the story is with your subject in relation to the whole picture. This is my approach in using the different focal lengths.

Nikon FM2n 50mm f1.4 @ f2.8/ Velvia 50

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

50mm f1.4 AF-Nikkor, Nikon F4s

50mm f2 Haiou on an old Seagull DF-1. A really funky Chinese SLR.

 

[nzhang]

Haiou features 58mm f2 lenses, and it said to be a copy of Zeiss 58mm f2 biotar. It is my first SLR camera.

 

[alcaraban]

In summary, to me a 28mm shows a scene and a 50mm captures a character:

Minolta Maxxum7 + Minolta 50/1.4

Contax 139Q + Carl Zeiss Planar 1,7/50

 

[photophorous]

What a 50mm is used for in comparison to what a 28mm is used for will vary from person to person. You can get in close to people with either and you can take in a whole scene with either, but both of those conditions depend on subject distance and what kind of perspective you want in the image. Sorry if that's not really an answer. Here are some 50mm shots:

 

[J. Borger]

Also, what type of photos or subject matter do you think a 50 is suited towards? What is it not suited towards? I'm more of a documentary with people photographer personally.

HCB among others used 50mm for reportage/ documentary for years and years. In Fashion: Helmuth Newton is a famous user of the 50mm lens.
Ralph Gibson uses mostly 50mm for his fine-art photography.
The usability of focal length does not change over time.
I would look at HCB pictures to see how versatile 50mm is for your intended use .... see if you like his style of perfectly composed documentary pictures. Or you prefer the looser style with lot of environment included you get with a 28mm.
It's a matter of what you like or prefer yourself!
The samples shown above (except one) use the 50mm almost like a tele-lens.... and it can be used lik that, but not solely... it can also look pretty wide!