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CT · 13-08-2005, 00:09

It's not a stupid question mate. The 50mm lens is as you say, the one where the view through the viewfinder equates pretty well to the human eye in proprtions and perspective. That's only true with a 1:1 format camera though. With a 1.6X crop camera that 50mm lens becomes an 80mm equivalent in terms of field of view so the foregoing advantages are lost straight away.

However, 80mm is a pretty useful portait lens length. The real advantage though is that you're getting a very fast lens for available light work with the large aperture giving nice oof backgrounds. Being a fixed focal length it tends to be really crisp in comparison to even the best zooms too.

I bought the 1.4 50mm 2nd hand and it's a belter.

Edit.. The 1.8 is an incredible bargain!!

13-08-2005, 00:09	#10 (permalink)
CT Feet under the table Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Mids UK Posts: 3,500	It's not a stupid question mate. The 50mm lens is as you say, the one where the view through the viewfinder equates pretty well to the human eye in proprtions and perspective. That's only true with a 1:1 format camera though. With a 1.6X crop camera that 50mm lens becomes an 80mm equivalent in terms of field of view so the foregoing advantages are lost straight away. However, 80mm is a pretty useful portait lens length. The real advantage though is that you're getting a very fast lens for available light work with the large aperture giving nice oof backgrounds. Being a fixed focal length it tends to be really crisp in comparison to even the best zooms too. I bought the 1.4 50mm 2nd hand and it's a belter. Edit.. The 1.8 is an incredible bargain!! Last edited by CT : 13-08-2005 at 00:11.