Nikon 50mm 1.8

IanHoughton · 16-05-2007, 18:09

Well I bit the bullet yesterday and ordered a 50mm from One-Stop Digital, I hope to post up some shots as soon as it arrives.

Now just need to decide on either a flash gun (SB-600) or some studio lights (Interfit EX-150)

mmmmm

**stepheno** · 16-05-2007, 19:19

You won't regret it, Ian, and at the price everyone should have one in their bag.

***Dave*** · 16-05-2007, 19:49

Oh yes

.....& shooting at f/1.8 you'll find you don't need the flash for lots of indoor shots

skipper954 · 20-05-2007, 04:18

I love my nifty 50. But ya gotta be careful about shooting at 1.8. The dof is very narrow then.

I think that we all love to go to the extremes of lenses because we can, but they are not always the best option, particularly in mostly adequate light. After several months of shooting, I am 2 - 3 stops above 1.8 for portraits, for instance.

skip

Dutchie · 22-05-2007, 10:00

Ok so what does it do. Where do you use it for i mean. My mate has got one and she makes lovely pictures with that lens. I was looking at it yesterday. The price is not bad either and it certainly is a light weight lens to take along.

Or what does it do better then my lens of 18x135mm for example. I'm just trying to work out which lens is doing what.

**stepheno** · 22-05-2007, 10:07

If I am talking about the same lens your 18-135 has a widest aperture of f3.5. The 50mm has a widest aperture of f1.8. Basically at f1.8 you can let in more light through the lens, this allows for a faster shutter speed with two results. Firstly you can shoot in low-light situations, often without flash (indoors) and secondly allows for sharper images.

That is a layman's explanation. If you want the techies explanation then you'll have to wait for someone else

IanHoughton · 22-05-2007, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchie

Ok so what does it do. Where do you use it for i mean. My mate has got one and she makes lovely pictures with that lens. I was looking at it yesterday. The price is not bad either and it certainly is a light weight lens to take along.

Or what does it do better then my lens of 18x135mm for example. I'm just trying to work out which lens is doing what.

My main use for this lens will be portraits. A 50mm lens is meant to be the closest to what the human eye sees (although on a D50 this lens is really a 75mm due to the 1.5x crop factor). The differences between the 50mm 1.8 and the 18x135 lens are:

1) With the 50mm you have to use your feet as the zoom !!!! The focal length is fixed.
2) The maximum aperture is 1.8 (against 3.5 for the 18x135). This means the depth of focus is very narrow at 1.8, but you get nicely blurred backgrounds. You can also takes pictures in low light situations as the lens will let more light in at 1.8.
3) There are some tests on this forum that showed that the 50mm produces very sharp images.

I hope this hasn't been too confusing using my limited technical knowledge !!

Dutchie · 22-05-2007, 12:17

No it sounds good to me. At least i understand it now where you can use that lens for.

I'm just thinking for what would be a good lens for me and would i use it much. It would be a good one for me cause i'm definitely a portrait shooter. And i've held it with a d200. But the lens was very light. (only the lens on the d200 looked a bit out of proportion to me. Very small lens with such a big body

IanHoughton · 22-05-2007, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchie

Very small lens with such a big body

I hope you weren't talking about me.......

IanHoughton · 23-05-2007, 02:07

Some pictures from the new lens...

http://www.pixalo.com/community/phot...ens-14429.html

skipper954 · 23-05-2007, 02:55

Outstanding. Is it the lens or the photographer?

Those are wonderful images. Are you happy with them?

skip

bonniedidit · 23-05-2007, 04:04

I'm having some major lens envy here!

skipper954 · 23-05-2007, 04:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonniedidit

I'm having some major lens envy here!

No envy, Bonnie.

The lens for Nikon is only $100. That is of course, if you have the SLR.