Why Every Photographer Should Have a 50mm Lens

Friday 20 May 2022, 14:41 by Henny van Roomen | 5,566 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

As a professional photographer, I am often asked which lens someone should buy. The standard answer is, of course, always: it depends, what are you going to photograph?

However, there is still one lens that I think every photographer should have. I am talking about the 50mm prime lens.

In this article, I give you 6 reasons why you should have a 50mm lens.

1. They are incredibly sharp

Because the 50mm has a fixed focal length and cannot zoom, the lens has few moving parts and less glass. This means that the images you take with the lens are incredibly sharp.

Despite the lens being very simply constructed, they are often sharper than the most expensive zoom lenses.

2. The price

One of the biggest advantages of 50mm lenses is, of course, the price. You can get most 50mm lenses from a major brand for as little as 125 to 150 euros. This means you do not have to make a large investment to experiment with the lens.

3. It makes you more creative

I often see (beginning) photographers choosing as much zoom as possible. After all, it is very convenient because you can bring subjects closer. And it is versatile because you do not have to change lenses.

However, zooming also means you get a completely different perspective. On a full-frame camera, the 50mm has a perspective that is closest to that of our eyes.

With some genres, moving closer to take a photo instead of zooming can make a big difference to the atmosphere.

A 50mm prime lens cannot zoom, so you become more creative when taking photos because you have to move closer and think in advance about how you are going to take the photo.

4. Beautiful depth of field

The 50mm lens often has a low minimum aperture of 1.8 or even 1.4. This allows you to take beautiful photos with a shallow depth of field.

If you choose your background carefully and shoot with a wide aperture, you may even get the highly sought-after bokeh. These are the atmospheric circles in the blurred background of a photo.

5. Fast

Because the lens can have wide apertures, it is also extremely fast. This means you can take photos in dark conditions with faster shutter speeds. Just remember that you will then have little depth of field.

6. Light and compact

The final advantage of the 50mm lens is that it is very light and compact. Because the lens does not stand out, you can take photos much more discreetly without intimidating people straight away. Ideal if you are taking photos in the street, for example.

It is also always fun to amaze people with the beautiful photos you can take with the small lens.

The lens is also very light. Handy if you are walking around all day with your camera while on holiday or out walking, for example.

Are there any disadvantages?

Of course, this lens also has some disadvantages. The biggest one is, naturally, that you cannot zoom with this lens.

This makes the lens less suitable for reacting quickly to changes and moving subjects. For example, during assignments.

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