CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If you're a regular on UHH, you've probably seen a comment that goes something like, "a friend said I should get a 50mm prime lens." I'm not trying to argue for or against that idea. What I can say is a 50mm lens, on a full-frame body, roughly mimics the field of view of your eyes (use a 35mm lens on a cropped body for the same field of view). Just grab your camera and mount a lens that includes 50mm (or 35mm) and raise and lower the camera from your eye to confirm.

This post is less about 'why' anyone needs a 50mm prime, or any prime lens for that matter. Rather, what is important to me is the capability of a lens and the images it will deliver. I don't care if the lens is cheap or expensive, as long as it will deliver sharp images. Filtering by only the 50mm focal length, my Lightroom statistics came back at 6000+ images at 50mm, more than twice the amount of the next most popular focal length of the 241 discrete focal lengths in the catalog.

For me, a 50mm prime lens is a must. The images presented in this post intermingle my two Canon EF 50mm primes. I've never used the 'mid-point' f/1.4 model, so this bake-off is the L-series against the original 1987 f/1.8 'plastic fantastic'. Both lenses were purchased used, the EF 50mm f/1.8 being first acquired in 2013. In my earlier film life, I had used the manual focus Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 on film cameras going back to the early 1980s.

As you consider the various images and similar subjects, you can launch the URL links to see the lens model from the host Flickr page or just guess from the image which lens was used.

Romo’s Cafe by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The neon sign is a nostalgic icon of Route 66. If a business wanted to stand out from the crowd, they would need to do something pretty special. Starting in 1926, Route 66 passed through the nearby Petrified Forest and downtown Holbrook, Arizona. Tourism started taking over the local economy.

Check-in


The Chicago Theatre is a landmark theater located in the downtown Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. The distinctive Chicago Theatre marquee appears frequently in film, television, artwork, and photography.

Chicago Theater


The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio. The Hall of Fame Game, the annual NFL preseason opener, is played at the stadium adjacent to the Hall, and officially kicks off the NFL preseason.

NFL Hall of Fame


I use my two EF 50mm primes rather interchangeably, where the size / weight of what I want to carry nearly always determines which I pick. There are differences in the lenses, where for apertures f/1.2 to about f/2.5, the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is the clear winner, and for much of that range, the only competitor.

50mm prime lenses have a pleasing perspective that matches the field-of-view of the human eye. They take photos that don't have the sweeping lines or distorted perspective of images taken with wide angle lenses, or the compressed perspective created by telephoto lenses.

Delicate Arch


50mm lenses are simple. They tend to have six to eight elements inside, where zoom lenses may have twice the number of elements. The 50mm f/1.8 model is likely to be the cheapest lens in the entire line for every lens manufacturer. Most 50mm lenses represent excellent value for money.

Montrose Beach


For the EF mount, Canon makes three 50mm prime lenses (plus a 50mm macro lens). The current f/1.8 model is the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM that sells new for $125. All the EF 50 f/1.8 models are small and light weight. They seem not to add any additional weight to the camera. The current STM version weights just 5.6 oz / 160 grams.

Blue Mesa


With a fixed focal length lens, you have to move around to get a different perspective rather than turning the zoom dial. As you move around looking for the best point-of-view, you have a tendency to more closely consider your subject.

Montpelier


The L-version comes in at 20.9 ounces / 592 gm. It features weather sealing, 8 rounded aperture blades, lens hood and pouch, and the fast AF speed you'd expect of an L-series lens, as well as the 10x price over the f/1.8 version.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park


The newest EF 50 f/1.8 STM version returns to a metal lens mount, a feature of the original 'mark I' version of the lens used for these comparisons. The EF 50 f/1.8 II was the true 'plastic fantastic', although the optical formula remained the same as the 'mark I' it replaced.

Marsh Sunrise


In my kit bag, if the equipment isn't being used, it gets sold. After shooting mostly the 50L in 2018, I got it into my mind the EF 50 f/1.8 wasn't delivering as good of images and he was a candidate for selling. For 2019 the f/1.8 lens was used almost exclusively for 50-prime situations. And when the results from the year were considered, I was embarrassed to admit I ever had a concern about this lens.

For the selection of images in this post, I used the metadata filters in Lightroom to identify landscape images from these two lenses. I was surprised to see over a period of years going back to 2013, a few subjects would reoccur, such as these petting zoo goat close-ups.

Petting zoo goat


The 50mm prime is a useful portrait length on APS-C sensors, giving a 75mm - 80mm equivalent field of view.

Goat


These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

I agree about a 50mm. I really like mine on my D500.

Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

In reality, 42mm’s is what most closely resembles our field of view. However, how many of us look straight ahead without moving our eyes? Taking this into account, I think that the 35mm length more closely resembles our field of view. Just my opinion.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Great post and love the series of photos. Noting to argue about here!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I agree. I first used a film 50 in 1968, and by 1972, I had two of them (one was inherited, along with a Nikon FTn). In 1979, I sold both of them, as my 55mm f/3.5 Micro Nikkor macro served double duty.

In subsequent "film years," my 35mm f/2 became my most used lens. Today, my Micro 4/3 12-35mm f/2.8 (24-70mm in a full frame comparison) is my most used lens. Most of its usage is in the middle of the range, between 17 and 30mm (35 to 60mm FF equivalent). I have a 30mm f/2.8 macro lens, too, and it sees a LOT of use for various purposes (copy work, portraits, video interviews...).

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Over the years I've acquired 3 50 mm Canon lenses, an EF 50 f/1.8 nifty fifty, an EF 50 f/1.4 and an EF 50 f/1.2L. I don't use the 1.8 or 1.4 much and use the 1.2 mostly for portraiture, along with my EF 85 f/1.2L, and night sky photography. For general photography I prefer a zoom over primes. My everyday lens on my 5DIV is my EF 28-300L which many folks diss as not being all that sharp. I personally don't dwell on tack sharp and find the EF 28-300L to be sharp enough.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

No argument from me with regards to a 50mm. I've used one for years, and probably will for years to come.

Wonderful photographs along with this post.
--Bob

alliebess Loc: suburban Philadelphia

Great photos and an informative post.
I love my 35mm prime,

bleirer

I have my eye on the EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro because the paired life size converter gets up to 1x magnification (.5 as is). Canon claims it's also a fine general purpose 50. Do you or anyone else have knowledge or experience with It?

My other option would be the RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM, only .5x though. Wishing there was an RF 50 macro.

Thoughts?

photophile Loc: Lakewood, Ohio, USA

I enjoyed Delicate Arch, Montpelier and the goats most.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Great series, Paul, I see absolutely nothing wrong with using a 50mm prime at all. Back in the day I shot with a 50mm about 75% of the time and had a 200mm prime for the rest, that is all that I needed.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

I have been using that lens for years. Yes, I use it as a general purpose 50mm all the time.

I used it for all of these:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/145186988@N05/

Mike

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Interesting post, great images.

50mm primes have been my main lenses for 50 years.

Mike

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Bob M, Kid, Country Boy, rmorrison1116, Bob, alliebess, Blairer, Karin, Earnest, Mike! I would have expected my 35L to the be top used-lens. When I sort by lenses rather than focal length, the 35L usage is about double of either of the two 50s, individually. Combined, the 50s are more and the top lens / focal length overall within my catalog. I feel more comfortable at 35mm, but clearly my statistics show I work at 50mm even more often. The question this post was intended to ask was whether one 50mm lens was clearly different or better than another, a specific question I sought to resolve in 2019.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Nothing wrong with the images you are getting from the less expensive 50mm, that's for certain. I like the wide open shallow depth of field shots from the "L" lens. Otherwise it would be hard to choose one over the other. I didn't realize that the "L" series lens was so much heavier.

Mike