I see it all the time here on UHH, people stating that 50 mm lens is the standard lens because it "sees" almost what the human eye sees. And this is not only here on UHH but in endless comments and articles on the internet.

I am not saying this is wrong but I am not beliving it either because the 50 mm is not at all close to what the human eye sees. A compromise between a portrait lens, landscape lens and lens manufacturing cost for a fast lens is more likely to be the reason. It would be interesting to get the true answer to this.

Anyone here that knows the truth about why the 50 (or close to 50) mm lens became the standard lens??

I see it all the time here on UHH, people stating that 50 mm lens is the standard lens because it "sees" almost what the human eye sees. And this is not only here on UHH but in endless comments and articles on the internet.

I am not saying this is wrong but I am not beliving it either because the 50 mm is not at all close to what the human eye sees. A compromise between a portrait lens, landscape lens and lens manufacturing cost for a fast lens is more likely to be the reason. It would be interesting to get the true answer to this.

Anyone here that knows the truth about why the 50 (or close to 50) mm lens became the standard lens??

After Leica made the first 35 mm film camera with that 50 mm lens the next thing that happens in this field is that Canon (Kwanon at that time) contracted Nikon (Nippon Kogagku at that time) to copy that lens while Canon copied the camera. Later on many other manufacturers made their own copies of the Leica design and when Leica made new models of their cameras other manufacturers made new copies of that model as well. It went on like this for a long time. It does not seem like there was any other reason for the use of 50 mm lens than that it was a sharp and cost effective lens with wide aperture. This human eye nonsense had nothing to do with this lens becoming the normal lens, it was all about copying Leica and beating them in price. And when everyone had done that this lens was the one that every camera owner had and it became a standard lens because everyone was copying it. That is what it looks like. But if anyone here on UHH can find any source of reliable info confirming that when Leica designed the first 50 mm lens or when others started copying that lens or improving it, that the reason for this focal lengt had anything to do with the human eye angle of view I would very much like to see that source. In fact all points to the reason for this human eye point being a clever salesman figuring how to continue sell the same cheap lens to make money on and keep the customers happy in their belief at the same time ;)

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/50mmnikkor/index.htm

Whether or not the 50 mm lens, when used on a 35 mm camera, closely matches what the human eye would tend to see could be up for debate. This is especially true since everyone views the world through a different set of eyes. However, with a digital camera, a comparable "standard" lens would depend on the size of your sensor. Regardless of film size, what was established as a "normal" lens was one with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal dimension of the film in use. With this standardization, you could expect to get a similar view whether you were using a 35 mm camera or an 8" x 10" camera. It established a reference point from which we could all understand what would be a long lens or a short lens and would be able to obtain comparable perspective for whatever size film we were using.

Whether or not the 50 mm lens, when used on a 35 mm camera, closely matches what the human eye would tend to see could be up for debate. This is especially true since everyone views the world through a different set of eyes. However, with a digital camera, a comparable "standard" lens would depend on the size of your sensor. Regardless of film size, what was established as a "normal" lens was one with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal dimension of the film in use. With this standardization, you could expect to get a similar view whether you were using a 35 mm camera or an 8" x 10" camera. It established a reference point from which we could all understand what would be a long lens or a short lens and would be able to obtain comparable perspective for whatever size film we were using.