10 Beautiful Reasons to Spend $100 and Take Better Pictures

If you want to make an amazing addition to your camera bag and you don’t want to burn a lot of cash, I have the perfect solution for you. It’s called a 50mm prime, and the one you want, if you’re on a budget, is the f/1.8. If you’re a Canon shooter, the lens you want is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, which generally runs about $90, and if you’re a Nikon shooter, the lens of choice here is the Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm F/1.8D AF, which costs about $115. Before I continue, yes there are better lenses in the 50mm prime category, but we’re working on a budget here, and none will give you the bang for the buck that these two lenses do. If you do have a little extra cash you could opt for the f/1.4 versions, they will triple your cost (still cheap) but give you a little extra speed, a definite improvement in build quality (especially with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8), but honestly not a huge improvement in optical quality. Still if you are currently using a kit lens, either one of these lenses will bring a noticable improvement to your picture taking. Here’s why:

• f/1.8 = fast: Most kit lenses just won’t compete with a fast prime in low light situations. If you hate using your flash, frequently rely on raising the ISO, or have problems with motion blur, this is your solution.
• Great optics: Don’t let the price fool you. Both lenses review very well for optics, and legions of photographers swear by them. If you want incredibly sharp photos and great bokeh (the quality of the “out of focus” area of your picture), this is your solution.
• Prime lens spurs creativity: With a prime lens, your focal length is fixed, so you really need to think about compostion and move with your feet. Your photo style will be different, and hopefully better.
• Shallow Depth of Field: Another benefit of the f/1.8 is a very shallow depth of field (D.O.F). You can use this D.O.F. to your creative advantage by really drawing attention to your subject while throwing objects in the background into a dreamy blur.
• 50mm equals 75mm equivalent for APS-C sensors: You can put this lens on and be covered for most situations, on the other hand, due to its small size, it’s easy enough to just leave in the camera bag permanently.

The cons:

• Build Quality: The Nikon isn’t bad, but the Canon version looks like it may have come out of a gumball machine. Yes they are cheap, but again their optics are suprisingly good.
• No zoom: This may take getting used to, but as I said before you’ll have to zoom with your feet. In the end, this will work to your creative advantage.

As I said before both of these lenses will make an amazing addition to your camera bag, and for $100, I can’t think of another way to take your photographs to another level.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II available at B & H for $89.95, at Adorama for $84.95, and at Amazon for $86.48
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm F/1.8D AF available at B & H for $109.95, at Adorama for $114.95, and at Amazon for $114.95

Photo: AmUnivers -Canon 20D 50mm f/1.8

Photo: Autorun@Flickr -Nikon D50 50mm f/1.8

Photo: seanmcgrath -Nikon D80 50mm f/1.8

Photo: noblegnoble -Canon EOS Rebel XT 50mm f/1.8

Photo: E-rock -Nikon D300 50mm f/1.8

Photo: Monkeys Jump’s -Nikon D40 50mm f/1.8

Photo: Mangabanane -Nikon D80 50mm f/1.8

Photo: Graceº -Nikon D70 50mm f/1.8

Photo: El Fotopakismo -Canon EOS Kiss Digital X 50mm f/1.8

Photo:Vi4kin -Canon EOS 350D 50mm f/1.8

Photo: Boyghost -Nikon D40 50mm f/1.8

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1. 

   Minestrone Soup says:

   September 16, 2008 at 4:43 pm

   The EF 50mm F/1.4 was the very first prime I ever bought. I was so inspired by Lara Ferroni’s use of it in food photography. It’s been a great traveling companion. I also find the 35mm f/2.0 useful for wider situations.

   Are there any other non-L primes that are good with low f-stops? It seems like the 35 and the 50 are the gems of the non-L bunch. But I have not heard about any others.

   reply
2. 

   Eolake Stobblehouse says:

   September 16, 2008 at 6:17 pm

   The Canon 100mm F:2.0 is great.

   reply