Nifty Fifty?

yogibear · Oct 22, 2008

I hear all this hype about the nifty fifty. I assume its a 50mm lens but i was hoping someone could explain it in more detail for me.

Is it a macro or standard lens? What is the appeal? Any examples of shots taken with one?

Trying to compile a lens wish list for my Nikon D80 and just want to know more about this lens everyone loves.

Thanks!

chrisburke · Oct 22, 2008

theres 50 threads on here about.. and they answer all your questions

maulrat · Oct 22, 2008

chrisburke said:
theres 50 threads on here about.. and they answer all your questions

Don't listen to chris, he's just messing with you. We've only answered 99.99% of your questions already :lol:

Turnerea · Oct 22, 2008

Well having just learned the terminology myself that the other threads are full of..... here's some info on the nifty fifty

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12142-USA/Canon_2514A002BA_Normal_EF_50mm_f_1_8.html

That is the 50mm f/1.8 version of the "nifty fifty", and for Canon cameras. Because there is only one focal length listed (50mm) its not a zoom lens, but instead a prime lens. There is also a f/1.4 version, which is a larger aperture, which means it will let more light in- meaning a faster shutter speed, thus a faster lens. The 1.4 is made of metal, and costs much more.

Both the 1.8 and 1.4 are "fast" compared to most other lens. So its much easier to take photos in lower light conditions.

The 50mm length seems to be a pretty sweet spot. Though I won't go into the crop factor and what the actual field of field is (this depends on what camera you have) the 50mm is relatively close to the focal length of your eye, so things look just about how they do normally.

chrisburke · Oct 22, 2008

maulrat said:
Don't listen to chris, he's just messing with you. We've only answered 99.99% of your questions already

lol, my bad

TBAM · Oct 22, 2008

People love it because it's the absolute cheapest lens you can buy aside from second hand. Couple that with it's aperture which allows a lot more light in than the standard kit lenses, and the small depth of field given at the widest aperture.

It quite makes everything very easy, and very cheap.

The more light you have, the less you have to worry about motion blur, additional lighting, flash settings, all that jazz.

Aside from the cheapness of it, there isn't really anything unusual or special about it.

It also harks back to the days of older SLR cameras where the standard lens that came with the camera was a 50mm prime lens. Primes were cheap, easy to use and widely available.

Nowadays, it is quite the opposite...except for the "niftty fifty", being specifically the canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens that goes for around $100 USD. Aside from that lens, low aperture lenses are quite expensive now (aside from second hand).

andrew99 · Oct 23, 2008

yogibear said:
I hear all this hype about the nifty fifty. I assume its a 50mm lens but i was hoping someone could explain it in more detail for me.

Is it a macro or standard lens? What is the appeal? Any examples of shots taken with one?

Trying to compile a lens wish list for my Nikon D80 and just want to know more about this lens everyone loves.

Thanks!

There are two popular Nikon 50mm lenses, the f1.4 and f1.8. The f1.8 is much cheaper (around $150USD). It is a fixed length (non-zoom) lens. You can get close, but not really suitable for true macro since you can only focus on things more than about a foot away.

Example shots: http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikkor50mm18/pool/

The reason the 50mm f1.8 is so popular is because it is very cheap for a lens which has the same or better image quality than zoom lenses costing over $1000, and the f1.8 makes it great for low light and for shallow DOF for subject/background separation. In short, get this lens, your D80 will love it!

pictureme · Oct 23, 2008

What other nikon body will this lense fit on ?D60 D80 D90 D200 D300 ?????

Thank you

andrew99 · Oct 23, 2008

It will fit on any Nikon body, film and digital, both DX and FX size sensors. However it will not auto-focus on the D40, D40x and D60, but it will meter.

pictureme · Oct 23, 2008

thanks andrew

pictureme · Oct 23, 2008

Well i just bought mine for my d300 ...wanted to get some advise for the best settings on the camera witht this lense...any help will be apreciated
\
Thankyou

TBAM · Oct 23, 2008

pictureme said:
Well i just bought mine for my d300 ...wanted to get some advise for the best settings on the camera witht this lense...any help will be apreciated
\
Thankyou

The best setting is easily 1/250 f5 focusing at 3 feet with a fill flash.

Don't worry of course about where you're shooting, who or what you're shooting, what time of day it is, what ambient light there is, whether the subject is moving, what kind of effect you'd like, who the photo is for, what kind of end-product you'd achieve.

Don't worry about anything, just use those settings 100% of the time, and you'll get better photos than any professional.

P.S.
What I said above is a secret. The art of taking Photo's isn't dynamic depending on the situation or circumstance. All you need are those magic settings above and you'll always take good photos.

icassell · Oct 23, 2008

TBAM said:
The best setting is easily 1/250 f5 focusing at 3 feet with a fill flash.

Don't worry of course about where you're shooting, who or what you're shooting, what time of day it is, what ambient light there is, whether the subject is moving, what kind of effect you'd like, who the photo is for, what kind of end-product you'd achieve.

Don't worry about anything, just use those settings 100% of the time, and you'll get better photos than any professional.

P.S.
What I said above is a secret. The art of taking Photo's isn't dynamic depending on the situation or circumstance. All you need are those magic settings above and you'll always take good photos.

.... ahem ...

Chewbecca · Oct 24, 2008

pictureme said:
Well i just bought mine for my d300 ...wanted to get some advise for the best settings on the camera witht this lense...any help will be apreciated
\
Thankyou

Do you mean settings on your camera???!!!???

I'm going to pretend (or assume) that you mean which setting would be best to use this lens for with your camera.
As in what SITUATION is best for this lens.

And my answer is going to be: Just about ANY.

What lens(es) were you using with your D300 before this lens???
Is this your first prime lens?
Is the D300 your first DSLR? If so, that's a LOT of camera to be your first DSLR, good news is, it'll hold you over for a long time at this rate.:mrgreen:

andrew99 · Oct 24, 2008

I don't set anything specific on my D300. I keep the focus offset set to 0 since it was perfect out of the box. My 50 f1.8 is very soft wide open, so I try and shoot at f2.4 at most.