50mm prime lens used as a walkabout lens to take people

[ombre]

A 50mm on a 25mm format approximates what the human eye covers, and is a pretty nifty lens to use because of this *natural* field that one can cover with photos.

I do not think there is an obsessive need to strictly have a 50mm approximation for use. BTW our eyes actually covers a slightly larger area ( and infact some refer to 43 mm as a better approximation ).



It means the widest aperture it can go is f1.8. cannot get any wider.

Ryan

Hi Ryan, just like to highlight to you that 50mm on a 25mm format is FAR FAR FAR from what the human eye covers.

Our human eyes cover 135 degrees of FOV. a 50mm on a 35mm (even wider than 25mm) frame covers 46 degrees... urm, you do the math.

on a 35mm frame, it takes about a 10-11mm to reach human field of view.

And truth be told, there are many people who can cover almost 180 degrees view (almost anyone with near perfect eyesight), although past 135 degrees, its very hard to pick out details, but you can still see general shapes and colors if you pay attention.

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi Ryan, just like to highlight to you that 50mm on a 25mm format is FAR FAR FAR from what the human eye covers.

Our human eyes cover 135 degrees of FOV. a 50mm on a 35mm (even wider than 25mm) frame covers 46 degrees... urm, you do the math.

on a 35mm frame, it takes about a 10-11mm to reach human field of view.

And truth be told, there are many people who can cover almost 180 degrees view (almost anyone with near perfect eyesight), although past 135 degrees, its very hard to pick out details, but you can still see general shapes and colors if you pay attention.

Yes i have read about how wide the human eye can actually cover. But i suspect the calculations derived from those fellas who came up with this approximation worked on what we tend to see clearly. No doubt there will be some minor variations.

But.

Imagine if i am to look at a room. Then i take a picture with a 50mm, and another at 10mm

I think the first shot might approximate what i focused naturally and clearly, compared to the one done at 10mm ? Or maybe thats just something wrong with my eye ?

Ryan

 

[ombre]

Yes i have read about how wide the human eye can actually cover. But i suspect the calculations derived from those fellas who came up with this approximation worked on what we tend to see clearly. No doubt there will be some minor variations.

But.

Imagine if i am to look at a room. Then i take a picture with a 50mm, and another at 10mm

I think the first shot might approximate what i focused naturally and clearly, compared to the one done at 10mm ? Or maybe thats just something wrong with my eye ?

Ryan

I don't really agree there... I say the "good part" of our eyes, called the Fovea, should register enough details within 75-90 degrees at least. Just try cupping your hands at 45 degrees angle on each side, i'm sure you'll see decently well within this range. But anyway, the given figure of 135 degrees, actually is meant to say 135 degrees of accurate vision. (maybe overboard hm?). I stand for 90 degrees.

I have a 20mm lens on a 1.6 crop body, I did pull it out to test earlier. I can look at my entire room clearly from corner to corner however the 20mm only was able to capture 3/4 of it.

Similarly I used a 50mm (80mm equiv) just yesterday. Sitting across a table at a fast food restaurant, I was only able to snap a picture of my friend's face. Obvious our human eyes can see much wider. =X more than 1.6 of that.


In anycase, there is a key difference, depth of field works differently in our eyes. For instance if you are looking at your monitor screen, you may seem like you can't see anything behind the monitor... This is because the rest of the things are out of focus, and your brain "deletes" these signals not to confuse you. Apparently this may seem to reduce your vision to a small 50 degree angle.. thats one way your point may stand.

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

http://olympuszuiko.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/does-a-50mm-normal-lens-really-see-what-the-eye-sees/

"The 50mm focal length probably became the de facto standard because a lens with that focal length sees the world like the human eye sees it – with no PERSPECTIVE distortion. However, the human field of vision is a lot more than the 46 degrees afforded by a 50mm lens – it’s probably closer to what a 28mm lens sees (72 degrees) or even the 24mm lens (84 degrees). The 28 and 24mm lenses have edge-barrel distortion, however – something that our brain compensates for when looking at objects at the edge of our field of view (in our peripheral vision). "

Anyway, in most instances with my 50mm on the street, I find myself having to back up about 10 steps to get the desired composition;p

 

[ombre]

http://olympuszuiko.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/does-a-50mm-normal-lens-really-see-what-the-eye-sees/

"The 50mm focal length probably became the de facto standard because a lens with that focal length sees the world like the human eye sees it – with no PERSPECTIVE distortion. However, the human field of vision is a lot more than the 46 degrees afforded by a 50mm lens – it’s probably closer to what a 28mm lens sees (72 degrees) or even the 24mm lens (84 degrees). The 28 and 24mm lenses have edge-barrel distortion, however – something that our brain compensates for when looking at objects at the edge of our field of view (in our peripheral vision). "

Anyway, in most instances with my 50mm on the street, I find myself having to back up about 10 steps to get the desired composition;p

I wouldn't deem the quote a credible source... maybe if it were a biology website, I would be inclined to believe.

In anycase, yes, the 50mm can be quite difficult to use... should only use them in familiar conditions.

 

[GavinTing]

50mm on a crop body.. Requires alot of walking for me to get the picture i want. haha

 

[FVTPL]

If you read the stickies or even read anything on the basics of controlling aperture, you would know that yes, you can reduce the size of the aperture.

Thanks Rash for your clarification. I was confused because it states a constant aperture, so I was wondering if I could make it smaller because when I was reading the stickies, they said we can control the different aperture size to get different DOF.

I am really sorry for giving the wrong impression that I did not read the stickies and was waiting to be spoon-fed.

I really appreciate the fact that you still took the trouble to explain to me. Thanks once again!

 

[ombre]

http://www.healthline.com/galeimage?contentId=genh_05_00877&id=genh_05_img0450

Here's one quoting 120 degrees for human field of vision, exclusive of peripheral vision.

All in all, even though hard to use, 50mm F1.8 is a must buy =) Its cheap and it does a lot of good things when used tactfully. Some will say upgrade to 50mm F1.4, but seriously, I personally disagree, unless you're making money out of your shots.

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

haha you're right, now that i re-read the quote it doesn't really make sense to me either.

anyway, i read a bit more and ppl more or less say that a normal lens gives u a natural, unforced perspective, whatever that means.

 

[sathea]

So many technical details
Just go out and take some photos!

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=420862
The first 35 photos were all taken with 50mm lens.

 

[sukevin]

50mm on a crop body.. Requires alot of walking for me to get the picture i want. haha

Gavin .. i totally agree ! and i can never get the shots rite ! very chim lens to try (paiseh .. i'm still a newbie)

http://www.healthline.com/galeimage?contentId=genh_05_00877&id=genh_05_img0450

Here's one quoting 120 degrees for human field of vision, exclusive of peripheral vision.

All in all, even though hard to use, 50mm F1.8 is a must buy =) Its cheap and it does a lot of good things when used tactfully. Some will say upgrade to 50mm F1.4, but seriously, I personally disagree, unless you're making money out of your shots.

50mm F1.8 is a prized jewel. my lens for wandering around ! but i've yet to shoot anything that i'm satisfied with .. still figuring out what can this lens really do..
the tactful is a right word to use ! haha .. i have alot people raising their eyebrows (and their fists) when i being my camera to my face and start to shoot them .. lolx ..

So many technical details
Just go out and take some photos!

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=420862
The first 35 photos were all taken with 50mm lens.

sathea >> i like your shots .. but how did u manage to get so close to the people and they don't stare at you or chase u away ?! *amazing*

 

[ardnirun]

in the context of evening street photography..which would be of advantage?
28mm(F2.8) being wider?
or 50mm)(F1.7) due to it being a fast lens and good low light properties?
am using a A200

 

[Rashkae]

in the context of evening street photography..which would be of advantage?
28mm(F2.8) being wider?
or 50mm)(F1.7) due to it being a fast lens and good low light properties?
am using a A200

Both. Or neither. Depends on your style.

 

[ombre]

in the context of evening street photography..which would be of advantage?
28mm(F2.8) being wider?
or 50mm)(F1.7) due to it being a fast lens and good low light properties?
am using a A200

you have to define street photography... are you shooting the people? or the landscape?

If I had the money, I'd get something like 85mm F1.8 (this is a canon thing), i'm not sure if you have any equivalents on your side.

How about getting a manual 135mm F2.8? Goes for about 100+ dollars. This is if you're shooting people.

By the way, 28 and 50... not entirely different to me. =X Even 28 is a little tricky to use in my opinion. I went all the way down to 20mm F1.8 for the wide angles.

 

[ombre]

So many technical details
Just go out and take some photos!

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=420862
The first 35 photos were all taken with 50mm lens.

Seriously! How is it done? How far were you from these people?

 

[ardnirun]

you have to define street photography... are you shooting the people? or the landscape?

If I had the money, I'd get something like 85mm F1.8 (this is a canon thing), i'm not sure if you have any equivalents on your side.

How about getting a manual 135mm F2.8? Goes for about 100+ dollars. This is if you're shooting people.

By the way, 28 and 50... not entirely different to me. =X Even 28 is a little tricky to use in my opinion. I went all the way down to 20mm F1.8 for the wide angles.

shooting people basically...

 

[ombre]

shooting people basically...

I shall speak for the Canon side of things, and leave you to work out the equivalents.

If money were no restriction for me, I'd buy the 135 F2 L @ 1.1k

I had my hands on a 85mm F1.8 before ($400 2nd hand)... Its abit short for my style, but I figure that if you were in a shopping mall, this is the lens to go for, being the more affordable compared to the 135 F2.

If you want to be discrete, you have to move a lot. I mean a lot. Sometimes this imply following and predicting your subject's movements and set up a 'sniping nest' somewhere and just wait for them to walk past. One of the fun things to do. Otherwise just camp somewhere and wait for anyone to walk within range.

You have a budget to work with? Personally I consider getting a 85mm F1.8 again someday, unfortunately the last one i picked up had fungus and I returned it. It will be my concert lens and portrait lens too, on top of being a night street lens.

But even so, get the 50mm first, you'll need both. Each has its uses.

 

[Galdor]

You can consider the 85mmf1.4, 100mm f2, 100mm f2.8 Soft focus, 135mm f1.8 or the older 135mm f2.8. Maybe the 70-200mm SSM as well. If you don't mind MF, can consider the Jupiter 9 also.

 

[zac08]

The 50 f1.8 is a good fast and cheap lens for night conditions and I use it quite a bit esp in my Bedok after Midnight series.

You can find them in the Street and Candid sub-forum.

 

[babykailan]

I used the 50mm on a cropped sensor (40D) and now a full-frame sensor (5D) for street / general walkabout. I find it suitable mostly except for real close ups of people or tight spaces. So it totally depends on your style of shooting and what you want to achieve.