Give me a couple of good reasons to keep my Nikon 50mm F1.8 lense ......

[marcwang]

Hi Guys,

I currently have a Nikon F80 with a SIGMA 28-105mm F2.8-4 D Aspherical, SIGMA 70 - 300mm F4-5.6 DL macro and a NIKON 50mm F1.8 AF-D. All the equipment are almost brandnew, about 4weeks old. However, I almost never use my Nikon 50mm. My workhorse lense is the SIGMA 28-105mm , and I seldom need a F1.8 lense. The Nikon is supposedly a better lense in terms of optics, but the SIGMA is just as good, only slower. I dont know, maybe I've had these equipment for only 4 weeks, but the Nikon always sits in my camera bag. I do use it once in a while, just to justify its prescence, but the SIGMA 28-105 always end up on the camera body. Its just so much more convenient to be able to frame my pictures with the touch of the zoom ring.
I've tried using the 50mm for indoor shots due to low lighting and the fact that I rely solely on my built in speedlight, but it can be challenging with its very very shallow depth of field. Family birthday party shots tend to have a single person rendered sharp, but the rest... sadly blurred out. Even taking potraits for 2 people, usually 1 person would be a little out of focus. I dont know if I should keep it, or sell it. Its indeed a very sharp lense with vibrant colours, and very fast indeed. But for an amateur like me, who do outdoor, nature, people, cars and sometimes indoor shots, should I keep it ? or is my sigma enough .... ? Give me some good reasons why a 50mm F1.4 or F1.8 is almost always owned by avid photographers ?

REGARDS, MArc

 

[zhapchit]

a good lens to use during low lighting conditions i guess.

Well, if u decide to sell... let me know ya?

 

[tsdh]

If that 50mm lens become unwanted kid in the family, then I would like to adopt it.

 

[StreetShooter]

1. Low light shooting

2. Shallow DOF portraits

Those are the 2 best reasons.

 

[scanner]

Tell me if you plan to sell it away....
I'm planning to get one soon.

 

[oceanxp]

sigma lens are soft in nature .. but to a certain extent, it can be sharp ...

F80 motor is slow ; and plus sigma lens become a lag ... that is the limitation but that doesn't stop you from being a nikonian ...

if you find it is slow, then your skill probably have upgraded a bit but still need more practice ?

i have switched from f80 to f100 a year ago; main reason f80 does not work well with candid shots which i have been trying to learn ... ( need a superb fast AF )

however, certain superior lens can such as nikon 75 t0 200mm perform fast on a f80 ...

keep your f80 ; my advices ... all you need to do is to take down teh settings for each foto you take and improve on that settings so as to improve the pics

 

[suhaimig]

You never know when you need it. The lens is good for indoor shot when using flash is prohibited. If you don't need the money, keep it. Me too.

Don't mind telling you this: Most of your equipments are new, seems you are new to photography. I tell you what? Forget about the hardware part, just go out there and shoot. Learn more on subjects instead of hardware.

You'll be alright.

Cheers.

 

[oceanxp]

scenery ? just keep it for future use

 

[GitS]

the fact that nobody has encouraged u to get rid of the lens should tell you something

plus, unless you are loaded, this is probably the largest (apart from the 50 f1.4) aperture lens that you will ever own...switch off your speedlite and just use your 50mm - rediscover light and shadow - the essence of photography....

 

[scanner]

Originally posted by oceanxp

F80 motor is slow ; and plus sigma lens become a lag ... that is the limitation but that doesn't stop you from being a nikonian ...

i have switched from f80 to f100 a year ago; main reason f80 does not work well with candid shots which i have been trying to learn ... ( need a superb fast AF )

Good say, F80 motor is slow as compared to F100. Actually I've been pushing my camera - F80s to its limit while doing candid shots. However, if you have a AFS len, the situation would not be so bad.

 

[Minimalis]

Hi Marc, Shannon here.

Well on occasions that you just want to hit the streets and shoot inconspiciously the small and light 50 1.8 will come in handy. In addition to that, if you do travel overseas in countries that are deemed not too safe, you won't want to stick a huge lens on your SLR and tempt the muggers there do you?

I keep a 50 1.4 just for that purpose. (Plus low light no-flash situations like band concerts etc.)

Rgds.

 

[chriszzz]

Here's a really handy little tip : If you turn the lens around and look through its rear end, it becomes a very very high quality and powerful loupe ! Bright and sharp. Use it on your slides on your light table ! That's what I did before buying a $chneider loupe. The only problem is that the 50mm lens is not full frame ( ie, you can't see the entire slide without moving the lens ).

 

[Wolfgang]

Shallow DOF
Portability
Allows shooting under low light condition.

 

[james m]

or you could get some extension tubes and use the 50mm for close up work.

 

[denizenx]

well if u dun really see the need for it, sell it to the so many ppl here, who are more than glad to shoulder your load

 

[binbeto]

I think if you dun need the $$. You dun have to sell. Unless it's taking up precious space in your cabinet or whoulder bag.

Everyone has his/her shooting habit. Some use primarily prime lens only while in your case, you clearly prefer zoom lens for your own reason.

If you wanna sell, by all means as it should fetch a reasonable price now. You can always buy it back if you wanna give it a go the next time round.

If you dun really see yourself using it, just sell it.

The reason people buy 50/1.8 is becos of t relatively low price and it's sharp image.

 

[e_liau]

Oophs, if I read correctly your message, you are in a dilemma over your Nikkor 50mm f1.8 lens and NOT your Nikon F80 camera, right?

I guess most of the Clubsnappers have offer you valid reasons to keep your Nikkor 50mm lens e.g. fast lens for low lighting etc.

Ok, I kept my Nikkor 50mm f1.4D lens for another addition reason, because :-
(a) I use it for creating panorama shoots. Because of its normal perspective ratio, background images are not distorted, so it can be put side by side on print, to create a panorama photo.