35
votes
Accepted
What's a nifty-fifty?
What's a nifty-fifty?
It's a budget level 50mm prime lens. Pretty much all of the various camera makers offer one. There are several reasons that make them so nifty.
Price - They're some of the most ...
- 175k
24
votes
Accepted
Why are my film photos coming out so dark, even in bright sunlight?
The "Sunny 16" rule says that on a sunny day at f/16 you should be at approximately 1/(ISO) seconds for a good exposure - i.e. 1/200s in your case. You're two and a bit stops shorter than ...
- 21.8k
16
votes
Is having only a 35mm lens on APS-C sufficient for travel shooting in NYC/Washington DC?
If you're going to be moving around Manhattan all day, you'll probably want to bring some sort of bag with you to carry things like a light jacket (it can get chilly in the shade, or on the water, and ...
- 31.7k
16
votes
Accepted
Why am I having problems focusing with extension tubes?
Extension tubes do two things you may not yet have noticed.
They reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor*.
This is often enough to prevent autofocus from working at all. It's usual to abandon ...
- 23.1k
12
votes
Accepted
What can an 11mm lens do what a 50mm can't?
What would I have to do to take such photos from a 50mm lens of a Dx camera?
You can't take those pictures with a 50mm lens and a DX (1.5X APS-C) camera.
To fit all of what an 11mm lens will give ...
- 175k
9
votes
Why am I having problems focusing with extension tubes?
When you add extension tubes, your camera become myopic, it will no longer focus to infinity (the ring shifts the focus range towards you). The thicker the ring or the shorter the lens, the more ...
- 20.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Why do zooms have small apertures even around 50mm?
Update 2023: some of the elements of my answer below assume a DSLR, and in some cases mirrorless system make some of these issues less of a challenge. The points about zoom lenses requiring a more ...
- 13.6k
8
votes
Is having only a 35mm lens on APS-C sufficient for travel shooting in NYC/Washington DC?
(Personal opinion)
It depends on you.
The big advantage of the zoom lens is... you can zoom. With it you can make shots from all places without having to move so much. Lady Liberty - zoom - click - ...
7
votes
Is 35mm or 50mm better on a cropped DSLR for street photography?
You said you own an 18-55mm zoom lens. You can just set that one to 35mm and 50mm (there is a scale on the barrel that tells you what focal length your current zoom position corresponds to). That way, ...
- 1,050
7
votes
Is a 50mm lens suitable for product photography?
If you have a specific style you’re going for, link an image in your question and we could advise on lens selection. That being said, product photography more heavily relies on lighting and set up ...
- 20.5k
7
votes
How to achieve a normal 50mm look with a Nikon APS-C camera?
Do I buy a DX 50 mm or get the FX 35mm?
That's up to your preference.
Will they have the same effect?
No.
A 35mm FX lens or a 35mm DX lens will have the same effect with your camera.
A 50mm FX lens ...
- 175k
6
votes
Accepted
(film) What can cause blue vignetting on sub-exposed or dark shots?
Based on the following evidence:
Both pictures are underexposed or simply have dark zones on it's borders (black zones are more sensitive to parasitic light inside the camera)
Looking at the ...
- 264
6
votes
Why are my film photos coming out so dark, even in bright sunlight?
OM-1N: Was that the one that originally had a mercury battery in it? If so you need to understand that those are unobtanium and that they don't have the same voltage as standard alkaline etc.
My ...
5
votes
Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM vs Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens?
Sure, take a picture of the same subject with the same lens settings and the same lighting conditions, using film Canon/Nikon SLRs loaded with the same film stock. Develop the film and compare the ...
- 679
5
votes
Accepted
Is there any critical feature present in Nikon 85mm f/1.8G over 50mm 1.8G?
You seem to be under the misapprehension that all lenses should cost what a 50mm f/1.8 costs. The 50mm lens is actually the outlier. The focal length lends itself to simpler designs.
An 85mm lens, ...
- 51.4k
5
votes
Is there any critical feature present in Nikon 85mm f/1.8G over 50mm 1.8G?
The 85mm requires bigger glass elements to be able to offer the same aperture f/1.8 as a lens with a shorter focal length. This alone makes it cost more.
In addition, it becomes heavier so it also ...
- 881
5
votes
Accepted
Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM vs Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens?
Sure, there are multiple sites that let you head-to-head shots of test charts against each other or test results.
the-digital-picture.com's shot comparison
dxomark.com's test results comparison
But ...
- 51.4k
5
votes
Why am I having problems focusing with extension tubes?
What everyone else said... Try looking at something relatively close (flowers on a table, etc.) and focus by moving closer or further away. You'll find that the focusing ring may have little effect, ...
- 6,694
5
votes
Accepted
Canon EF 50 mm 1.8 STM - is my lens normal?
My copy of Canon EF 50 mm 1.8 STM is pretty old. But I see the same marks inside. For me it seems like mechanical thing, intended to tighten the elements inside.
- 11.5k
4
votes
Is there a low light picture quality difference between 50mm 1.8 G and 85mm 1.8 G Nikon?
Hard to tell, but most likely it's nothing to do with the lenses and everything with the camera settings. DSLRs, especially when on automatic modes, tend to try to do a lot of colour compensation for ...
- 4,949
4
votes
Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM vs Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens?
They're fine. This is an easy lens design, but they're also made to be low cost, without a lot of glass or super-exotic elements. For the purposes of actual photography (as opposed to benchmark scores)...
- 143k
4
votes
Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM vs Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens?
I'm curious why you want to compare these lenses? Surely you're not trying to decide whether to buy a Canon or Nikon camera based on the quality of their consumer-grade nifty fifty?
There are so ...
- 562
4
votes
Accepted
Is it stupid to purchase AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D over AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G to save a few bucks?
I think you forgot one really basic thing. Image quality. You may want a side-by-side comparison of the much older D design to the digital-era G design on a full-frame camera, such as this one on the-...
- 51.4k
4
votes
Is there a low light picture quality difference between 50mm 1.8 G and 85mm 1.8 G Nikon?
If you are shooting under fluorescent lighting, you can use the same camera, the same lens, the same exact settings, etc. and still get varying results. That is because fluorescent lighting flickers.
...
- 175k
4
votes
What's a nifty-fifty?
There are several things :
They are typically (but not always) small lenses. Compact, easy to carry.
They are typically a good focal length either on full frame or crop frame cameras. On crop frame ...
- 6,385
4
votes
Accepted
Nikon 35mm 1.8g or 50mm 1.8g on D3200?
For portraiture on crop sensor cameras, the 50mm lens is a better choice. The ideal portrait lens in general is about two times the diagonal of the image capture - about 100mm on 35mm and full-frame ...
- 1,760
4
votes
Is a 50mm lens suitable for product photography?
Likely a 50mm lens will do the job. However you might appreciate some insight as to how focal length intertwines with format and the task at hand.
The fundamental focal length for any format (...
- 38.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Need shutterstock photo rejection solution!
I'm sure some of the time, such as Shutterstock use AI to do the first pass, so if something doesn't fit the 'rules' it's kicked straight out.
It's as though they want a big neon sign saying "...
- 23.1k
4
votes
Why am I having problems focusing with extension tubes?
Best to place the camera with tubes mounted super close to the subject and then slowly move the camera, further and further away from the subject. In other words, achieve sharp focus by camera ...
- 38.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible