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dullbird
15th September 2008, 05:40 PM
Hi guys

I was walking though bing lee's yesterday and noticed that they had nikon 50mm primes 1.8 in there for 270 bux (obvioulsy i reckon a lot less with there famous negotiable prices:p)

what i want to know is Do you have a 50mm prime if so what sort of thing do you use it for?

is it worth having as a part of your kit?

lou

dmdigital
15th September 2008, 05:58 PM
50mm f/1.8 was the good old basic lens with a 35mm. The DX sensor makes them a 75mm equivalent which is even better. That said they really are a specific prime and the f/1.4 is a better buy as the shallower DOF gives you some really nice shoft shots. Both the Nikkor f/1.8 and f/1.4 are way over due an upgrade.

As for price the f/1.8 should be had for under $200.

I have a 20 y.o. 50f/1.4 which nowdays I hardly use. There's a good review on 50mm on dpReview.com.

dullbird
15th September 2008, 06:20 PM
what did you use it for mainly when you had it though

dmdigital
15th September 2008, 06:24 PM
I use it for portraits.

EchiDna
15th September 2008, 06:34 PM
great portraiture lens as mentioned by dm... and a good all-around lens to learn with as it stops you relying on your zoom range to get closer to subjects, makes you think more about composition...

50mm is said to be very close to what the human eye sees, but once you add in the bonus 1:1.6 factor, this is obviously no longer the case.

dullbird
15th September 2008, 06:35 PM
did anyone else use the 50 for anything other than portraits?

i thought longer focal lengths were better for portraits

loanrangie
15th September 2008, 06:37 PM
Great for portraits and low light, the canon 50 1.8 is only $120 new :D.

EchiDna
15th September 2008, 06:44 PM
they work fine for everything, you just need a cooperative subject :)

a fast, cheap lens is a good thing to have in your bag of tricks, but doesn't have the wow factor of something much much bigger/more expensive...

Ricey
15th September 2008, 07:03 PM
what did you use it for mainly when you had it though

Hi Lou, I bought one for the same reasons EchiDna has given, they are a great lens to have & learn more with. You have to use your feet with one though to get the pic you want. Search for 50mm on the Flickr site & you'll find heaps of examples of what people get out of theirs. It's a great way to research a lens.
Pete

abaddonxi
15th September 2008, 08:22 PM
Three lenses -
Wide fifty
Medium fifty
Close fifty

Very versatile lens.:D

Cheers
Simon

ciapek
15th September 2008, 09:39 PM
Hi guys

I was walking though bing lee's yesterday and noticed that they had nikon 50mm primes 1.8 in there for 270 bux (obvioulsy i reckon a lot less with there famous negotiable prices:p)

what i want to know is Do you have a 50mm prime if so what sort of thing do you use it for?

is it worth having as a part of your kit?

lou

Dullbird, I use mine for absolutely Everything.

Really there are no restrictions as far as I'm concerned.

I have the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. Super shallow DOF at f1.4 and a great Landscape lens at f7.0 and above.
Superb on late evenings and indoor photos without the need for a flash(to an extent ofcourse)

And here is one that I had prepared a little earlier on.....:D:D:D

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/6122/sepiadefenderba5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/sepiadefenderba5.jpg/1/w526.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img128/sepiadefenderba5.jpg/1/)

Ben
15th September 2008, 11:53 PM
bing lee's yesterday and noticed that they had nikon 50mm primes 1.8 in there for 270 bux

Lou, you should be able to get the lens for around $188. If you buy a parallel import lens, make sure it comes with an international warranty slip (get the seller to confirm). Canon and Nikkor lenses have international warranties - means you can get it fixed in Australia.

I've bought lenses and speedlights (covered by international warranty) from this guy:
Discount Digital Photographics: Accessories for Nikon Digital SLRs (http://d-d-photographics.com.au/nikonslracc.htm#50mm18)

For camera bodies (covered by national warranty) I've had both David Jones and JB Hi-Fi price match D-D's price.

dullbird
16th September 2008, 07:20 AM
Lou, you should be able to get the lens for around $188. If you buy a parallel import lens, make sure it comes with an international warranty slip (get the seller to confirm). Canon and Nikkor lenses have international warranties - means you can get it fixed in Australia.

I've bought lenses and speedlights (covered by international warranty) from this guy:
Discount Digital Photographics: Accessories for Nikon Digital SLRs (http://d-d-photographics.com.au/nikonslracc.htm#50mm18)

For camera bodies (covered by national warranty) I've had both David Jones and JB Hi-Fi price match D-D's price.


yep i have brought lenses from that guy to, he is very good to deal with:)

and i'm not taking the bing lee price literally as i know i can get it cheaper on ebay
just really didn't want to add a lens to the kit that was on really able to be use for one thing

EchiDna
16th September 2008, 11:46 AM
.....just really didn't want to add a lens to the kit that was on really able to be use for one thing

I hope the above replies show this is not the case :) Primes IMHO are so much better than zooms once you really get into it - the only problem is finding a bag big enough to carry them all! lets face facts, "zooming" can be done later on your computer if/when required...

Offender90
16th September 2008, 03:08 PM
i thought longer focal lengths were better for portraits

With portaits, you want to blur the background (shallow depth of field), which is achieved witheither a longer focal length or a greater aperture opening (or preferably both!).

It's usually easier to work with a longer focal length as you're not in your subject's face, but both will do the job just fine.

dmdigital
16th September 2008, 07:13 PM
There's a new 50mm prime announced today. OK so it won't fit a Nikon or a Canon... but 50mm f/0.95:cool:

Ok so its a Leica and is going to retail at a measly £6290 :eek:

But f/0.95 :) That's some DOF

SenatorKang
27th September 2008, 02:15 PM
how does that work? i thought the f number was a fraction... like... f is some magical standard number that represents a fully open aperture... f/2 is half open, f/5.6 is 1/5.6 open... f/22 is 1/22 open... so f.95 would be 1/0.95, which means that it's open more than it's fully open???? :eek: ooooow my brains

or is the whole way i've thought of apertures been wrong for a long time but because i've never discussed it i didn't know... i hate it when that happens

dmdigital
27th September 2008, 02:57 PM
No you have it quiet wrong.

Try here: A Tedious Explanation of the f/stop (http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm)

noddy
28th September 2008, 04:25 PM
Nikon have just released their new 50mm 1.4 AFS at Photokina :D