We bought a DSLR or CSC (Mirrorless / DSLM), we were very pleased with it, until few weeks, days, or even hours ago when we wanted more from our beloved camera. Almost all of the entry or mid-level DSLR / CSC are shipped with a standard zoom kit lens, and most of the time those are good enough for starters or practice. But as we hone our photography skill, gaining experience, and getting more and more used to our cameras, some of us may feel that the kit lens has its limits, and probably can't do the things we want. The solution for this problem is quite simple probably, you just need to buy a new lens, but with that comes a new array of questions as I've written in my previous post "Picking The Right Lens", you can use that guide to contemplate then decide which lens will suit you the best.
In this post however, I'm gonna write about my past experience when I was going to buy the third lens for my current camera (Olympus OMD E-M10 Mk.1). Here's the situation, I already had the standard zoom lens (14-42mm F3.5-5.6) and the telephoto zoom lens (40-150mm F4-5.6), so I planned to buy a prime (fixed) lens to compensate the small aperture of my previous lenses. Long story short, I was tortured to choose between a standard prime lens or macro lens. I love photographing flowers so a macro lens would probably suit me the best, but then again you can use a telephoto lens to get 'above average' result when it comes to flowers. Plus many experts recommend to get a standard prime lens for an all-rounder, especially when the lighting is not working in your favor. Ultimately, I decided to get a standard prime lens first, before buying a macro lens (hopefully in near future).
When it comes to the 'standard' focus length, there are two most famous focal lengths, 35mm and 50mm, but which is BETTER? Well, you can read many photography books or magazines, read reviews and people's opinions, but still not getting a satisfying answer, many will say that 35mm is the better choice, while others say 50mm is the 'nifty-fifty' and better than the 35mm. My answer? Again, it depends on your needs and what you like to photograph.
So, why do 35mm and 50mm are called the 'STANDARD' lens? Simply because those focal lengths are the closest to our vision / field of view (what you see through your eyes). For example, imagine that you're looking to your monitor, your eyes are focused on looking at the pictures on the monitor. Sure enough you can still see... let's say a Mac Mini on the left of your monitor, a glass half-filled with two-hours-old instant coffee in front of it, and a pile of comic books on your right, but because your eyes are focused on the monitor, other things seemed blurry / unfocused. 35mm and 50mm lenses will produce image similar to what you see right now, with some differences though.
- 50 mm : only takes the FOCUS part of your vision, so from the example above if your eyes are focused on the monitor, then a camera with 50mm lens will only take a photo of the monitor, with (maybe) a bit of area around it.
- 35 mm : takes almost the same picture as your vision / field of view including the blurry part (in your eyes, not in the camera). From the example above, we can safely assume that the camera will take photos of the monitor, along with the Mac Mini, glass, and also the pile of comic books.
Note : rest assured, the 35mm lens will not take photos that are blurry on the edges (unless you do it on purpose), this is just a depiction to make you easier to understand how broad those focal lengths are.
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| 35mm & 50mm : Both are equally good, trying to say that one's better is like trying to decide which one is first, egg or chicken? It's pointless |
In the end, both are good for your everyday all-rounder lens, but each of them still has their own unique use :
- 35mm pluses vs 50mm
- More suitable for all-rounder lens considering its broader range
- More suitable for scenery and landscapes, and for taking photos of larger group of people
- Street photography will also benefit from the 35mm because you can fit more subjects / objects into a photo
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| 35mm for potrait, but the point is to get more of the scenery behind the subject rather than the subject herself (Photo courtesy of : www.petapixel.com) |
- 50mm pluses vs 35mm
- Can be used as backup potrait lens, because it has less distortion than 35mm
- If your objects are quite far, this lens may help you because of its longer reach
- Can also be used for taking scenery / landscapes, but a more focused one (this might be good in some cases, as the audience might have better understanding about what you try to show)
- The entry-level 50mm lenses are USUALLY cheaper than the 35mm (albeit not by much)
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| Used my E-M10 & Panasonic Leica 25mm (50mm) for this shot, coupled with a bit of digital zoom, enabled me to get reasonably close to the objects |
ONE FINAL NOTE, The 50mm and 35mm I talk about are the focal length in FULL-FRAME camera, so if your camera has smaller sensor, make sure to multiply the focal length on the lens by its multiplier to get the 'real' focal length. For example if you have the 35mm Fujinon Lens for Fujifilm X-T10, you'll end up with 52.5mm focal length, because the sensor is APS-C, not Full Frame. Here's the multiplier for each sensor size :
- APS-C : Focal length x 1.5, except for Canon x 1.6
- Micro Four Thirds : Focal length x 2
- 1 inch (Nikon 1 Series) : Focal length x 2.7
- 1/2.3 inch (Pentax Q Series) : Focal length x 4.7 (Q7 & Q-S1), x 5.6 for others
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