Sorry for the backlog of photos. Well, been busy, you know, with stuff, homework and class and the fyp..
Today's feature will be the nifty-fifty, or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8, since its small, light, and cheap, and sharp. My only qualms will be that, its bokeh is not the best you can get, ranging from average to poor, depending on what you take. On a DSLR like my D90, its actually a 75mm lens, about reaching the portrait lens focal length. Great for portraits for those smooth out of focus background, depending on your background that is.
The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 reminds us that, you don't have to buy an expensive lens to get sharp results, its even sharper than my 18-105mm lens which cost 2-3 times as much. Its fast, since its aperture is at f/1.8, its 2 stops faster than my zoom lens at 18mm at f/3.5. 2 stops is about 4 times as much light that will enter through the lens, or, reduce my ISO from 800 to 200, or increase my shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/120. Great eh?
But, I still need my 18-105mm since, at 18mm, its about 3 times shorter the focal length, giving me about 1 stop extra (or more) for my shutter speed, and it allows me to grab photos of 1-2 second exposures hand held, since I've got a greater depth of field, meaning more will be in focus. And the VR helps too. But, at the longer end of the zoom, what I really need is the 50mm f/1.8 where it will make more sense.
Another great thing about the 50mm, is that it has zero distortion. If Nikon made all their prime lenses to have zero distortion, I think that primes would be more popular. They have made a wide angle rectilinear lens with zero distortion, called the 13mm f/3.5. Google it and be amazed.
Examples and explanations will be provided when you click on the jump.
