Some friends think that the reason why a 50mm lens is called a header is that its field of vision is close to the range seen by the human eye. In fact, it is not the case. The actual field of vision seen by the human eye is definitely wider than the angle of the field of vision of the 50mm. If it is necessary to compare with the human eye, it is at most similar to the single eye field of vision.
I personally think that the reason why 50mm lenses are called "standard" is based on the following considerations:
- establishes the intermediate value of the lens focal length. The focal length of below 50mm can be classified as the wide-angle category, while the focal length of above 50mm can be classified as the medium-telephone focal. The meaning of 50mm is that it is the intermediate base point that divides the focal length, which does not belong to the wide angle or telephoto, so it is called the standard focal length.
- can shoot a wide range of subjects. 50mm is a lens that can be taken in any subject. It is not limited to scenery or portraits, nor is it limited to documentary or posing. It can take pictures of anyone, scenery or objects with a wide range of subjects. News documentary can be used for 50mm, and beautiful photos can also be used for 50mm. No biased generality can be regarded as a "standard".
- imaging quality can be used as a reference object. The 50mm lens has very poor imaging quality, even the cheap " small spittoon " imaging quality is not bad. Because it has a simple structure and mature design, the captured pictures do not have obvious perspective distortions and no serious color shifts. It can be regarded as a ruler to measure image quality, so it can be called a "standard" lens.
is based on the above characteristics of 50mm lens, so it is widely popular. In the film era, zoom lenses were not as widely used as they are today. The "pack lenses" equipped with cameras are usually lightweight 50mm prime lenses. This is another reason why the 50mm lens is the header, because it was once a standard lens for mechanical cameras. In today's digital age, 50mm lenses are still a very popular fixed-focus lens, and the most popular one is the 50mm f1.8 standard lens. The 50mm header of the Canon and the Nikon f1.8 version are the cheapest lenses, and they can be said to be the most sold fixed-focus lenses.
Is the cheapest 50mm lens garbage or a cost-effective baby?
Obviously, this type of lens is not garbage, it is definitely the best choice for advanced personal photography. Even if some people have a better and more expensive 50mm f1.2 lens, they will not devalue the price difference of f1.8, which is more than ten times cheaper, because it is not weak in itself.
Take Canon as an example. In the SLR era, 50mm f1.8 was the absolute vanguard in promoting its own fixed-focus lens. The EF version of 50mm f1.8 has three generations, namely 50mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 II, and 50mm f1.8 stm. Only the second generation of these three lenses are slightly inferior in terms of workmanship. The first generation and the STM are both standard lenses with very good performance. Although the second generation of the workmanship is a little worse, the picture quality is still remarkable.
This lens has a fairly standard 50mm focal length and an extremely lightweight mirror body. It is small, lightweight and very portable. It is installed on the camera without anything. It also has a large aperture of up to f1.8, which is larger than any zoom lens. Such a lens allows photographers to experience the image quality of the fixed-focus lens and the charm of a large aperture, and it costs less than a thousand yuan. Therefore, it has been sought after by many photographers.
It achieves more than 70% of its performance at a price of one-tenth of the bull's head. This is what makes it really amazing. Photographers can use this cheap lens to experience the following aspects that cannot be experienced by zoom lenses:
Depth of Field concept. 50mm f1.8 allows photographers to understand what depth of field is, what effect is shallow depth of field, and what the picture level is like. This is difficult for ordinary zoom lenses to achieve, while 50mm f1.8 can easily achieve shallow depth of field effect.
zero distortion effect. In fact, many photographers will not notice the picture distortions caused by lenses of different focal lengths when they are just beginning to learn photography. The wide angle and telephoto will cause distortions, from barrel to pincushion, while 50mm has extremely small distortions. distortions , which are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, will not cause exaggerated deformation of the picture, and will produce a very restored picture effect of the real world.
increases shooting interest. 50mm f1.8 brings a completely different experience from a zoom lens, which can capture a more three-dimensional picture, greatly enhancing the photographer's self-confidence, and its lightweight mirror body also greatly increases the photographer's willingness to carry it out to shoot.
I really like to shoot with 50mm lenses, not only because the master Bresson loves this focal length lens. The bigger reason is that I like the large aperture and the portability of the device. These two points are available in 50mm f1.8. Although its workmanship is much inferior to that of the bullhead and its focus speed is not as fast as that of the bullhead, I still like this "standard lens" that is just right.
Dear photography enthusiasts, if you don’t have a fixed-focus lens on hand, it is absolutely fine to start with the first lens from 50mm f1.8.
