Why? Because I said so!

Actually, it’s due to 50mm lenses being cheap, fast, light, and sharp. Put one on a Digital SLR and you have a nice 75-80mm (effectively) portrait lens. The wide aperture lets you blur the background nicely and virtually every 50mm lens is tack sharp.

Most manufacturers sell 50mm lenses for as little as $100. How much was your last zoom lens? $200? $400? $500? A 50mm lens is a bargain. You’ll find 50mm lenses with apertures of F1.8 and F1.4. The $100 ones are the F1.8 variety; F1.4 lenses are $300 and up.

An F1.8 aperture is HUGE compared to your F3.5 or F5.6 lenses! You’re gaining 2-3 stops of light gathering ability. Great for shooting indoors in low light and no flash.

Another benefit of the larger aperture is that autofocus will work better. More light coming in means the camera can ’see’ better. And so can you.

Lens and camera manufacturers have been making 50mm lenses for many years. The optical design is tested, tried and true. These little babies are sharp, partly due to their simplicity.

Suggested Uses for a 50mm lens

• Portraits - The nice big aperture lets you blur the background so you get nice separation from your subject.
• Low Light - Autofocus works better and you can see better through the viewfinder.
• Macro - Add an inexpensive closeup filter or extension tube and you have a potent macro solution.
• Flash photos - Again, the big aperture comes into play. It gives you greater shooting distances with a flash. (You’ll get more than twice the distance using F1.8 vs. an F5.6 lens!)