{"id":886,"date":"2011-02-15T22:09:02","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T03:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/?p=886"},"modified":"2011-02-15T22:21:11","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T03:21:11","slug":"the-50mm-f1-4-lens-a-magic-bullet-for-low-light-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/2011\/02\/the-50mm-f1-4-lens-a-magic-bullet-for-low-light-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"The 50mm F1.4 lens a magic bullet for low light photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Being able to effectively capture a scene in dimly lit situations (or at night altogether) is one of the toughest things to do in\u00a0photography. Even if you have a flash, you have to be careful when firing it if you don’t want to simply blow everything out and ruin the “mood” and “feel” of a night shot. The most common problems with night images are : too much blur, too dark of a shot overall or too much noise in the shot. How do you solve those issues? It obviously depends on the camera and accessories you’re using, but one surefire way to make your existing DSLR entirely more capable at night is the purchase of one single lens. The 50mm F1.4 is as close to a magic bullet as there is in the photography world.
\nThe 50mm F1.4 has a lot of things going for it. For one, it’s available for nearly every DSLR out there. You can find dedicated versions (either first-party such as Nikkor or third-party like Sigma) for Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus DSLRs, with plenty of aftermarket solutions out there for even more brands. Secondly, it’s incredibly small. Thirdly, it’s relatively cheap by FX (or full-frame) standards. And finally, the shots you can get from this lens are truly amazing.<\/p>\n

This lens can “step down” to f\/1.4, which is a fancy way of saying that it can allow a flood of light in compared to most lenses, which can only step down to f\/3.5 or so. When you’re shooting with limited surrounding light, having the ability to let your lens pull more light in from practically nowhere is vital.<\/span><\/p>\n

This allows your shots to be brighter, your\u00a0shutter speed to be faster (which lessens the chance of unwanted blur) . The 50mm aspect is also important; this is not a zoom lens. It cannot be zoomed at all. If you aren’t familiar with “prime” lenses this will probably be strange to hear, but you literally have to walk forward and back while holding the camera to get closer \/ farther from your subject. 50mm, however, is a solid distance that’s useful in the vast majority of circumstances.<\/p>\n

Using the 50mm F1.4 at night is pretty simple. Regardless of what DSLR body you have, try setting the aperture down to f\/1.4 (using Aperture Priority or Manual Mode) and firing a few test shots. Compare that to shots with the aperture set at f\/3.5 or higher, and you’ll notice an immediate impact. The flood of light that is allowed in by the F1.4 lens is really incredible, and in many cases, it allows a shot to be taken that would never be possible otherwise. Of course, all of this is assuming that you’re trying to avoid using a flash in order to retain the mood of your scene; lowering the aperture all the way to f\/1.4 is simply an alternative to using a flash, and it’s one that natural light lovers greatly prefer.<\/p>\n

Owning this lens most definitely isn’t the only way to take low-light shots. You could use a flash, purchase a new body with a higher ISO range \u00a0or move your shot into a place with more external light. But if you’re unable to move your shot , you aren’t willing to spend thousands on a new DSLR body and you aren’t fond of how a flash distorts the vibe of a night shot, there’s hardly a better and more affordable alternative than the 50mm F1.4. For Canon owners in particular, there’s a 50mm F1.2 that allows\u00a0even more<\/em> light in, but of course it’s over\u00a0four times more expensive; the 50mm F1.4 for Canon bodies is around $350 on the open market, whereas the F1.2 version is over $1,600. It’s hard to justify that increase.<\/p>\n

While the average 50mm F1.4 lens will cost around $350 – $400 regardless of what brand or body you’re buying for, there’s a bargain alternative even to that. Many companies also make a 50mm F1.8 lens, which allows\u00a0nearly<\/em> as much light in, but not quite as much. The good news is these are usually around half as expensive as the F1.4 variety, but in my experience, it’s definitely worth saving up and getting the F1.4. It’s a lens that’ll never leave your collection, and will likely follow you around for as long as you’re into DSLR photography. $350 or so is a low price to pay for the ability to take blur-free images in dimly-lit restaurants, at indoor sporting events and in concert venues, not to mention millions of other after-dark opportunities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being able to effectively capture a scene in dimly lit situations (or at night altogether) is one of the toughest things to do in\u00a0photography. Even if you have a flash, you have to be careful when firing it if you don’t want to simply blow everything out and ruin the “mood” and “feel” of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-photography-insights","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions\/897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}