I was at a wedding a few months ago and asked their photographer, Char Beck, for a recommendation on a new lens. When I told him I do primarily food and portrait photography, with a serious shallow depth of field obsession, he immediately steered me towards a 50mm f/1.8 lens. He showed me some his shots of the couple from earlier in the day. They were floating in a soft, lovely blur, and I just had to get that lens.

Craigslist, the great enabler of expensive hobbies, got me one for less than retail value. The autofocus doesn’t work with my body (Nikon D5000), but for that discount, that’s fine with me.

As someone who loves to take photos indoors, but loathes flash with an intensity bordering on ridiculous, this lens was a revelation for me. With it’s ability to open waaaay up to f/1.8, I can get super-soft backgrounds and reasonable shutter speeds in low light. The day I got the lens I spent the afternoon trolling my house, taking photos of things in unlit rooms and shadows. This lens is great for places like museums, where you want to take photos, but flash isn’t allowed, or there’s glass in front of everything that would just reflect your flash. I used it for the Cut! Costume Exhibit at the Glenbow Museum, and at Heritage Park. I got some great shots.

The things I love about this lens are also its weaknesses. The shallow depth of field means you have to be stupidly careful with your focus. One slip of the finger and you’ve got a nose in focus instead of the eyes. Unless you’re shooting something that’s fairly flat and stationary, you might want to avoid using the absolute lowest f-stop. Also, the fixed length is just that. As it does, the 50mm ‘jumps’ you quite close to your subject. A 35mm is about neutral, while 18mm pulls you back a noticeable amount. The 50mm made it quite difficult for me to get full-dress shots at the costume exhibit. And, if you want to get closer to something, but can’t do so physically, you’re out of luck.

So. I’d definitely recommend one of these bad boys if you like low-light, shallow DOF photography. Mr. Wedding Photographer was right. However, I’d really like a 35mm f/1.8 to be my next lens for even lower light abilities, and the closer-to-life perspective.

So, what’s your favourite lens? Why? Do you have one of these fixed 50mms? Do you like it?