The Nifty Fifty or a 50mm f1.8 camera lens is heralded as being one of the best portrait lenses you can purchase.
There are many reasons for this, such as its shallow depth of field, affordable price mark and that it is fast glass. This means it has a wide aperture – you can shoot at a higher shutter speed.
There is absolutely no reason why, every single person who owns an SLR camera shouldn’t have one of these lenses in their arsenal. It is versatile, compact and produces killer results.
Shot at f1.8 see the killer background effect
Get to the point Andy…
It may not be the best purchase for you if you are starting out in concert photography however.
The spec’ would lead you to believe it is exactly what you are looking for. A wide aperture allows you to take in more light in a shorter period of time. Surely it’s all you need?
Yes and no. Yes, a wide aperture can make a massive difference in low light photography, particularly where you can’t use a flash. But there is another important part of the equation often neglected.
Distance
I am a sucker for this all the time. I walk around shops and before you know it I have bought something massive only to get home and have ‘her indoors’ blearing at me, “where the hell is that going to go”?
Size Matters
Think about where you are shooting. Most of us start out shooting friends bands in venues not much bigger than your living room and even smaller pub back-rooms.
What is often classed as a plus point of our beloved nifty fifty is that it is a prime or fixed lens. This means that it has no zooming parts.
On a cropped sensor camera body there is a slight increase in your lens size. This means your 50mm when attached to a digital camera body with a cropped sensor becomes more like a 75mm lens.
You may find it a struggle to get the shots that you really want as a result.
Think of this scenario. Packed out gig in your local squat club. The band is going to be huge and you want to say you were there at the beginning. You are standing in front of the stage. no barriers, just you and 4ft of wood banging your shins.
With the band inches away, a swathe of sweaty heaving bodies thrashing behind and around you. You could end up walking a way with a whole load of head shots and not much else, or worse, noses and ears.
Trying to better your situation, you change position stepping away from the stage. Now the crazed mob is bouncing around in front of you. Hands are continually up in the air and worse, you got some greasy shirtless bruisers hair constantly flicking in your face.
The outlook may seem bleak. But I have a solution!
Go wider
I use a Sigma 24-70mm EX 90% of the time. The reason for this is that it gives me a wider shot (24mm) and still has a really wide aperture (f2.8). Given the chance and the money, I would be investing in an 18-55mm.
24mm allows you to fit more in shot
24mm allows you to fit more in shot
Both of the aforementioned lenses are zoom lenses, not primes.
With a zoom lens you have greater flexibility. If you want the close up, you got it. If you need that full frame shot because the singer has just executed the most elaborate back flip you got it.
There are of course some things to look out for with zoom lenses. Many will not provide a wide aperture through the zoom range.
You could find that whilst the lens allows for f2.8 at 24mm it will only give you f5.6 at 70mm for example.
Make sure to try them out in the shop by just setting it to manual, setting the aperture and moving the zoom back and forth.
Like the 24-70mm EX from Sigma which I use, there are zoom lenses on the market which retain their wide aperture settings throughout the zoom range.
Obviously, the bigger the venue, the bigger the stage, the further away you are likely to be to shoot the band. You could find that your 50mm is the precision tool for the job. Or it could be that it is not close enough.
“Never rule out the power of the 5 – 0″.
f1.8 50mm Gay for Johnny Depp taken at Brighton Barfly 2008
In conclusion
Think about where you are going to be taking photo’s before putting your hand in your pocket and try to think of all the aspects of an item before committing to it. I wish I had, I have an entire porta setup for macro work so that I could sell some stuff on ebay… used it once.
