The Fabulous Fifty

/ Richard R. Barron

I’ve said on more than a few occasions that I love the 50mm focal length.

Another 50mm? Yes!
Another 50mm? Yes!

There are quite a few reasons to love your 50mm, but at the top of the list is that in human scale terms, it fits just right into the efficiency quotient of manufacturing, shipping, cost, weight, and, of course, making pictures with it. For decades now, the photographic community has dubbed it the “Nifty Fifty.”

Of course, I have maybe a dozen of these gems sitting around, some in camera bags in the field, others in shelves in my home photo studio, others still on adaptors, waiting to be mounted on a mirrorless camera and experimented with.

Why, then, did I buy yet another 50mm recently? It started a couple of Christmases ago when I bought a couple of photo grab bags, one of which contained a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, a squirrely little camera of 2005 vintage. It worked fine, and I’ve shot a few assignments with it, all with the unimpressive but ubiquitous 18-55mm “kit” lens that equipped almost every Canon consumer digital SLR in history.

I shot a with it, then put it away, only to dig it out again and again, trying to to remember to throw it over my shoulder as a second camera at a street festival or softball game. All the while, I kept asking myself if there was any point to using this camera. Wasn’t it hopelessly outdated, with it’s three frames per second, 1600-maximum ISO, and 1.8-inch view screen on the back? Sure, but photographers (at least the creative ones) love to tinker and play with whatever gear we can find, and no camera is truly worthless until it stops working.

The 50mm lens, from the top $1600 Nikon or Sony to the lowly $85 Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 is a wonderful focal length. I made this with the Yongnuo in my back yard a few evenings ago.
The 50mm lens, from the top $1600 Nikon or Sony to the lowly $85 Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 is a wonderful focal length. I made this with the Yongnuo in my back yard a few evenings ago.

I looked on Ebay for Canon EF lenses that might bring new life to this camera, but they remained expensive, especially on a camera that might die in my hands the next day.

Finally, finally, on Amazon, I saw a 50mm f/1.8 from Chinese lens maker Yongnuo, marked down twice to something like $85 on Prime Day.

The result was predictable, but not in a bad way. The lens did the job the “Nifty Fifty” promised, and if the camera died, I’d probably gift the 50 to some Canon user out there who also needed to dial up there game.

So, yes, I have yet another 50mm lens, and yes, I will be making pictures with it.

Hopefully, the experimental combination of old digital camera and cheap 50mm lens will yield some great, and maybe even unexpected, results.
Hopefully, the experimental combination of old digital camera and cheap 50mm lens will yield some great, and maybe even unexpected, results.