Rick’s Rants and Raves

I’ve recently read a number of articles praising the virtues of 50mm prime lenses recently. The two main benefits–very narrow depth of field, and great low light shots.  Both of these would be beneficial for the kinds of photography I like to shoot: family get-togethers, band performances, and  my kids’ indoor sports. For the longest time, I really wanted to pick up Nikon’s 50mm f/1.8, but it doesn’t auto-focus on my D60. I started to write a rant about how Nikon hasn’t produced an inexpensive 50mm AF-S (the kind of auto-focus that has a built-in servo that would work with the D60 and others) when I remembered that the D60 sensor is smaller than full-frame, and so a 35mm lens is close to a “natural” 50mm in a film or full frame camera. Fortunately, $200 gets a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 AF-S. Thanks to a bit of Christmas money, I recently picked one up.

And boy is it nice to have that kind of light hitting the sensor. This shot was made during birthday presents in our living room. With this lens, I didn’t need to augment the ambient, just barely.

ISO 400, 1/25 sec, f/1.8

Next, I tried the lens during a recent Mescalito performance. Ultimately, I still have a lot to learn to not rely on the zoom composition crutch. Most of my shots cut off the lower portion of the performers, e.g. awkwardly cutting off half a sax. But as an example of just how incredibly this lens lets light in, check out this shot.

ISO 800, 1/30 sec, f/1.8

Again, no flash, just stage lights on Andrew (sax) and Theo (keyboard). Notice the drummer in the back ground? He’s in shadow, with no direct light on him, on a very dark stage.

My last example is from a recent street hockey game at a local YMCA. Lighting in these gyms are notoriously dim, and have usually required a noisy ISO 1600 just to get a decent shot.

ISO 400, 1/60 sec, f/1.8

I still have a lot to learn about how to use this lens to its best potential, but I’m pleased with the results so far. I just wish I could come up with a fun alliteration with “Thirty Five”.

Maybe “Jive Thirty Five”. Maybe not.