50mm low light hand held please post samples

Filed under: portal.xn--b8qr95do2b.com — jane @ March 21, 2010 edit
  • First let me say hello. I am brand new to this forum and this is my first post.

    I was hoping some of you would be willing to post some of your low light pics shot with a 50mm prime hand held. Would you please indicate weather it was the 1.4 or 1.8. or other. The reason I am asking is I am considering purchasing one. I would like to find something that I can just whip out and shoot in low light conditions. I know this isn’t ideal but I have to shoot on the fly. I’m not even sure if this is possible but the 50 seems to be the closest thing to what I am looking for and it is priced right.
    The reason for the quick setup and shoot is because I chaperoned a high school trip threw Europe last summer. We where with 36 9-12 graders. Leading groups of kids obviously doesn’t leave much time to set up shots. And I sure didn’t have time to set up a tripod. Anyway the school is in the process of arranging another trip and I would like to take some reasonable shots of both cityscape and people with out the use of a flash at night. Is this the best choice of a lens? I am hoping some of you will be willing to post some examples.

    PS I have a D80 with kit 18-135mm and I'm a total beginner.


  • 50mm 1.8 (no flash)

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2912465789_2afb453e1d.jpg

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/2853977486_e3dea11d9f.jpg


  • Welcome to TPF.

    Here's a set of some pictures I took at a show a while back: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simindy/sets/72157604128408478/ All are handheld with a 50mm 1.4.

    Edit: no flash.


  • www.pixel-peeper.com


  • The 50mm 1.4 is your best choice for low-light photography in terms of aperture, but I don't think it's the most suitable for what you want. Don't forget, because of the APS-C sized sensor, that 50mm has an effective focal length of 75mm, or moderate telephoto. I would suggest that something like the Nikon 18-200 VR would be a much more suitable choice because of it's versatility. The built-in image stabilization will allow you to hand-hold at 2-4 stops slower than you could otherwise and the wide zoom range will allow you to from reasonably wide to long telephoto.

    The 50mm 1.4 is a great, sharp lens, but not ideal, especially on a crop-body for a lot of day-to-day applications. I'm afraid I don't have any relevant images on-line that were taken with my 50.


    I would love to have an 18-200 VR. That is actually the lens that I originally wanted. But it is not cheap. 6-700 maybe a little less used. 50mm 1.8D $109 new on amazon. I figure I can pick one up for $50 or so on ebay. Maybe $150-200 for the 1.4D. If I could buy a 18-200 VR for that I would buy it in a heartbeat.

    Thanks the responses. I would love to see a few more examples.


  • The 50mm 1.4 is your best choice for low-light photography in terms of aperture, but I don't think it's the most suitable for what you want. Don't forget, because of the APS-C sized sensor, that 50mm has an effective focal length of 75mm, or moderate telephoto. I would suggest that something like the Nikon 18-200 VR would be a much more suitable choice because of it's versatility. The built-in image stabilization will allow you to hand-hold at 2-4 stops slower than you could otherwise and the wide zoom range will allow you to from reasonably wide to long telephoto.

    The 50mm 1.4 is a great, sharp lens, but not ideal, especially on a crop-body for a lot of day-to-day applications. I'm afraid I don't have any relevant images on-line that were taken with my 50.







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