A journey from the late 80s

Man with cigarette (2017, Nikon FM, 50mm, Kodak Tri-X 400) © Gergely Hando

I remember being 6 years old when I asked my Dad for a camera. It was a Zenit-C with a 50mm f/3.5 lens. No automation, no light meter, no program mode, or anything like that. I was in control of the whole process, which I really enjoyed.

The only film I could get at the time was ILFORD PAN 100. It's 1985 and I lived in a small village in Hungary, don't be surprised. So I learned to use the camera and from then on it was always with me.

This article was inspired by my friend Jorge Delgado-Ureña's video called "How to use the 50mm like the masters, and why?", about the proper use of the 50mm lens. He also wrote an article about it.

It deserves at least one, but you have time to see both. I don't want to go into technical details here. It's just that after reading the article and watching the video, I realized that since I've been taking photos, this is the lens I use most often.