A journey from the late 80s

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.

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.

1.) Minister with bush in our church - 1987

2.) Unknown man on a bicycle near my hometown - 1988 Shooted on Zenit-C, 50mm lens © Gergely Hando

Then I also started using a digital camera. I really liked the possibilities of the zoom lens at first, but after a while I wanted to feel the same as at the beginning. So I started using a fixed 50mm lens again and only very rarely put the zoom on the camera. this is also the case on fullframe.

I mostly take photos on the street. I'd be lying if I said I never use a different focal length lens. For example, one of my favorite film cameras, the Lomo LC-A+ has a 32mm f/2.8 lens and I love it because it fits in my pocket. In fact, thanks to the larger viewing angle, I feel that composing is easier with it, but I can mention my OM System camera, what I using mostly with 7Artisans manual lenses (with the wider 24 or 35mm full frame equivalent, and more) but somehow I always return to the focal length mentioned above. I'm just used to it. And that was the lens I started with.

Lumix S5, 50mm - 2020 Budapest © Gergely Hando, Nikon F4, 50mm - 2012 Budapest © Gergely Hando

It's simply the way I feel most comfortable when taking photos. When I notice something on the street, I already compose the photo in my head, I just have to choose the right angle and press the shutter button. If someone is walking in front of me who is interesting to me for some reason, I know almost exactly how far ahead I have to be in order to take the right picture of them.

As Jorge says, many people like this focal length, or for example the 85mm, because they are great for taking pictures with a nice shallow depth of field. But in Jorge's video it is also said, and personally I can only agree with him, that it is worth taking photos with a narrower aperture, with f/6 or even f/8, unless the goal is to make a street portrait. Here is a photo to illustrate this. I won't tell you why it's a good thing to use a narrow aperture. Watch the video or read the article and everything will be crystal clear.

Speaking of street portraits, let me share a few pictures with you. Of course, they were made at 50mm equivalent from f/1.8 to f/5.6. One more thing: the wide aperture can be very useful if you want to take street portrait or photos in low light, for example on the street at night, as you can see in the photo of the shawarma and the guys or the photos of the ladies who preparing coffee and beer.

And finally, I think I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Jorge Delgado-Ureña. If he hadn't written that fantastic article and made the video, I probably wouldn't have even thought about the angle of view I used to enter the wonderful world of photography 37 years ago.
Thank you very much Jorge, God bless you!

Me and the 50mm lens

A journey from the late 80s

Brothers without a father