Originally posted by pepperberry farm OK - now that I've had my K-50 for about four months, I'm ready to continue learning and expanding what I can do with it.... so....
I need a prime lens... and I have questions...
I have spent the last two weeks, absorbing as much as I can about primes - reviews, comparisons, etc...
What i want a prime for: portraits, landscape and as a walking around lens...
Is a 35 mm lens that much of a different view than a 50 mm? Is an aperture of f1.8 that much more noticeable in low light than an f2.4? Should I be looking only at autofocus lenses vs manual?
I've read from end to end the thread on old manual lenses and how great they are - but is it really just the 'neat' factor of using an old lens vs a new 'plastic fantastic'?
guidance, advice and criticism... all welcomed.....
My opinions on that are as follows:
If you are shooting low light then yes there is a noticeable difference. That said, don't be shy to experiment kicking up the ISO a few notches.
As for focal length, on a crop camera I tend to like the 28mm to 35mm focal length better but it depends on the shot. There is no one perfect lens. That's why most of us have a 'collection' rather than 'a' lens.
There is a lot to be said for old manual glass. I love my auto focus but manual glass has benefits too. It will definitely get you out of point and shoot mode if you use a manual lens.
To me the three most important parts of a photograph are subject matter, lighting, and composition. Each one can have volumes written about them. Gear comes way down on the list.
As a learning tool though let's take lighting for example.You're going to have to screw up a lot to start to learn. But which lens you choose on a particular day can help you learn. Try doing things like shooting at different times of the day. Try shooting in different weather not just bright sunshiny perfect days. It will eventually become an exercise in observation. If you really look around you will see interesting shadows and little nooks and crannies where an interesting shot could be made. You will see that if you shoot at high noon you get one thing, if you come back at 6pm you get another, and if you run out 2 minutes before a down pour you will get yet another... all of the same subject.
If you use it right the manual lens will force you into observation mode. You might only take 5 shots, but if those 5 are well thought out it's better than 100 random clicks.
An auto focus lens allows you to react faster but it also allows you to learn about how your gear sees the world and how it reacts. You will eventually be able to say that under X type of light I will get Y type of result.
The third part of this is to experiment with shutter speeds and apertures at different lighting conditions. Try to create different effects. Try to darken the background or lighten the background or try for even lighting. Use a variation of combinations of different shutter speeds and apertures to get different effects. This can much more easily be done with an AF lens because you are only worried about how the controls effect the results and you can quickly change on the fly and it gives you almost instant feedback.
I think using a variety of manual/auto lenses helps IF you let it help you.