5 Things I’ve Learned Since Upgrading the Nifty Fifty to 50mm 1.4

Very rarely do I publish photography tutorials lately because, frankly, my photography hasn’t been all that great. Primarily because my gear was in disrepair, which caused a severe lack of inspiration. I just wasn’t motivated to create beautiful photography that documented our family legacy. That all changed once I upgraded the Nifty Fifty – my 50 mm f/1.8 – to a 50mm 1.4. Why did I wait so long?!

Here’s what WAS going in my photography world:

– My 50mm 1.8 was broken. The Nifty Fifty (as so lovingly called in the momtog world) is awesome because, as a prime lens (meaning a lens that doesn’t zoom and has a fixed focal length), it offers a wide aperture and a ton of light compared to a mom’s standard kit zoom lens (which are variable, so the aperture varies according to focal length and only drops to f/3.5). But what’s so awesome about the Nifty Fifty is the price point. At hardly over $100 brand new, what’s not to love for a momtog aiming to create pretty images. BUT, mine was old (I bought it off my family professional photographer several years ago for $80). Being made of plastic, they aren’t made to stand the test of time. It was painfully slow, wouldn’t focus on any points outside of center and, for as technical as I could be, I could NOT get a tack sharp image to save my life. The last decent shoot my Nifty Fifty produce were the images of Alina making a sandwich, here. I had to keep asking Alina to slow her movements or repeat an action just to get something in focus, and that’s not the accurate record keeping I’m trying to create.

– We live in Vegas and it’s hecka hot. Meaning, right now, we’re inside a lot. And 50mm is just too tight for indoors. When I use the kit zoom and want to tear my hair out. I found myself going off of manual (because what’s the point when the variable aperture keeps adjusting!) and I was losing my mojo. I should have listened to all those smart reviews and bought the camera body alone and spent the extra funds on a wide angle prime. Learn from me, don’t buy the kit lens!

– My pretty little T2i is slowing down. She’s tore to shreds, actually. And while she’s making magic again with the upgraded 50mm 1.4, it’s only a matter of time before I outgrow her in terms of ISO needs. I’ll likely keep her around to teach Alina with, and I still have to decide on whether or not to go full frame, but a new camera body is definitely in the future for our family legacy documentation.

Here’s what IS going on since upgrading to a 50mm 1.4:

It’s been on our list of goals to upgrade my photography gear this year. This little blog has won awards, I’m asked to speak at conferences (will anyone be in San Jose for BlogHer?!), all because of the storytelling I do with pictures. I think that’s pretty cool… so does Daddy D. But much more than the accolades though, I love photography. I have no plans to charge people money to make pictures, but doing so for this blog and for my own enjoyment is like therapy. I love it. Or, at least I used to when my gear functioned like it’s supposed to.

Last month, on a total whim, I drove down to the local camera shop after dropping Alina off at summer camp. My thought was to just chat shop, not to buy. In the end, I upgraded from the Nifty Fifty to a 50mm f/1.4 and it’s like the angels began singing down from the heavens. It’s so magical!!! The upgraded lens runs around $350 and is absolutely worth the extra investment, in my opinion. But, upgrading is not without it’s learning curve and I’ve been practicing like a good little student.

Here are 5 things I’ve learned since upgrading from the Nifty Fifty to the 50mm f/1.4:

1. So much light!

Who would have thought that a difference of .4 would create such a flurry of light! I have to admit, I didn’t. The ability to manipulate this much light in your photography is worth the extra $200. In the first picture above (of Alina with Rico), the image is being flooded with light from behind. This much backlight would have resulted in almost no focus with my old 50mm 1.8. Instead, I have a ethereal image of my little girl teaching her old dog new tricks.

The second image, of my beautiful boy with his new curly boy’s haircut, is beyond invigorating. It breathes life into my worn out photography inspiration! We were sitting outside under an umbrella (in open shade) and I had the aperture nearly all the way open (if not 1.4, then at 1.6). The light across his face is even and his facial features are in sharp focus.

It’s taken some time to get used to this much light, as well as the sliver of focal plain when shooting that open, but I’ve loved every minute of it.

2. True colors!

Point blank: the images above would have been really underexposed with my other lens. I have no idea why (it always comes down to light, though), but I’ve observed the new lens to create more true, vibrant colors. When the babies and I do venture outside in this heat, we get really tan. My beautiful brown babies are now a yummy chocolate and I am SOOOO excited that this new lens is picking up on these hues without my having to underexpose the rest of the image.

This has taken the biggest adjustment, but one that I am happy to deal with. I’m also excited to finally start setting my custom white balance, since that hasn’t been something I did in the past. I’m now motivated to learn and improve the colors of my images even more because of the upgraded 50mm 1.4. And motivation is priceless!

3. Sharp focus!

Holy smokes, in addition to more light, that extra .4 in aperture size is a big deal in focus. I’ve had this lens for about a month now, and on this day of shooting (above of Sebas in the peach shirt), I purposefully set out to practice catching my focus point with a narrowed, wide aperture range (1.4-1.6). It’s not easy! And I have a ton of images that are either totally blurred or blurring something I didn’t want.

The rule of thumb is to set the f/stop at around the number of people you have in the image, and for both the kids to be in focus, I usually keep it around 2.2-2.8. Above, for Sebas alone, it was about 1.8 (or maybe 1.6) and he’s all in focus. But for the next image at 1.4, you can see that, not only is Alina blurred in the background, but Sebas’s hairline and ears are blurred to. Crazy difference, right? However, his mouth, teeth and eyes are uber tack sharp and sharp focus is photography gold. I LOVE this!

4. Same lovely focal length!

50mm is a great focal length for me and my parenting. My kids don’t wonder too far from me (huge occasional exception is my crazy boy) and I’m not that easy-going to allow much distance between us when we’re out and about. The 50mm focal length allows me to pull out for a landscape image (without being too far, physically, from my kids) and quickly move in for a portrait. It has great versatility, I’m used to 50mm focal length and, while the next lens will be a wide angle prime (either 24 or 35mm) for indoor photography (hopefully this month!), I always knew a 50mm would have to remain in my arsenal because it works so well for me.

50mm also happens to the cheapest route to higher apertures at less than $400 for a f/1.4. The price is comparable for an 85mm, but it stays at f/1.8. It was the perfect jump in price for this upgrade.

5. Fast as can be!

Wowzer, my poor old Nifty Fifty had definitely seen better days… it wouldn’t focus quickly, or even take an image at all if I attempted focal points outside of center. Maddening! I don’t even want to think of all the beautiful, fast paced moments I’ve missed because of faulty gear.

The 50mm 1.4 is so well made (actually with metal!) and the glass so much faster. Just look at the insanely happy image of my three gorgeous babies that I would have missed had my camera been equipped with my old lens.

In the end, spending $200 more for a 50mm f/1.4 is really really worth it. If you can, skip the Nifty Fifty all together. If you can’t, don’t worry about… the 50mm f/1.8 is still a great beginner lens. It just won’t last forever, so keep that in mind.

I’ve gotten a couple emails on this new lens, so I hope this post answers those questions.

Happy Monday, friends!