If you’re got an itch to get a bit more photo gear and you don’t already own a 50mm prime for your DSLR, you’d be hard pressed to find better value for your money. Both Canon and Nikon have excellent 50mm lenses at bargain prices (Canon 50mm f1.8 / Nikon 50mm f1.8). For your money you get a great quality lens at a very useful focal length.

Here’s a quick run down of the benefits of the simplicity of a 50mm prime:

Speed
The 50mm prime is a fairly simple lens and they come with wide maximum apertures that will allow a lot of light in. This makes them ideal for low-light photography where you don’t want to or can’t use a flash. Opening up the fifty and bumping up the ISO will give you some great low light shots where you’d otherwise just get a blur.

zarajay
by zara

Useful focal length
The 50mm focal length is fairly close to what you see through your eyes. If you’re going to be trapped in a focal length, it’s a good one to be trapped in and being forced to move around rather than just zoom in and out will improve your photographic eye.

Sharpness
The simplicity of the lens means that the results can be exceedingly sharp. The shallow depth of field when opened up to maximum can make it hard to get a sharp focus where you want it but close it down a bit and you’ll get great results. If you’re used to a kit lens, you’ll see a world of difference.

Bokeh
With these lenses wide open you’ll get lovely blurry backgrounds (called bokeh) which make them perfect for portrait photography.

Value for money
You get all the above but because of the simplicity of the fifty’s design, the f1.8 models usually cost around just $/£100. If you can afford it, the f1.4s (Canon / Nikon) have a better build quality. Though many people get the 1.8 and never have a problem, the Canon ones have been known to fall apart occasionally!