Creative Constraints
July 20, 2022
Learning to use The 50mm Lens is a very important skill for my image creation.
I got my very first 50mm F1.8 about eight years ago.
It confused me because I was using it on my Nikon D90. This Camera was very dear to me, I Traveled all over the world with it. What I didn’t know yet was the difference between DX & FX.
The D90 was a DX Camera with a much smaller sensor. The Crop Factor was a difference of 1.5.
If you do the math, 1.5 x 50mm = 75mm
My goodness; 75mm F1.8 is a beautiful focal length if you are shooting Portraits.
This image of my friend Eric was shot at 70mm @ F4 FXD700
Gilberto | 50mm on a DX D7100 F4
I didn’t fully understand this important detail untill much later.
Don’t forget, all my knowledge about Photography I learnt from reading Bryan Peterson’s Book Understanding Exposure.
Using a 50mm Lens on an FX Camera gives a true 50mm field of view.
No optical tricks like compression or distorted depth, just a true natural field of view.
My eyes don’t work like normal people so the natural field of view doesn’t register well with me.
I see a 50mm Frame like a narrower field of view. Cropped in from 35mm. As far as the image is concerned it doesn’t matter, I can fill the frame or allow breathing space, that’s my creative choice.
As I said in my last Journal entry, on a FX Camera, the 50mm is a beautiful Lens.
When I am home, I like the discipline of using a Prime Lens:
28mm, 35mm or 50mm
When I Travel, I take a my Zoom Lens - The X-T2 with the 18-55mm F2.8-F4 and the 55-200mm on a second body; that’s my Travel Kit.
For Low Light and Blue Hour, the 50mm 1.4 is perfect. The images above were created using my XF23mm 1.4.
So, creative constraints is all about learning to see like my Lens and work the scene to create the best possible images.
Thanks for reading.
“In a universe that's an intelligent system with a divine creative force supporting it, there simply can be no accidents. As tough as it is to acknowledge, you had to go through what you went through in order to get to where you are today, and the evidence is that you did”.
Wayne Dyer