why 50 mm is considered normal

[ElFenix]

as we all know, a 35 mm frame has a diagonal of 43 mm. so, technically, normal is 43 mm. yet, we all call 50 mm lenses normal.

ever wonder why?

wonder no longer!

the same poster also explains why 35 mm will continue to be what people want and where the industry is headed a couple posts up in the thread.

this stuff is pretty fascinating to me.

 

[Heidfirst]

I always understood that it was simply that when Oskar Barnack invented the first Leica, the 50mm focal length was the only available lens that would cover the 35mm format and deliver acceptably sharp images.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst
I always understood that it was simply that when Oskar Barnack invented the first Leica, the 50mm focal length was the only available lens that would cover the 35mm format and deliver acceptably sharp images.

well that's true. maybe the guy doesn't know his history!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
as we all know, a 35 mm frame has a diagonal of 43 mm. so, technically, normal is 43 mm. yet, we all call 50 mm lenses normal.

ever wonder why?

wonder no longer!

the same poster also explains why 35 mm will continue to be what people want and where the industry is headed a couple posts up in the thread.

this stuff is pretty fascinating to me.

Meh, this explanation makes much more sense to me.

Also, the dpreview post is flat wrong about Nikon's 58mm. Nikon's 58mm lens was a special-purpose f/1.2 lens for night photography. It was not introduced until the 1970's, and it was extraordinarily expensive. It stayed in production for a long time (until the early 1990s) as well and seems to have been widely loved.

The only 58mm lenses I've been able to turn up have been Russian lenses, no searching has managed to confirm the existence of a Pentax or Canon 58mm, nor can I find evidence of a Nikon 58mm lens other than the special-purpose lens I mentioned above, which was certainly never a kit lens.

I can't see why anyone would "hate" a 58mm f/1.4 lens as the Zenits and CZ Jena 58mm lenses are quite well liked within the screwmount community, so the claim that 58mm lenses were the subjects of "bitter complaints" just plain doesn't ring true.

ZV

 

[ElFenix]

there were a lot of 55s iirc. canon and nikon both offered 55/1.2 (and some claim the canon 55/1.2 ssc aspheric is the best 35 mm lens ever)

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

The only 58mm lenses I've been able to turn up have been Russian lenses, no searching has managed to confirm the existence of a Pentax or Canon 58mm, nor can I find evidence of a Nikon 58mm lens other than the special-purpose lens I mentioned above, which was certainly never a kit lens.

Minolta did 58mms

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

The only 58mm lenses I've been able to turn up have been Russian lenses, no searching has managed to confirm the existence of a Pentax or Canon 58mm, nor can I find evidence of a Nikon 58mm lens other than the special-purpose lens I mentioned above, which was certainly never a kit lens.

Minolta did 58mms

Minolta did a lot of weird stuff.

ZV <-- Minolta user, but only since the AF days.

 

[Heidfirst]

Some of the Minolta 58mms are still very highly sought after - it's 1 of the most commonly converted to use on Canon.
Leica made a 58mm based on the Minolta.
Cosina made a 58mm.

 

[spikespiegal]

Meh, this explanation makes much more sense to me.

That's always been my take on the issue. The 50mm fixed lens has historically been very easy/cheap to manufacture, and because of several coincendental optical reasons produces some of the best image quality at the lowest investment.

The irony is that while the 50mm made it's claim to fame on the 35mm film SLR, it was one of the most mediocre, or shall I say 'over-rated' focal lengths to work with. Not wide enough for true 'wide' work, and too short for serious portraiture where 85-105mm gave a near perfect facial compression. I worked with a lot of press/free-lance journalists who never bothered with it in their bag, and carrying a 50mm was a quick way to get labeled a 'newbie'.

With APS digital, I find the 50mm to be far more productive lens than I ever did with my 35mm film SLRs because combining it with the smaller format made it behave like a longer lens, and hence being better for portrait work.