In reality it came from looking at the capabilities of the eye. The reality is that the 50mm (or so) lens being "normal" came about from a completely different source - it has nothing to do with the diagonal size of the sensor or film. The relationship between focal lengths and the diagonal of a sensor/film plane is purely coincidental. Start building a full-focal-length-range kit today!Īctually, TWO 22.5mm lenses would come close to the "perspective" of your eyes since you have TWO eyes, and our eyes are essentially spherical, and 22.5mm is the the diameter / diaganol of the APS-C sensor in the Sony Alpha DSLR-A350.I hope you'll forgive me, but this happens to be one of my pet peeves. Liz, I'm of two minds (at least), so I encourage you to also explore and not expect to find only ONE answer.
Yet, what a joy to have the structured discipline of a fixed focal length lens in hand for the day. Since I grew up learning photography with a 3-prime lens kit - wide angle, normal, and telephoto - I like having a prime lens in each focal length today.īut I also treasure the convenience, qualities, and immediate availability of a range of focal lengths in hand, so I find my zoom lenses on my Alpha most often.
Each has it's features and benefits, some of which overlap, and some of which are unique to each lens. That being said, I have the same challenge between my 135mm "prime" Alpha mount lens and my 28-300mm zoom Alpha mount lens, or between my 50mm "prime" Alpha mount lens and my 35-105mm zoom Alpha mount lens. However, with both lenses at 24mm, I know the "prime" lens is capable of not only producing clearer images with more detail in enlargements, but also the 24mm "prime" lens "faster", meaning it has larger available apertures, so I can take pictures in less light, and can control making the depth of field shallower on demand.
Though I love my 24mm "prime" Alpha mount lens, I often hunger for more or less of the scene in the viewfinder and swap to my 19-35mm zoom Alpha mount lens. Then either leave the tape, or carry it with you to use on demand, or seek out a "prime" lens to match that focal length. Liz, may I suggest that you put some adhesive tape on your zoom lens and "hold" it at one focal length for a long shooting period at a time to see if you like one focal length or another. Do you mean "the angle of view within a scene where most people think that they see most clearly?" I see 180 degrees or more, yet I can only "focus" or "concentrate" clearly on an angle of view that I happened to notice is approximately equal to my two hands outstretched in front of me at arm's length - corresponds for me to ~24mm lens on 35mm film, requiring ~16mm for the smaller APS-Classic size capture sensor in the Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. There is a 'new' 50/1.7 (1.8?) DT lens on the way from Sony, but that will likely be over 100 pounds and god knows when it will actually be on the market, so i wouldn't bother waiting for it. Don't worry about 'human perspective', the 50mm + APS-C 'crop' is a great snap-shot type lens and feels very natural to use. a really handy lens! I think there around 85 pounds on ebay at the moment, not a bad price at all. The 50/1.7 is such a compact/light lens that you can take it everywhere with you and of course it allows you to shoot in much lower lit conditions. There are lots of different options here and there, but this really is the best starting point.
There is a 50/1.7, a good quality lens - I suggest you go with this.