Yeah Mom, it's a Nikkor ... uh huh ... 50mm f/1.4

I got a new lens. Well ... new to me anyway. I found a very slightly used Nikon 50mm f/1.4 prime at a local camera store at a very, more than slightly reasonable price! I haven't shot with a prime lens for a long time and had forgotten about the magnificent things that can be done with a fast lens.

I'm used to shooting with lenses that range in maximum aperture from f/3.5 to f/4.5. I guess once you're used to that the maximum aperture becomes pretty innocuous. So, it can be quite shocking to first discover that what would have been shot using say f/3.5 @ 1/30 can now be shot at f/1.4 @ 1/125 is a startling difference! Now you start thinking you may have been bitten by a radio-active spider. I told you it's been a long time since I shot with a fast, prime lens. At first, you really need to watch your focus and DOF to make sure you're getting what you want. Probably, one of the nicer things about this lens is that on a digital camera the angle of view is slightly more acute giving you a 75mm f/1.4 portrait lens. This is very cool and well worth the expense. Not only that but, it focuses as close as 1.5 feet away which is pretty close and may someday qualify as a pseudo-macro. It's close anyway and nice bokeh!

Anyway ... I'm excited to add this lens to my modest arsenal and look forward to using it a lot.

i shoot nikon