Usefulness of a 50mm in abandonments?

[djskive]

Hey all,

I used to shoot Nikon (F5,28mm) but then I gave it up in favor of a Leica. I prefer the Leica as I mostly shoot people, and abandonments are somewhat of a side thing. Therefore my camera kit as of now is:
Leica with 50mm (My only manual camera)
spotmeter(awesome for abandonments)
Olympus XA(awesome camera, though doesn't have manual exp/exp lock)

So the Leica is my only viable option for this until I get the 15mm/4.5 lens for it, which may be a while...

Have any of you used a 50 in abandonments? How do you work around the increased focal length, as I've always seen building photography excel with a wide.

Thanks!

Marko

[BenCooper]

I normally take along a 50/1.4 - it's great for detail stuff, and for when you can't be bothered with a tripod in low light. Most places you can't zoom with your legs, though, so a wide is pretty much essential...

[Bunk3r]

my synopsis:

Wide: best for capturing the whole scene

50mm: makes you think more about composition.

nothing wrong with going out with just a 50mm, some people do it just for the challenge and as i say it makes you think more. However i will urge you to be aware that to write a report you want to show the site off as a whole so just close ups generally wont go down well, but with a bit of thought a good report can be done on a 50mm. as is generally the case its not what youve got its what you do with it. that 15mm sounds like fun though.

[LiamCH]

I've sometimes brought an old Zorki rangefinder with a 50mm lens on explores, and in a lot of situations you can't fit nearly enough in. It's very good for detailed shots of smaller objects, but in a lot of rooms it just won't work. Hell, I sometimes find 28mm won't do, or will barely work.

[turkey]

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=31892&highlight=broadford

My pictures are by no means the best examples of 50mm photography, but here is the Broadford works in Aberdeen which I exclusively shot on my 50 1.8.

Hope this helps.

[Narcosynthesis]

It can be done, you just have to focus on different things as you shoot.

Without the wide angle you lose the option of the large shot showing the whole area in favour of much more focussed shots - looking at turkeys link above he has some awesome detail shots, but no real 'location' for them as such.

If anything else, shoot for yourself and get some cool photos in somewhere different...

[sophos9]

Is your camera body full frame or crop? 50mm's are always good however can be quite limiting when urbexing (especially indoors with a cropped body). Its ok for good effects when you are after detail shots with bokeh

Shot with a 50mm on 1.5x crop
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3516911864_56e9f795d8.jpg

[snappel]

Since buying an 18-50 f/2.8 I haven't bothered with the 50. But still, it's not a purchase I regret, and it does come in handy now and then.

For 'abandonments' I'd say wide is better, but it depends if you priority is capturing the location as it is or getting artistic.

[mr_bones]

50mm is great if you have the patience for it

This is a shot that i took at Fullers Earthworks in Redhill last year.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll233/baldrickthecunning2/DSC_0018Medium-1.jpg

[vmlopes]

Agreed lets get back on thread here, fellas...........so I'll start Voigtlander Vitomatic with fixed 50mm its 35mm so full frame, I do have a Leica with a 50mm Summi on it but have not developed any explore shots with it yet.........

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3737715165_5441da8fba_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3737714927_1a61443c62_o.jpg

[Narcosynthesis]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3552/3472555103_5d5a867011.jpg
50mm lens on a Nikon FM

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3423989892_f823c5b48a.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3423180647_eaf39b23c7.jpg
35mm lens on Canon 400d (roughly equivalent to the 50mm standard on film/full frame)

It is just a different approach to what you will often see here - picking out the details of a site rather than showing a whole room - so as a sole lens not the best fit for the general 'style' here of documenting a building, but brilliant either as a companion to something wider, or for doing your own thing and working with what you have.

[Brick_Man]

I don't have a 50mm prime for digital, but used to use a pentax 35mm slr with its 50mm f1.7 & a sigma 28mm f2.8 prime, I used the 50 & the 28 pretty much equally, but always spent MUCH more time & effort with the 50 to get the shot 'right. Yes that was for UE.

wide has its place in UE, it gives you shots of whats there, how it looks, it can do epic, but you have to be pretty good to pull it off, far too many people use them badly.
mid range zoom/prime, you'll use it a lot
tele lense, some might use on for UE, there are occasions when you might want a proper macro lense or tele that can focus right down close, but its unlikely.

get the 50mm, and go play would be my advise. They make you think a lot more about what you are shooting and how you want things to look

[Concentration face]

I have to say i use my 50mm the least when exploring but I still take it on every trip and try to use it as much as possible - mainly because it makes you work harder for a good composition. Plus i just love the f1.8.

[Mystery Machine]

Look at it from a different angle: What do YOU want to get out of an explore?

If you're after sweeping shots in confined spaces then a 50mm probably won't cut it, but if you want to capture atmosphere & detail then a 50mm will be a good companion.

Having two lenses (or a single 'walkabout' lens) is a good way to achieve both - but this could result in lots of chnages as you swap between the two lenses in each area.....or covering the whole site twice over - once with each lens.

Working with what you've got is always the best way in my opinion. If you've just got the one lens, make it work for you. It's a tool, a piece of equipment that you control, so make sure you get the best out of it. As Alias has said, use it to define & create your own style after all it's about what you want out of it.

Personally I LOVE 50mm - I've got an old 2nd hand 50mm f1.8 and love it to bits. The detail, definition & depth of field is just awesome, and as others have said, it really makes you think about what you're shooting.

Only if you find it truly limiting in what you want to achieve should you consider getting a different lens to address these limitations. You and only you alone will know the answer to this....and this will only be by exploring the limits of what you already have.

[vmlopes]

Two from this week at West Park both 50mm

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3794687791_b809580ab2_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/3794682685_7b15d1be11_b.jpg

[Brick_Man]

Not great shots by any stretch of anything, but from a 50mm on a 35mm film cam.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3733018726_0364ba4e95.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3732222063_51f9a29641.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2554/3733019994_1496e1ae8a.jpg

from a '79 50mm f1.7 pentax lense. a 50mm prime makes you look at little things that catch your attention, wheras a much wider lense results in lots of 'overall shots' good for knowing what was there, but your imagination usually goes to sleep :p or at least mine does.

[Narcosynthesis]

I just bought myself a Canon 50mm f1.8 to play with :)

Fantastically cheap for a lens, a build quality to match but some fantastic glass for the pennies. Bought to pair up with a 10-22mm as a slightly longer and fast lens (and a lot lighter to carry than a 35mm f2/70-210mm f4 combination when I don't really need a proper telephoto, but the 35mm is too close to the wide angle to really work)

Now to get out and play :)

[Narcosynthesis]

Can I just add an update on the last post - when I said the build quality of the Canon 50mm f1.8 matches the cheap price I was not joking... First time I got out to give it a shot and it took a small knock and self destructed :banghead

my £150 35mm f2 on the other hand is solid as anything and still working perfectly after a hell of a lot more use...

[Winchester]

I dropped mine and the connections snapped.