A year ago today, I launched a challenge to take and post images using only a 50mm (or FF equivalent) lens and to post the JPEG as captured in camera. A large number of you decided to join me for all or part of the month so I have decided to issue the same challenge for the month of September this year. Here's how I introduced last year's challenge:
I got to thinking about how photography has changed in recent years: it used to be that 20, 30 or 40 years ago if you wanted an 'enthusiasts camera' you bought either a 35mm range-finder camera or a 35mm SLR, and chances are that in either case it would have come equipped with a 'standard' 50mm lens. So you loaded your choice of 35mm film, took 24 or 36 exposures and then sent your film off to a processing house for the next stage in the process... at some considerable cost. Ten days to a fortnight later, you got your 'snaps' back and, if you were anything like me, you were disappointed with the results. Some didn't 'come out' and the rest didn't seem to exactly tally with your memories of the scenes that you captured.
These days this second and vital part of the process is also handled by the photographer him or herself and this has led, I think, to some blurring of the roles of camera and processing engine. Often, and I plead guilty to this, decisions that should have been made in camera - composition, colour balance, exposure, etc. - get made in processing... such is the power of a raw image file. But I can't help thinking that this is rather sloppy technique - often we'll get away with it and get the final image we wanted... but sometimes we won't. So on balance I think it must be better to do what should be done in camera, in camera.
So I have again decided that the month of September will be for me NF-SOOC-2015. Every image I post in my main 365 album will be taken with a 50mm (or equivalent) lens and will be posted exactly as it came out of the camera. Yes I know that it will have been processed by the camera's internal processing engine but I need to get used to this standard result exactly the same as in the film days we had to get used to a standard mass-produced 6 x 4 print. I will do no external processing and no cropping and if I want to zoom in on an image, I'll have to do it with my feet!
So who's brave or mad enough (probably a bit of both) to join me in this adventure? You can play for the whole month - I hope some of you will do that - or just post the occasional image. Remember, JPEG as produced in camera and a 50mm lens. Remember also that a Nifty Fifty is only 50mm on a full frame camera: if you have a crop sensor camera like most of use, then the lens you need will be marked 30mm or 35mm for an APS-C camera and 25mm for a micro 4/3 sensor (Olympus and Panasonic). If you don't have a standard prime lens but you would still like to join in, then set your zoom to 50, 35 or 25 as appropriate for your camera and shoot away. (For those who do have a prime lens, there is the added advantage of being able to exploit the wider maximum aperture of those lenses - normally f/1.8 or f/1.4 - and compose with reduced depth of field and/or shoot hand-held in low light.)
Tag your post nf-sooc-2015 and feel free to share your images on here to encourage us all.
Here's my first image - Afternoon Stroll:
Good Luck everyone - I look forward to your joining me in the this little adventure and I promise you that all who participate will become better photographers as a result.
@yeshanghai@brigette I think the experience and the learning to be had from this challenge comes from the discipline of shooting always with the same focal length and composing the image entirely at the point of capture. Certainly a 50mm or 55mm focal length on a cropped sensor camera is the full-frame equivalent of a 75 or 80mm lens and the images you post will reflect that... but all the rest holds good - so shoot away and join us.
@vignouse Great! I can join now. Thanks. I guess it's about time for me to learn/Google photography terminology this afternoon: I have no idea what full frame is.
good idea, i will take some time this month with my son's camera to learn how to use the 50mm lenses he has. i have adopted his camera he doesn't use it much these days .
Richard, I'd like to join in. I have Sony a6000 and two prime lenses: a 50mm lens, also a 30mm lens. From your explanation, I think the 30mm lens will be the one to use? @frankhymus
@quietpurplehaze The 50 would be suitable if you are shooting portraits, a mild telephoto, 75 or so "full frame equivalent." The 30 will be just short of a "nifty fifty" equivalent, and would be more suitable for wider angle shots, landscapes, larger views. 32-33 will be about a 50mm ff-equivalent. The kit zoom would get you there, if you will set it and don't alter it. But I wouldn't obsess about it too much. :)
Hope the David Busch book is giving you new insight into the a6000.
Hi Richard, I would like to join in again this year. Since last year I bought a 50mm lens for my Pentax k-x, and haven't used it much. Will this lens work or should I set my 18-135 zoom to 30mm or 35mm?
Here's my first one - not an inspiring shot, but a relatively old institution for rural King County, Washington. I paid attention to getting both the sign and the U.S. flag and not getting run over on the road!
@quietpurplehaze Hi Hazel - for general shooting, go with the 30mm... it gives you the equivalent of a 45mm and will be fine for the spirit of this challenge.
@radiogirl 34mm wil put you nearest to the FF equivalent of 50mm but the 50mm prime will give you interesting possibilities if you open it up... why not use both.
@vignouse Love the idea! In sporadically through the month... I tried tonight with my 50mm, of course with my camera it isn't really a 50, but I can refine... Plus as you mention being able to open it way up is interesting. The getting it right in the camera part seems to be the real trick (for me anyway).
Ok Richard i am in for how long I don't know. This may drive me to drink and I will buy the gas. Thursday will be my first post, remember I am new do I post any different than I have previously?
I have a 50mm prime that I have a love/hate relationship with!
Richard, thank you. I do love this 30mm lens, the only snag being that I assumed it had stabilisation, like other e-mount lens I've bought, so lots of practice keeping really steady will be good. Thanks for the challenge!
Hi Frank - thanks for advice - decided to use my 30mm 3.5 macro lens for this. I think it's good to stop and pay attention a bit more from time to time. I'll get the David Busch for the a6000 in a couple of weeks, had to pre-order it, will give you feedback!
@quietpurplehaze Hi Hazel - yes learning to hold a prime lens steady without stabilisation is another benefit that can accrue from following this challenge! Remember the rule of thumb: the minimum hand-holding speed should be not less than the reciprocal of the focal length. That's the effective focal length, so in your case, as the effective focal length will be 45mm, the minimum shutter speed should be not less than 1/45 sec - 1/50 sec in practice.
@radiogirl Hi Kathy - I think the experience and the learning to be had from this challenge comes from the discipline of shooting always with the same focal length and composing the image entirely at the point of capture. Certainly a 50mm focal length on a cropped sensor camera is the full-frame equivalent of a 75 or 80mm lens and the images you post will reflect that... but all the rest holds good - so shoot away and join us.... and why not try using both lenses.
@vignouse Thanks Richard I will participate when I can this month. I'm on holidays for a week this month so hope to be able to experiment with the 34mm zoom and the 50mm. I remember learning alot last year, thanks for bringing this challenge back.
@vignouse Thanks for bringing this wonderful challenge back, Richard. I found it significantly increased my photographic skills last year. I will try to participate when I can this month. I highly recommend this challenge to those who have not done it before.
@bill_fe I've commented directly on your project Bill, but I think you meant to post today's photo for the second one here... you might want to change it.
I had a lot of fun down on my belly trying to compose this shot well enough to post exactly as it came out of the camera even though laying on those nut bits wasn't very comfortable! I learned a lot about composition, and I'm hoping to do more shots for this challenge.
Great idea Richard! I'll give it a go although it will be with a 'nifty fifty' on a crop sensor camera. Looking forward to seeing what happens - my editing is fairly limited anyway but it will be good to focus on getting things as I want them in camera.
@vignouse Hey Richard...can it be raw and then just converted and put up with no additional fiddling? I suppose I could shoot jpg and raw together so that I could post. Think I need to do something as I have been in the doldrums for some time.
@lynnb Hi Lynn - anything that meets the spirit of this challenge is OK by me. I feel the learning comes from using a fixed focal length and doing no additional processing so what you suggest sounds OK to me.
Here's my first post for this challenge - using my 50mm prime lens with manual focusing as the automatic focus is broken after a wee incident with the lens a few months back. I tend not to do much post-processing, but like most folks, I do tweak a little, usually; a bit of cropping, increased definition, a wee frame, and even though it's not much, it's still processing the shot. So, I had to be brave and not crop out that annoying little orange bit on the top left - I didn't see it on the camera screen. What is difficult for me is to use the same lens - I do like to switch lenses - so that will be my biggest challenge, I think!
Hoping to get out for a real photowalk while in Colorado Springs to work on a photo for this challenge. For now, this is the only one in the past 48 hours that is at all postable SOOC. Great Back to Basics challenge, Richard!
I was aiming to photograph a caterpillar, but it lost out to these rain-kissed cherry tomatoes once it made the decision to crawl beneath a sage leaf. I would love to crop this a bit and perhaps add a frame, but SOOC it is.
Three of these newly-introduced Blue Enchantress Hydrangeas were planted out front today; and with just one look, I knew this blue-tiful, heart-shaped bloom had to be my post for the day!
I'm going to finish September out with this challenge as I finally was able to take some decent sooc images with my Nikon D3100 and 35mm prime lens. Here is the blue hour on the beach:
@vignouse I really enjoyed this last year and am very sorry to have missed it this year. I wondered how I survived 365 and my September schedule last year and now I remember. This was a very good learning experience for me and I hope everyone enjoyed it this year!!
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Richard, I'd like to join in. I have Sony a6000 and two prime lenses: a 50mm lens, also a 30mm lens. From your explanation, I think the 30mm lens will be the one to use?
@frankhymus
Hope the David Busch book is giving you new insight into the a6000.
I have a 50mm prime that I have a love/hate relationship with!
Richard, thank you. I do love this 30mm lens, the only snag being that I assumed it had stabilisation, like other e-mount lens I've bought, so lots of practice keeping really steady will be good. Thanks for the challenge!
Hi Frank - thanks for advice - decided to use my 30mm 3.5 macro lens for this. I think it's good to stop and pay attention a bit more from time to time. I'll get the David Busch for the a6000 in a couple of weeks, had to pre-order it, will give you feedback!
Richard, thank you! I'm not so good on the tecchie stuff so that is a really helpful tip, very kind.
@vignouse Sorry I don't have 35mm prime for my crop sensor this was taken with the 40mm
Excellent - the 40mm pancake would/will be a great lens to shoot with for a month; it's done a great job here... thanks for joining in!
Here's my first post for this challenge - using my 50mm prime lens with manual focusing as the automatic focus is broken after a wee incident with the lens a few months back. I tend not to do much post-processing, but like most folks, I do tweak a little, usually; a bit of cropping, increased definition, a wee frame, and even though it's not much, it's still processing the shot. So, I had to be brave and not crop out that annoying little orange bit on the top left - I didn't see it on the camera screen. What is difficult for me is to use the same lens - I do like to switch lenses - so that will be my biggest challenge, I think!
"The consumer"