A bicycle, a car, and a truck are all useful modes of transport, but each one suits a specific purpose—it’s a similar situation with camera lenses. Different types of lenses are purpose-built for certain conditions. There’s a bit of an overlap, but there are certain styles of photography that each lens excels in. The 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses are manufactured for particular circumstances, but they all have one thing in common: they are all prime lenses.
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What is a Prime Lens?
There are zoom lenses and there are prime lenses. Zoom lenses have a range of elements inside the barrel that makes it possible to vary the focal length so that the camera zooms closer to the subject, or further away from them. You don’t have to move your position—the lens does it for you. A prime lens has a fixed focal length. It doesn’t matter if it’s a wide-angle, standard focal length, or telephoto lens—as long as it doesn’t zoom, it means it’s a fixed focal length, prime lens. Prime lenses are the preferred option amongst most photographers because they have wider apertures than zoom lenses. They often have a better quality glass too, and they are usually cheaper. The wide aperture means you can keep the ISO at the lower end of the scale, so there’s less grain (electronic noise) in your images. And you can keep the shutter speeds high, so you won’t get blurred photos.
Which Prime Lens is Best for You?
Most photographers like to have a range of prime lenses in their camera bags. There’s usually a wide-angle lens, such as a 35mm, a standard lens, such as the 50mm, and a telephoto, which is often the 85mm lens. This group of lenses covers most styles of photography that serious camera users need. Depending on the style of photos you enjoy taking, you’ll want at least one of these lenses attached to your camera. But which one? In the following paragraphs, we’ll show you which lens suits certain conditions and which one is better for the type of photography you are most interested in.
35mm Prime Lens
If you enjoy street photography and landscapes, you must have a 35mm lens as part of your kit. The wide-angle range of the 35mm lens makes it ideal for photographs that include the subject as well as the background. This shows the context of the subject by revealing the environment as well. It helps to show the story of the image. The wide view produced by this lens captures more of a scene on the digital sensor or film. When you are photographing the following subjects, use a 35mm prime lens to get the best results.
Landscapes & Seascapes
When you hike along a pathway through the wilderness and stand on a ridge that overlooks a lake, has forests on the sides, and a mountain range in the distance, the 35mm lens is going to do justice to the scene. It will show all the lakes in the foreground as well as the green forests at the sides, and you can capture a good view of the distant mountain peaks as well. A wider lens would make the majestic mountains seem as though they were small specks on the horizon.
A longer lens, such as the 50mm would probably crop off the forests at the side. And with the 85mm lens, you may not even see the lake in front of you. This means it’s no longer a landscape photo, it’s just a close-up image of a mountain. It’s the same with seascapes. You want to see the waves, the beach, and people at the side running into the surf. If the sun is setting you’ll want to include the colorful sky as well. A 35mm lens can give you all of this without compromising clarity. It allows you to get close to the breaking waves while keeping everything else in the frame as well. It helps you tell more of the story and generate some emotion as well. You get to imagine the thrill that the people experience as they rush into the waves. A longer-range lens might be more suitable if the sunset was all you wanted to capture, but a 35mm lens is perfect for getting the whole scene in the one-shot.
Street Photography
A 35mm lens is perfect for street photography. The 35mm lens allows you to capture the whole scene. It’s wide, but not too wide. It’s just a bit wider than what you see with your eyes, so it’s a fairly realistic rendition of your own viewpoint of the world. When photographing people in a marketplace or at a music festival, the compact 35mm lens allows you to get in close to your subject. You make a connection before snapping your photos, which makes the experience more enjoyable for both of you. It’s a wide enough lens so that you can see the background, which means the viewer has a better idea of where this portrait was taken. And as long as the camera is not too close to the subject’s face, the lens won’t distort their features. Its point of view remains relatively true as long as you remain at a slight distance.
Photojournalism
Not many people work as professional photojournalists anymore, but photojournalism is still an area of photography taken seriously by some people, and admired by many. Everyday photographers who use their images to tell about current events through pictures is a photojournalist. It’s the opposite of the Instagram world—photojournalism is about other people, not the self. By capturing images of people and events in a realistic and factual manner, photojournalists enlighten the general population about serious issues happening in everyday life. If you want to be part of this elite group of photographers, you’ll need a 35mm lens. A wide-angle lens lets you get close to the action, yet still, retain enough of the scene around the subject so the viewer knows what’s going on. You don’t have to enter a war zone to be a photojournalist. Use your 35mm lens at political demonstrations, when loved ones jump into each other’s arms at the airport, or when photographing the crowd at a football match when a goal is scored.
Lifestyle Photography
Even though lifestyle photography is also about images of people, it’s quite a different approach to photojournalism. Lifestyle photos feature families and individuals interacting with each other with love and enjoyment. This style of photo is usually done in an artistic way to provide images that show an idealized version of the people. Rather than being posed portraits, these photos show real-life events from everyday lives, but in an appealing manner. There’s authenticity attached to lifestyle photos because you don’t use artificial lighting, and the images are always taken on location, rather than in a studio. When photographing families in their homes, you’ll need a 35mm lens to capture the scene. Longer lenses won’t have the range of view in confined spaces to capture all the activity. The 85mm lens has a large aperture that lets in more light than a zoom lens, which will help you photograph in low light. It means you can use faster shutter speeds so you can photograph all the action without blurriness.
Food Photography
Want to have more Instagram followers? In that case, you’ll need more food photos. People love looking at restaurant feasts, home-cooked meals, and delicious desserts. Your 35mm lens is useful when you want to take overhead shots of fancy food because you can hold the camera reasonably close to the plate—you don’t have to stand on a chair to fit the meal in the shot.
Video
Interested in videography? Most modern digital cameras have a video mode, and a 35mm lens is perfect for making movies. Because the field of view is similar to your natural vision, the viewer of the movie will feel as though they are part of the action. And when doing a YouTube ‘talk to camera’ format, the 35mm lens is an ideal option. It doesn’t feel too cinematic but has a similar sense of closeness to when you stand around chatting with a friend.
Wedding Photography
Many professional photographers love using a 35mm focal length lens for wedding photography. It’s ideal for group shots of the bride and groom with their bridesmaids and groomsmen. You can even photograph all the wedding guests at one time if you have a good enough vantage point. Photographs taken amongst the people as they celebrate a wedding give the feeling of being there. It captures the energy and excitement of the event. This is the type of occasion where the 35mm lens really shines. But if you want more detailed shots of the people involved, you’ll have to move in closer so they are not lost amongst the crowd. Be aware of possible distortion problems though. Stay a few feet away so the curving effects of the wide-angle lens don’t exaggerate perspective. Make sure you distance yourself so that at least half the subject’s body is in the frame. Don’t get any closer or this lens will make people’s noses look unnaturally large.
Fashion Photography
Taking photos of professional models is a great way to diversify your portfolio and improve your camera skills. The 35mm focal length lens is handy for this type of photography because the wider field of view associated with this lens means you can get full-body shots without having to stand back too far from the model. This is advantageous when there is limited space available. Stylish fashion shoots in tiny photographic studios need a small lens to capture full body shots with all the accessories—from the decorative hat down to the flamboyant shoes. When shooting on location, the 35mm helps you get so close to the subject that the viewer has the impression they are part of that scene. And it does all this while leaving the model with enough separation from the background so they stand out as the main focal point of interest.
This is Why You Need a 35mm Lens
Regardless of the type of photography, you enjoy doing, a 35mm lens is always going to be a handy addition to your list of equipment. It’s light and easy to carry, so it’s portable and unobtrusive. Its small size makes it perfect for travel photography, street photography, weddings, parties, and general daily use. It’s an adaptable and convenient lens that is a joy to use, especially in confined spaces. Depending on the manufacturer and model of the lens, you can often pick one up for a fairly low price. Its unique perspective will unleash extra creativity. You may not think you need a 35mm lens until you try one, then you will truly realize its value to you as a photographer. Depending on your budget, here are some lenses to consider putting on your shopping list.
35mm Lens Suggestions
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens: This lens has super-fast autofocus and the results are razor-sharp. We like its close focusing range for macro-style shots, along with its ability to do an amazing job with landscapes, portraits, still-life, and casual snaps too. It creates high-resolution images with beautiful bokeh effects. It has a bigger price tag than the other options, but it’s worth it.
Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM Lens: With outstanding optics and robust build quality, this lens is dependable, yet inexpensive. Having a wide aperture (f/2) means you can shoot in a variety of situations without a flash, which helps when you need to be discreet. It has an effective stabilizer and virtually silent autofocus. The great depth of field is another obvious advantage.
Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS: Even though it’s cheaper than the other ones listed, this lens produces exceptional results because of its f1.8 aperture. It’s very sharp and has excellent optical stabilization. This Sony lens is perfect for generating superb background/foreground blur which is a must-have for weddings.
50mm Prime Lens
If you only have the budget for one prime lens, be smart and spend it on the 50mm version. This lens is often called the ‘nifty fifty’ because it is an all-rounder that handles most situations with ease. The field of view isn’t as wide as the 35mm lens, so there’s less distortion when you are close to your subject. And when you look through the viewfinder the results are closer to what you see with your own eyes. This makes it a bit less useful for landscapes, but better at other types of photographic genres. The following list shows where this lens beats the rest.
Portraits
Most 50mm lenses have extremely wide apertures (such as f/1.4) which allow lots of light through its glass elements. This means you can shoot in dim conditions at reasonable shutter speeds, but more importantly, it produces glorious bokeh (background blur) which is ideal for portraits.
The flexibility this focal length provides means it’s great for full-length body shots, standard portraits of the upper body, and even corporate headshots. Because of the wide aperture, all these types of shots maintain separation between the subject and the background.
Fashion
The big difference between fashion photography and standard portraits is that lighting conditions are unpredictable at fashion events. If you are at a venue for a fashion parade, the stage can vary from spotlights to moody stage effects. The 50mm lens can handle all of them because of its extreme aperture capabilities. And if you are asked to photograph a fashion model in a studio setting, the f/1.4 lens gives you shallow depth of field for capturing exquisite close-ups of the face, or to photograph fine detail in the outfit. It can handle the length of full body shots in any reasonable size studio, and close-ups can be achieved without distortion.
Weddings
The 50mm lens isn’t usually the first choice for wedding photographers, but they would definitely have it stashed away somewhere in their camera bag. This type of lens gives consistently good results in all kinds of conditions. You can use it in outdoor settings and with indoor ambient light. When shooting photos of the bride and groom as a couple, and when they are surrounded by friends and family, you’ll be grateful for its stock-standard perspective. Compared to the small telephotos that are the standard lenses for wedding photographers, the 50mm lens has a larger field of view, making it useful for capturing all of the bride’s dress, not just the top half of her body.
Photojournalism
Sometimes a 35mm lens takes in too much of a scene, so a 50mm lens can help your image keep a frame of reference. When the riots are happening and the teargas is wafting down the street, you’ll want the photos but you also need to keep your distance. A 50mm lens allows you to step back from the action while still maintaining that feeling of being amongst the drama. It is a sharp and fast lens for all the conditions you might face in photojournalism.
Street Photography
The 50mm lens has the benefit of being unobtrusive. You can walk in amongst a crowd and take good photos, or with just a few steps you can move back to get a wider view. And compared to using a telephoto lens, you won’t get annoyed about not having enough space to get all of the images in the frame.
Being a ‘normal view’ lens, when you look through the viewfinder of a full-frame camera, you see a field of view similar to what your eye sees when looking straight ahead. It’s true to the appearance of your surroundings. This means when you look around you can easily imagine how a photo would turn out if you used this lens on your camera. But keep in mind that if you are using a camera with a crop sensor (APS-C format) the image will overflow the digital sensor, and it will seem like you are using a slightly larger lens instead. In that case, when doing street photography, put a 35mm lens on your crop sensor camera to create the same effect as a 50mm lens.
Lifestyle Photography
Using a 50mm lens is an advantage in candid photography. The best lifestyle shots require a bit of distance between the subject and the photographer, so it doesn’t feel intrusive. A wider lens sometimes needs to be a lot closer to the subjects to fill the frame, and this can take away the spontaneity of the shot. A 50mm lens gives your subjects a bit of space to move and interact without feeling crowded. It keeps the shoot authentic. The fast glass on this prime lens also means the ability to shoot in any ambient light. This makes it perfect for twilight when you can shoot in the ‘golden hour’ and capture beautiful portraits in soft light. With superb low light capabilities, fast shutter speeds, and quick autofocus on most 50mm prime lenses, you have a winning combination for lifestyle photography.
Landscapes
Most people use wide-angle lenses for landscapes, and in the majority of cases that’s the right choice, but don’t discount the idea of taking along a 50mm lens too. Sometimes a wide-angle lens shows too much of an area, especially if most of it is featureless, whereas a 50mm lens brings the viewer in a bit closer and shows more detail. And if a scene is too busy with a lot of elements competing for attention, a 50mm lens crops out everything but the main subject. You might have to reconsider your usual approach to a landscape scene, but that’s not a bad thing, you might come up with more creative ways to express that view. The next time you are hiking through the mountains, take along a 50mm lens just in case you need a different composition for your landscape shot. It’s a light and compact lens, so it’s not going to be a problem to slip it into your camera bag. It could make a standard landscape shot even better.
This is Why You Need a 50mm Lens
Why do you need a 50mm prime lens? Any self-respecting photographer will have one on their camera already, or it will be within reach. They are so versatile and affordable that you’d be crazy not to have one. This lens is adaptable for almost any situation and is good for stills and video too. If you are a minimalist who likes traveling as light as possible, the 50mm lens is what you need on your camera.
50mm Lens Suggestions
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Lens: If you don’t mind spending big to get exceptional results, look no further than this lens. It’s ridiculously sharp and has outstanding low-light focusing abilities. The f/1.2 aperture supplies incredible depth-of-field and creamy bokeh. And it is the fastest autofocus lens in its class. If you are a professional photographer with a Canon camera, don’t go past this lens.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens: At the other end of the financial spectrum, this Canon lens still has an impressively wide aperture, but costs a fraction of the f/1.2 model’s price tag. It’s a fantastic budget lens for hobby photographers and serious ones too. Use it for landscapes, portraits, travel, and street photography. You’ll probably find it’ll stay on your camera for 99% of the time. The f/1.4 produces great bokeh and wonderful depth of field. It’s versatile and compact, with crisp, clear images. It has an ultrasonic motor that drives the autofocus quickly and almost silently. Even though it’s a cheap lens, it still comes with Super Spectra coatings for accurate color balance, enhanced contrast, and reduced ghosting.
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G-S: For Nikon users, this quality lens is of great value. It’s sturdy and reliable. It offers outstanding image quality and edge-to-edge sharpness. With its f/1.4 aperture, this ultra-fast prime lens produces smooth, natural, background blur.
85mm Prime Lens
Being a short telephoto, the 85mm lens gets you amongst the action while making the background appear closer than it is. With its ability for great bokeh, your subject really stands out. With this focal length, what you see is what you get. These lenses accurately photograph the human face with no distortion.
Portraits
The 85mm lens is a classic portrait focal length. When you are level with the subject’s head you don’t get any distortion in the facial features, and it gives good compression to separate the subject from the background. The wide aperture of this prime lens adds plenty of bokeh around the subject, so the viewer never has any doubt about where to look. When used with the widest aperture, the 85mm prime lens produces an exaggerated depth of field that everyone loves because it turns busy backgrounds into soft and colorful blurriness.
Weddings
When you talk to wedding photographers about the one piece of photographic equipment they can’t do without, the 85mm lens is top of the list. This lens has a multitude of uses in wedding situations. You can capture all the important parts of the ceremony without having to stand right next to the bride and groom, and it allows you to get close shots of family and friends without intruding into their personal space. They are accurate, light-sensitive, fast, reliable, and always produce excellent results.
Wildlife
Even though the 85mm is best known as a great portrait and wedding lens, being a short telephoto lens means it’s extremely useful for photographing wildlife too. Compared to wider lenses, you can photograph close-ups of wild animals without putting yourself in danger. And because its focal length is not as long as traditional telephoto lenses, it keeps the context of the animal within its environment. This is very important in wildlife photography because people like seeing the ‘home’ of the animal involved.
Landscape Photography
The 85mm lens is not usually considered for landscape photography, but it can be useful in some situations. It won’t give you that traditional landscape field of view, but it will help you see some of the detailed features of a location. This short-telephoto lens brings the scene closer to you and it fills the frame in a way that a wide-angle lens cannot dream of achieving. Another advantage of this lens is that it excludes unwanted or distracting elements from the shot. If you have fences, roads, or people in the foreground, you can shoot right over them to capture the subject in the distance.
Just keep in mind the sweet spot on the 85mm lens. Don’t use the narrowest aperture to try and capture all the details of the scene, as most lenses lose sharpness at the extremes of their aperture range. Find the sweet spot where images are sharpest and use that aperture when doing landscape shots with a telephoto lens. An aperture of f/8 or f/11 often gives you the best results. This setting also has the advantage of letting in more light, so you can use faster shutter speeds to overcome camera shake.
Street Photography
Unless you are an extrovert, street photography can be an uncomfortable genre for photographers. If you prefer not to interact with people on the street, the 85mm lens allows you to keep your distance and still get the shots you desire. If you like this form of photography for the candid, portrait-style images of people as they talk, shop, and stand around on street corners, the background blur created by the shallow depth-of-field of this lens creates artistic effects. Many people consider the 85mm prime is too tight for street photography, but in some situations, it has many advantages, so don’t rule it out as an option. Its long focal length narrows your field of view, and therefore your options, but unless you need to photograph the full scene it helps you capture detail in shots that would otherwise be unattainable.
This is Why You Need an 85mm Lens
Getting close to your subjects and filling the frame is a standard composition technique highly valued in every style of photography, and the 85mm focal length easily fills the viewfinder with the subject. The short-telephoto 85mm lens covers a variety of photographic genres with ease. Everyone recognizes it as the perfect lens for portraits and weddings, but it is also highly prized for sport and action shots. And with an 85mm lens on your camera, you can wander city streets taking candid portrait shots, or spend time in nature doing wildlife photography.
85mm Lens Suggestions
Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S: This is a professional-grade lens specifically designed for portrait and wedding photographers. It is an ultra-fast, high-quality lens with a large aperture of f/1.4 for low-light situations. The wide aperture produces a shallow depth of field that isolates subjects from the background, but it doesn’t compromise on image quality and sharpness. The f/1.4 aperture makes subjects stand out from the background’s dreamy smooth blur. If you want to create a portrait that looks like it belongs on the cover of a fashion magazine, you need this lens. The only thing that may put you off from buying this lens is its price. It’s built for professionals who have the budget for top-class results.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art: This lens is also expensive, but it is considered to be the ultimate portrait lens. It has beautiful bokeh effects that only a large-diameter lens of this nature can offer. The focus is so precise that you can lock onto the pupil of the subject’s eye while blurring the eyelashes. It gives you the ability to frame and capture the most beautiful moments during a wedding or portrait session. The quality levels and sharpness of this lens are outstanding. It has a superior optical design to most lenses, and this prime lens also has a manual focus override for seamless fine-tuning of the subject.
EF 85mm f/1.8 USM: Even though this lens is more budget-friendly than the previous suggestions, it still produces excellent results. It’s a versatile, lightweight lens with a ring-type ultrasonic motor that drives autofocus quickly and almost silently. Its bright f/1.8 maximum aperture isolates subjects through its shallow depth of field, which produces excellent portrait shots and flattering wedding photos.
Final Thoughts on 35mm vs 50mm vs 85mm Lenses
If you need an all-rounder lens to cover everything from landscapes to weddings, you can’t go past the 35mm lens. The downside is the slight distortion that a wide-angle lens produces. The 85mm lens is exceptional for portrait and wedding shoots, but has severe limitations in areas such as landscapes and food photography. So, for everyday use, while still covering most of the basic needs of a photographer, the 50mm lens is a must-have item of photographic equipment. Its a versatile lens that adds class to your photos. If you have to choose only one prime lens for your collection, then the 50mm lens is the best option.
