Get the best from a fast 50mm prime

Nikon Team •Hot Shots •10 Sept 2024•3 min read

Try these techniques with the new NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 and take your photography to the next level

Learn to zoom with your feet

A 50mm prime is often the first extra lens people purchase after using a kit zoom lens, and the fixed focal length can take some getting used to. But a prime like this is a great way to learn how to move, compose and frame as a photographer or filmmaker. The NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 is a great place to start, as its versatility means you can go from close-ups to landscapes and all points between, moving to find the composition that works for you.

Try these techniques with the new NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 and take your photography to the next level

Learn to zoom with your feet

Nikon Team

What’s in our kitbag?

NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4Anything but standard

Play with manual focus

Wide open at f/1.4, the depth of field is very shallow and the autofocus on your Nikon Z camera and the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 will nail the sharpness you need. But you can also take some time to practise with manual focus, especially with close-ups. Try it with some flowers, with the lens wide open and as close as you can to see the difference you can make to the image by focusing on different petals.

Experiment with low light

A fast 50mm such as the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 is perfect for low light situations, indoors, in the city at night or at a party, for example. With your Nikon Z camera’s Vibration Reduction you’ll be able to shoot handheld and not worry about image blur either. A nighttime walk around a city offers a huge choice of images and stories, with light sources such as streetlights, traffic, restaurants and shops offering contrast and colour.

Practice portraiture

The 50mm focal length is a great choice for portraits. It won’t distort facial features like a wide-angle lens can, and it’s small enough not to be intimidating to your subject. Try a session with someone doing something – cooking, painting, making something – and you can get a huge variety of images with just one lens. Close-ups of concentration on a face, pulling back to show some of the environment and details of the work and wider images of the person in their space or workshop can all come together to create a compelling story.

Try it on a DX camera

On a crop-sensor DX camera, such as the Nikon Z30, Z50 or Zfc, the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 will have an equivalent focal length of 75mm. This extra reach gets you into a low telephoto lens range and is a great focal length for portraits, with that lovely bokeh and subject separation. It’s also useful for getting closer to subjects without being intrusive, in situations such as weddings, parties and events.

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