I follow online photography forums enough that I recognize certain topics that come up with great frequency. Among them is the question: “What should be my first lens?” (There are variations: “What is the best lens?” for example.) Many posting this question have acquired an entry-level cropped-sensor DSLR like the Canon 400D/XTi, a fine little DSLR. (You can get an idea of my view on this camera by reading an old post of mine: Why I Chose the Canon 350D/XT.)

Among the standard answers to this type of question, one goes something like this: “Just pick up the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.” There are variations. Some writers also suggest that using only a prime lens (rather than a zoom) will teach more about composition. Many point out that the lens is both quite sharp and quite cheap.

It is sharp. It is cheap. But as advice to beginning DSLR photographers, this is among the worst.

Yes, the 50mm focal length used to be regarded as “normal.” Back in the days of 35mm film SLRs many people did start out with just such a lens. And the Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a fine little lens, optically speaking, at a remarkably low price. If you look around a bit you can pick one up for $75 or less.

But it is still the wrong choice for almost all new DSLR photographers. Why?

• Several decades ago nearly everyone started out with a prime lens (or two) rather than a zoom. But at that time the quality of the zooms – at least those that were affordable – was not very good. Maximum apertures tended to be small, and before high ISO DSLRs this was a big problem. It wasn’t necessarily the case the primes were better photographic tools, but they were pretty much the only option for most new photographers. Today decent and even excellent zoom lenses are available at costs that are quite reasonable.
• Leaving aside the availability of decent zoom lens options, even if you wanted a “normal” prime it would not be a 50mm lens. Nearly all DSLRs (and all entry level DSLRs) use cropped sensors that are smaller than a 35mm film frame. Because the smaller sensors pick up a smaller angle of view from a given focal length lens, one typically uses shorter focal length lenses on the crop sensor bodies. The old-school “normal” 50mm “standard” lens provides the narrower field of view that an 80mm “portrait lens” would have provided on a 35mm film camera. To get the same so-called “normal” field of view that the 50mm lens provided on the older cameras you would use a 31mm lens on a modern crop sensor DSLR. Bottom line: If you want to replicate the old “50mm normal” lens on a crop sensor camera body, an actual 50mm lens is the wrong lens. A more comparable “normal” prime might be something in the 24mm, 28mm, or 35mm range.
• Some claim that using a fixed focal length lens makes you a better photographer. I have a couple problems with this idea.
  • First, and most practically, most buyers of entry-level DSLRs do not aspire to careers as professional fine art photographers. They want to get decent quality photographs of friends and family, and of their experiences. For them the versatility of a decent zoom makes it a much better choice than a prime in nearly all cases. In fact, most of them will probably be quite happy with the standard (and virtually free) “kit zooms” that come with the cameras – such as the Canon EFS 18-55mm f/4-5.6.
  • Second, I don’t buy the idea that using a prime necessarily does make you a better photographer or necessarily teach composition more effectively. Good composition is the result of a number of factors including, but not limited to, the following: finding an interesting combination of picture elements, determining a shooting angle that places them in an interesting and effective arrangement, figuring out how to best locate them within the frame, using subject/camera distance and focal length to control the relationships among the elements, and using depth of field appropriately. What quicker way to learn about the effects of different focal lengths than by using a lens that provides them? With a zoom one can readily experience how different focal lengths affect the final composition. I have nothing against prime lenses – I do use them – but I think that primes can slow down the learning process, not zooms.

So, if that 50mm prime is not the right place to start, what is?

In my view, the true beginner (using a Canon crop sensor DSLR – I’m not familiar with the options from other brands) can be well served at first by the inexpensive and decent 18-55mm EFS kit lens. The cost is next to nothing, it covers a pretty useful basic range, optical quality is fine for starting out. By using this lens, the beginner can learn a lot about photography – and begin to discover what his/her photography may require in terms of other lenses for future purchase.

If one is determined to start out with a “normal prime lens” on these cameras, there are more appropriate options. While they are not too expensive, they will cost more than the 50mm f/1.8 – but they do have the significant advantage of being more useful lenses for most people. Some examples from Canon include the 35mm f/2, the smaller aperture 28mm lenses, or even the 24mm f/2.8.

With all that said, what is the use of the 50mm f/1.8? There are several, and among new photographers starting out with the kit zoom, for some one of the 50mm primes will eventually make sense. The f/1.8 version is an inexpensive and fine little “portrait” lens for crop sensor cameras for beginners whose interests run in that direction. It can also be very useful in certain types of indoor, low light photography, for example concert and theatrical photography. I can imagine other uses, too.

But just not as a starter lens for a crop sensor DSLR user.