One of the questions that is asked all the time as photographers are considering upgrading their lenses has to do with 35mm and 50mm primes, and great general all around lenses. Traditionally both 35mm and 50mm have been recommended as general purpose lenses for everything from travel and street photography to portraiture.
But what is the better all around lens for today’s digital photographer? The answer to that question really lies in which sensor size your camera utilizes, and what sort of photography you enjoy on the most regular basis. Both 35mm and 50mm are fairly versatile focal lengths that can be used for a variety of purposes, which is partly why this post is even a thing.
There are actually a lot of reasons to go with one over the other, but when boiled down to the base argument the real question here is do you prefer wider compositions or tighter ones? 35mm is obviously the wider of the two focal lengths, though 50mm is still fairly wide in terms of telephoto capability and what most would consider a tight lens. You can still get pretty tight with a 35mm lens, you just need to be aware of the added distortion it will produce in your subject vs a 50mm lens at that same focal length, not to mention compression differences.
Some people will prefer an environmental wide angle look at a scene, with more of the location in the frame, while others will prefer a closer crop on the subject, focusing on details here or there. There is no right way to look at it, it’s all subjective – but the key to making the right choice in terms of your lens purchase is knowing (or at least having an idea) where you stand on this spectrum.
Whatever you decide, you will want to pick a quality lens. So here are some of our top picks for 35mm and 50mm lenses based on sensor size.
For Full Frame
- Canon 50mm F1.8 STM ([amazon_link asins=’B00X8MRBCW’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c55d5c60-1b21-11e7-963f-611e7a261854′])
- Nikon 50mm F1.8 G ([amazon_link asins=’B004Y1AYAC’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d67baf38-1b21-11e7-972e-49b78b8eb7b2′])
- Tamron 35mm F1.8 ([amazon_link asins=’B014ULAEQ4′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’dfa6f126-1b21-11e7-a16e-0773262ee391′])
- Sony FE 50mm F1.8 ([amazon_link asins=’B01DLMD5O6′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e8703d4d-1b21-11e7-9db3-3112dfa6e547′])
- Sony 35mm F2.8([amazon_link asins=’B00FSB79KU’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d38a661f-1b22-11e7-8703-5f41f8d04b5a’])
For APS-C
- Fujifilm 35mm F2 ([amazon_link asins=’B016S28I4S’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a85e272d-1b22-11e7-bb60-2b2997b35b78′])
- Canon 35mm F2 IS ([amazon_link asins=’B00A2BVBTG’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b39edb93-1b22-11e7-b671-fd7c0aca094f’])
- Sony E 50mm F1.8 ([amazon_link asins=’B00EPWC30O’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c641365f-1b22-11e7-a08c-019ab5dd135b’])
- Fujifilm 50mm F2 ([amazon_link asins=’B01MS6WINK’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ec523d08-1b22-11e7-b4fe-cd6514bce7c6′])
- Nikon 35mm F1.8 G ([amazon_link asins=’B00W3SCHNU’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4176ced7-1b23-11e7-843e-49a5a06ed36e’])
For Micro Four Thirds
- Panasonic 25mm F1.4 ([amazon_link asins=’B0055N2L22′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d1728d37-1b23-11e7-b092-bd481f1b3884′])
- Olympus 25mm F1.8 ([amazon_link asins=’B00HWRHEC6′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ec9125bb-1b23-11e7-9e69-0de401c2375b’])
- Panasonic 15mm F1.7 ([amazon_link asins=’B00J8HV6DG’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d6d9ccc9-1b24-11e7-8a91-953b0cb27941′])
- Panasonic 14mm F2.5 ([amazon_link asins=’B0043VE29C’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6cf6e8f9-1b25-11e7-ac10-c5fb470ea54d’])
