35mm - Why THIS Should Be YOUR Second Lens Instead of a 50mm! _ Jason Vong.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who submitted photos and films for this video. There are a ton of talents out there and I'll be doing more features in the futures very, very soon. And if you're new around here, we hope you enjoy this curated selection of 35mm lens in this video. And if you really like the photos and it really sparks some creativity, go ahead and find these people on their social media page and let them know. Without further ado, let's go ahead and get started. Hey, all you cool cats and kittens out there. So last year, I made a video not recommending the popular 50mm lens. And that's because, in my opinion, it would feel too tight for a beginner who is using an APS-C crop sensor camera. So this year, I kind of want to refresh that idea again and actually recommend a lens that I would for a beginner who's using an APS-C crop sensor camera. And that is the 35mm prime lens. The 35mm is great for APS-C cameras because it's equivalent to the 50mm look on full frame. We talked about how everyone recommends a 50mm lens as your next lens after the kit lens. But really, they're really referring to the 50mm lens on a full frame camera. When you try taking that same 50mm lens and putting it on an APS-C camera, it's going to feel kind of tight. So let me go ahead and just clarify this right at the beginning of the video. If you're shooting with an APS-C crop sensor camera, I am recommending the 35mm lens. But the results that this gives, and I'm going to be talking about this result a lot, I'm going to call it the 50mm look. So in order for you to get the 50mm look on an APS-C camera, you will need to be using a 35mm lens. And the reason why that is is due to the difference in sensor sizes. Full frame having the bigger sensor size, whereas APS-C has the smaller sensor, therefore having a more narrower view. For APS-C crop sensor cameras, you have to multiply the focal length by 1.5x. So when you take a 35mm lens and you multiply that by 1.5x, it's going to give you 52.5mm. Whereas when you take a 50mm lens and you multiply that by 1.5x, you get 75mm. So that's why when beginners pick up a 50mm lens for their cameras, they're always taken aback how close everything is. So one more time, I am recommending the 35mm lens, but the results that I'll be talking about is the 50mm look. So get this lens for that 50mm look. Okay, now we can begin the reasons why. The 35mm lens on a crop sensor camera, or the 50mm look, is not too wide and it's not too tight. It's what photographers call a standard lens and it can be used in a variety of situations. Portraits, landscapes, street, close-ups, etc. Whatever you're planning on using it for, it has a high chance of giving you some great results. And likely, the prime lens you'll be picking up will have either an aperture of f1.4 or f1.8, which is going to be significantly wider than what your kit lens can give you. This wider aperture is going to give you bokeh, better and more background blur. People often like this for portrait photography. The 50mm look can spotlight the subject and the wider aperture can just melt that background away. Just enough to let the viewers know where the subject is. But this lens isn't just restricted to portraits. It can be used for landscapes, architectures, and even street photography. While some would say to use a wider lens for landscapes and architectures to capture the grandness of everything, the 50mm look can come in with a unique perspective. It can show details that are easily missed from a wider point of view. Compared to using a wider lens where it can push the background further away, the 50mm look has a bit of compression. It brings the background in a little. The best way I can describe this is that the 50mm look can create this feeling of uniformity. It feels like taking a bunch of little things and organizing them all together in a tight little space, but it still somehow looks neat and well put together. Same principles can be applied to street photography as well. The 35mm look and the 50mm look are very popular among street photographers as it not only emphasizes the subject in the scene, but also the environment that they're in. And there's a whole other world out there when you use this lens in a low light situation. The wider aperture on the prime lens is going to give you a huge advantage in low light scenes and night scenes. By shooting wide open, you can keep your ISO low for the scene that you're capturing, thus minimizing the unwanted noise and grain. Now, that doesn't mean you should shoot explicitly in dark areas. Definitely play around with the available lighting that you have, and you may be surprised by the results you can get. So, some people would say the 50mm look is close to what the human eye can see. I personally disagree. I think a majority of the people out there have tunnel vision, so their point of view is probably roughly equivalent to 135mm. Hey, where'd you put the milk? I don't see it. Bottom where? I'm looking at it. I can't find it. Oh, there it is. Oh my god. I can't really see right now. I'm kind of blind. No, I'm just kidding. But the idea is there, right? The idea is that if you're using a 50mm lens, it kind of puts you in the perspective of the photographer or the videographer. Whatever they're witnessing, it forms that kind of intimacy. You're not too close. You're not too far away. You're at a comfortable distance. And that's one of the big reasons why the 50mm look is so popular. It can be polished when it's at a further distance, and it can be gritty and intimate when you get close to something. And I really hate to admit this, but when I was a beginner, I always thought the 50mm look was pretty damn artsy. Now, it's kind of controversial for me to say this, but a 35mm lens can make you a better photographer or videographer. Let me explain why. When you're coming from a kit lens, this lens right here is going to feel like a substantial upgrade. Right off the bat, you're going to notice a less amateurish look compared to your kit lens. And when this 35mm prime lens forces you into that one look, you're going to have to play around to get that shot. You're going to have to move your feet. You might have heard that on the internet. Prime lenses forces you to move your feet, therefore making you a better photographer. There is some truth to that. And the more you take photos with it and the more you shoot videos with it, the better your skills will be. I'm a big fan of letting the results speak for itself rather than the technicality of things. So if you like the results of what you're getting with the setup that you're using, you're going to be obviously more motivated to keep using it and get better at it. The 35mm can be a great standalone lens or a great lens to pair with something else. I often see this in Facebook groups as well as receiving a ton of DMs about this. But I always get asked, if I could only bring one lens with me, what would it be? And honestly, the 35mm can be that one lens. Again, it's not too tight. It's not too wide. There's a lot of flexibility when it comes to using the 35mm lens. You can go wide for landscape and you can go tight for people. Versus using a 50mm lens, you're just always going to feel like you have to back up a whole lot. So if you're using a 50mm lens on an APS-C camera, I would recommend using a wider lens to pair with that 50. In my case, I would be using a 16mm lens and a 50mm lens if I'm shooting with an APS-C crop sensor camera. But if you want to, you can of course pair your 35mm with another lens. Likely, this is going to be your second lens and you'll still have your kit lens lying around. That kit lens can be great for versatility. You know, you can just zoom and get different variety of shots with different focal lengths. And when you're ready to swap out for something a little bit more artsy and you need that low light advantage, you can of course bust out the 35mm prime lens. Now, you may be wondering if zooming to 35mm on your kit lens will give you the same results. The answer is yes, and the answer is also no. Yes, in the sense that you get that same look, right? We're talking about that 50mm look. So 35mm, regardless, whatever 35mm lens you're using on an APS-C camera, you're getting that 50mm look. So if you can't afford a 35mm at this time, you can of course do that and just get used to that look. But the reason why it's not the same is because again, the aperture difference. When you're using a kit lens and you zoom into 35, your maximum aperture is going to be 5.6 or 6.3. So if you want it more background blur or you need that low light advantage, then you're going to obviously want to consider the 35 prime lens with its aperture advantage. And thankfully, you can find some really affordable 35mm prime lens. Manual focus only lens are your best budget friends. For example, right here, I have the newer 35mm f1.7 for the Sony E-mount. I also have some budget options for other camera brands in the description box below. But this one right here is a cheap $80 lens. Manual focus only, which is completely fine if you're just starting out and you just want that look. Plus, you'll also be leveling up your manual focus skills as well. This lens has a ton of raving reviews on YouTube. I'm going to be honest, I didn't watch any one of them, but hey, I can attest that this is a really good lens. Is it the sharpest lens? Well, certainly not at 1.7, but it's passable. It's definitely going to be a fun lens for you to experiment around with, and I would highly recommend turning on focus peaking and using magnification to nail focus when you're using a manual focus lens. By the way, I have a video teaching you how to manual focus, so click right up here. For $80, you really don't have too much to lose, but a lot of amazing shots to gain. If you need the autofocus, there is the Sigma 30mm f1.4. I know for a fact that there's one for Sony, but for Canon, I think, yeah, there's one too for like the M50s, I think. But it's just $200 more and you get that autofocusing capability. It's a tad bit wider than the 35mm lens I've been talking about. So if you actually multiply 30mm to 1.5, you get about 45mm. It's close enough, but for the price and for what it can do, I'd say it's close to the 50mm look, so it's not going to be a problem. And there's also the Sony 35mm f1.8, and that one has optical steady shot built in. It's a lot more expensive. I think it comes in around like $450. So it's worth it if you are going to be shooting a lot of handheld video with it. So if you have a camera that doesn't have in-body image stabilization like the a6000, 6100, 6400, then I would highly recommend picking up the Sony 35 instead, as that would help smooth out your footage a lot. But if you're just shooting photos, it shouldn't be that much of a big deal if your lens doesn't have optical steady shot. Tag me on Instagram story when you're purchasing your 35mm lens. And if you already have it, tag me in the tagging section because I want to see the amazing photos that you take with your 35mm lens. But before you go, if you want to see more videos like this, I would greatly appreciate if you stick around and listen to what my sponsor, Squarespace, has to say. So I've been using Squarespace for about three years now, and what keeps me coming back is the ease of use. It is an all-in-one platform to create beautiful and clean websites. No coding knowledge is required thanks to the easy-to-use templates. For 2020, Vivian and I will be adding additional photography and videography resources to our website, so definitely stay tuned to see our progress and our announcement. For now, you can try Squarespace yourself. Whether it's a photo portfolio website you can send to your client or an e-commerce for your products, design it with Squarespace. Head to squarespace.com slash Jason Vong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Thanks for listening to this message. It does really help my channel out a lot. I'll see you guys in the next video. Peace.