After reading this article about prime lenses I was keen to pick one up and give it a try. Good old ebay helped me find one for $40. Basically it’s a fixed focal length (50mm) meaning no zoom and is faster due to less glass. This forces you (the photographer) to move the camera as opposed to being lazy and relying on the zoom. This annoyance leads to better photos! As mine is also a manual focus it makes to take the time to compose and focus a shot. It’s quite a change from taking candid snapshot photos but after a while you appreciate what’s going on.

Here’s a shot of a boring subject (a stuffed disc brake rotor) taken with my new lens. This is straight from the camera without any digital enhancement, as you can see the colours, sharpness and depth of field are quite appealing!

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