The 50mm f/1.8 is among the most popular lenses for many types of photography. However, many photographers tend to shoot at the widest aperture with it — a crucial mistake that results in not so sharp photos. So, if you’re new to photography and just picked up this lens, outdoor photographer Joshua Peg shares his solutions for two problems often seen from this error.
In the quick video above, Peg identified two common problems with shooting wide open with the 50mm f/1.8. First, it causes unsharp images with chromatic aberration in high contrast situations. In his example, appears as a purple line on the edge of the rock formation. Second, it creates an extreme background blur that also affects the sharpness of the subject. Likewise, it takes away the context of the scene that would otherwise be provided by a recognizable background.
So, for both situations, Peg provides a simple solution: Stop down the aperture to either f/2.8 or f/3.5. It will still give you the fast shutter speed and gorgeous bokeh that the 50mm f/1.8 is known for, without sacrificing sharpness. Just because you can shoot wide open doesn’t mean it’s always the best choice!
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