Classic 50mm “Normal” Lens
It&#x27;s not the only take on the subject, and I actually think it&#x27;s quite mistaken.<p>50mm is great for street portraits or fashion shots. This is where you 1) can&#x27;t come too close to not spook the subject, 2) want tighter framing, 3) want to put your subject on a little bit of a pedestal so to speak, or 4) want to make a huge print out of your shot.<p>However, for candid &quot;photos of your own loved ones&quot; as in the article, I think you&#x27;ll find it a pain. In these circumstances I can&#x27;t recommend enough a wide lens instead. Try both and make your conclusions.<p>- On the surface a wide lens makes things look &quot;farther away&quot;, but in fact what it does is emphasize the actual distances in the scene-- meaning with close-up shots it gives a strong sense of presence, which is presumably what you want. 50mm might be good for fashion portraits, but for shots like in TFA it&#x27;s IMO way too long and puts unnecessary emotional distance between you and the subject (this was my first feeling when I looked at author&#x27;s photos).<p>- The article sidesteps the fact that F-number is not the only factor in motion blur. 1&#x2F;8 second with a 21mm lens is not great but it&#x27;d look loads better than 1&#x2F;8 with a 50mm lens that would be very unforgiving as far as any shake.<p>- Framing and focusing is much less finicky. For casual snaps most of the time you don&#x27;t even need to look at the screen: with close-ups it&#x27;s self evident where the camera is facing, and if something is happening right now a little distance away just point your camera in the general direction and you&#x27;ll most likely have it in frame. And if you have some time to frame for aesthetics, it&#x27;s still easier because unlike a long lens with background separation a wide one wouldn&#x27;t over-emphasize every object that happens to be near your subject.<p>Get a prime lens compact like Ricoh GR, it&#x27;s too wide for street portraits but your loved ones will not object if you occasionally use it in close proximity.