50mm One-Lens-Day Kinkakuji, Kyoto 金閣寺, 京都 section image

50mm One-Lens-Day Kinkakuji, Kyoto 金閣寺, 京都

One Lens Day

Time to practice the nifty 50mm f1.4! Bokehlicious pictures~

I have to admit I am not a big fan of the 50mm but because of this trip, have kinda grown a liking towards its flexibility of producing bokeh when you need it

As a proud owner of the trinity f2.8 series (16-35, 24-70, 70-200), the only downside to using this combination is when you need bokeh that can only be shot with f2 and wider

As with shutter speed, the 5D3/6D's ISO capabilities, its no longer a problem when you shoot in dim situations. Of course one may argue that using a 50mm will give faster shutter speeds, use lower ISO, and less noisier photos

Sometimes you just have to live with it

Zoom with your legs

Photo - 金閣寺道門
金閣寺道門
EXIF

Regular use of the wide 24mm lets you see everything and crop when needed. 50mm makes you think on the composition!

  • Saturated out the building, leaving the sky blue
Photo - 金閣寺
金閣寺
EXIF

Luckily the Kinkakuji was pretty far away and was able to squeeze its reflection into the 50mm. Not to mention sharpness from the prime!

Photo - Mini steps
Mini steps
EXIF

Interesting perspective, these are actually really mini steps. Got really low, extended my arms into the bamboo barrier and shot without looking

Photo - つめたいお抹茶 - Cold Matcha Green Tea
つめたいお抹茶 - Cold Matcha Green Tea
EXIF

f1.4 Bokeh. Didn't manage to find a view without trees in the background. The resting area behind would have looked a lot better with its red benches and umbrellas

Photo - Red Kyoto Umbrella
Red Kyoto Umbrella
EXIF
Photo - 神宮道 - 京都
神宮道 - 京都
EXIF

Prime sharpness!

Photo - Bird
Bird
EXIF

A bird was seen flying away from the temple picture above and decided to do a quick focus on it, missed, reached home, did a 100% crop to see whether the bird was clear and found the following:

Photo - Bird Closeup - Another bird
Bird Closeup - Another bird
EXIF

At first I thought it was dust, but after further inspection, there's another bird riding above it!

Photo - Kyoto Sky Trail
Kyoto Sky Trail
EXIF

Waited for the plane to give me a longer trail

ND Filters

All the shots above were taken without ND filters. I had actually ordered a ND4 and ND8 just for this day as summer in Japan can be really bright. Somehow managed by using L ISO on the 6D

Title:

50mm One-Lens-Day Kinkakuji, Kyoto 金閣寺, 京都

Excerpt:

Not a big fan of the 50mm but have kinda grown a liking towards its flexibility of producing bokeh when you need it

Posted On:

2013 Jul 21 (about 12 years ago)

Updated On:

2023 Jan 01 (over 2 years ago)