I think the 50mm lens is an extremely good discipline lens; it requires you to see in a more refined way, not just tighter.
– William Albert Allard –

It happened by chance: I remember it very well, it was 2008 when, during an indoor shooting session, I felt the concrete need to have a faster prime lens and I immediately searched online and I found it at a Roman retailer, even at a relatively honest price. The 50mm f1.2 was mine.

It was one of the lenses of my dreams and the only one of its kind around at the time. As soon as I took it and mounted it on one of my cameras of the time, I realized that it would be my favorite one for virtually any photographic genre, especially for wedding photography.

It allowed me to always keep the ISO low, have fast shutter speeds, wonderful bokeh and the right distance to the subject. Whether it was a close-up or a full figure, that 50mm returned an exaggerated three-dimensionality.

Today, with my Sony equipment, I am happy again with the best version of this lens ever: the Sony FE 50mm f1.2 GM.

Amazing optics with lightning-fast and very precise autofocus in any condition (unlike the previous brand), with unparalleled sharpness and quality of the out of focus area. I feel back home because, despite my love for other focal lengths such as 35mm, 50mm remains the most versatile solution for wedding photography for many situations: from portraits to group photos with family and friends.

These are just some of the benefits that a 50mm can guarantee to the professional who in turn wants to deliver impeccable photographs full of “pathos”, full of “mood”.

The preparation of the bride therefore acquires a new flavor, with more intense emotions because any 50mm you take will still have a large maximum aperture (1.8 or 1.4 are already “wide open” apertures compared to the usual 2.8, not to mention the 1.2 versions), the details of the whole day will be more vivid and the photographs of the couple’s walk will seem to come to life considering the detachment of the focal plane from the rest of the image.

However, not only the final rendering of the image changes, with a 50mm. The approach to the scene, to the subjects, becomes more natural due to the right distance from them and the field of view very close to that of the human eye.

Last but not least, the orientation of the shot: with a focal length of 35mm you are inclined to shoot horizontally, while with an 85mm you naturally prefer vertical framing. With the 50mm that is halfway between these two, we realize that in both formats the photos are natural and pleasing to the eye.

In conclusion, the 50mm remains for me the most versatile lens for a wedding shoot (and not only) and, especially by choosing the most prestigious variant with f1.2 aperture, we can bring back home unique shots with a strong and unmistakable character. In these years of absence from my kit I have missed it a lot, but now Sony has bridged this gap with a product of unprecedented quality and unmatched reliability (for me and my customers).