Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8D: The Little Lens That Could…

...almost, nearly, survive a swim in Icicle Creek in Leavenworth. Nice work, Drew. This year has not been a good one for my camera lenses. I was extremely happy to have my grandfather's old Tamron 28mm prime as backup lens on the weekend trip.

After so many bloggers and photographers mentioned their love of affordable 50mm primes, I was excited to take beautiful photographs with my 50mm and add my accolades. The plan was going fine until I only zipped my camera bag half-closed and then wandered out into the water for some landscape shots with the 28mm. One inopportune lean and that was that: swimming lens.

But then, after a thorough wipe-down, it still worked, just a bit foggily. What?

Compare this photograph from before the swim:

With this photograph from after:

Huh. The lens still produces a beautiful photograph. Check out the rest of the Leavenworth 2007 photo gallery. I will be uploading more soon. And waiting for the lens to dry out more.

For more on shooting with primes, and the particular benefits of the 50mm f/1.8, check out the following articles:

• Gary Voth on The Forgotten Lens
• Bill Bumgarner on New Toy: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
• John Gruber on The Nifty Fifty
• Fraser Speirs on The Second Step in Photography
• James Duncan Davidson on More on the Best Deal in Photography