> To really match the experience of being there, you need an ultrawide lens to capture the full human field of view. The 40 degree field of view of a nifty fift

> To really match the experience of being there, you need an ultrawide lens to capture the full human field of view. The 40 degree field of view of a nifty fifty is like looking through a narrow doggy cone of shame. This entirely depends on the size and perspective from which your photos are viewed. If you're taking photos that will be printed in 8 foot posters to be hung on a wall and viewed standing right in front of them - yes, a wide-angle lens with 90-degree or higher FOV will resemble the perspective you see through your eye. However, most people view photographs at smaller scale - on their computer screen, their phone, (long ago) in index-card-sized prints, or in medium-sized prints they hang on their wall in a frame and view from some distance. If you're looking at a photo on your phone - that kind of is a narrow doggy cone of shame, and a photo taken with a 50 mm lens and displayed on your phone will still resemble the same perspective you'd see viewing that scene with your eye.