Nikon 50mm f1.4

[Murray Foote]

There is an interesting review from Lens Tips which compares then ancient 58mm f1.4 with the current 50mm AF-S f1.4G. The interesting thing is they find the main difference is in edge sharpness. Since the 1.4G AF-S is much better than the 1.4D for edge sharpness, one wonders whether the 1.4D was significantly improved on the venerable 5.8cm f1.4.

There is of course the excellent review from Richard Peters, further down in this Nikon Forum. There is also another thread that may be of interest for anyone trolling for info on this and I include a placeholder to that because it's in the Canon Forum and may not be so easy to find.

Regards,
Murray

[Grev]

Off topic wise, I still haven't read the email you sent me, I opened it in a tab but haven't read it past the initial post... haha.

Thing is, I'd probably end up buying the AFS 50mm as well, just for kicks... Thing is I'm quite impressed with the AFS 35mm f1.8 on the D700, might just end up buying the 50mm as well for the hell of it.

Sigh.

[tommyg]

We currently have both the 50mm 1.4 AFD, and the 1.4 AFS so will try and go out this weekend and take some comparison photos and put them up here
Cheers

[Murray Foote]

Thing is, I'd probably end up buying the AFS 50mm as well, just for kicks...

I did buy the 1.4G AF-S and it looks good in test shots but I haven’t taken it out for a real shooting situation as yet.

We currently have both the 50mm 1.4 AFD, and the 1.4 AFS so will try and go out this weekend and take some comparison photos and put them up here

I’ll look forward to it!

Regards,
Murray

Nikon D3, 16mm f3.5AI, 24mm f2.8AI, Vivitar Series 1 28mm f1.9AI, 50mm f2AI, 50mm f1.4G AF-S, 85mm f1.8Aid, 105mm f2.8 AIS micro, 105mm f2 DC, (180mm f2.8 AIS), 180mm f2.8D, 300mm f4 AF-S, TC14E, 35-70mm f2.8D, (50-300mm f4.5AI)

[Murray Foote]

Here are some images from last night - Michell Van Der Meer and the Midnight Ramblers, between 11:30 and midnght (I only allowed myself half an hour, should have got there earlier)


Michelle 1/100sec f1.6, sharp enough nearly wide open though not much depth of field


George Rigatos 1/160sec f2.5. Sharper stopped down a bit.


In this one the specular highlights from the metal clamps on the drum were too distracting so I blurred the background in Photoshop. 1/200sec f1.6


Sometines you can take photos in hardly any light. 1/100sec f1.6


When shooting wide open there's not much depth of field so you have to decide where the focus should be. 1/80sec f1.4.

Regards,
Murray

[Nathan Rodger]

I love the 50mm 1.4G - the focus is so silent and as its now internal (being that I looked at getting the 1.4D) I feel a LOT more comfortable using it than say my 35mm f2 or if I had the 50mm 1.4D, which was the KEY reason that after I dropped my Canon 50mm 1.4 and got a 1.8 as a filler - I gave it to my bro - as it isn't all "IF"...

I however get my hands all over my lens barrel when composing so..... YMMV

[Grev]

Good lens, pretty sharp from these small sized photos. The new dpreview regarding this AFS 50mm f1.4G is pretty favourable as well.

Think I might just use it as a manual focus lens.

[Murray Foote]

It works well as manual focus. I used it that way at the start until I remembered how I had changed the setup of my autofocus....

Regards,
Murray

[Grev]

I use the 11 point AF on the D700 and D300 with all the lenses and I guess this will work like that too with the full time AF override. Could assist the AF with MF then let the AF get the correct focusing. Sounds pretty good to me.

[feldy]

Hi guys - just a quick couple of questions - firstly, is there considered to be much improvement in sharpness of the new 1.4 AFS over the old 50mm 1.4D [apols if that's already been covered somewhere else]?

- secondly, what's the 'duck's guts' on the AFS [motor in the lens?] vs 50 1.4D? Does this mean that if someone has say, the D60, they can't use the old lens because it relies on the camera having motor in the body? Therefore a D60 owner has no choice to go for the new lens if they want auto focus?

tx
A

[Murray Foote]

1. The AFS G has better edge sharpness which is particularly important for full-frame sensors and is better wide open.

2. Yes.

[feldy]

Hi Murray - thanks for that; does anyone know what the naming/code is that Nikon uses to signify whether the body has an internal autofocus motor or not? I.e. the D300 obviously does have its own motor, while the D60 relies on the lens; but what about the D90 - ie how do you tell?

A

[NeoTiger]

There's no way to tell by the model number, you just need to check the specifications.

The D90 does have built-in focus motor.

D40/60/5000 don't.

[feldy]

thanks mate - actually that's why I asked the question - I have checked specs and couldn't see what Nikon call it [ie the motor in the body/or not] - at least it didn't seem immediately apparent - do you know the terminology they use?

[Ant]

thanks mate - actually that's why I asked the question - I have checked specs and couldn't see what Nikon call it [ie the motor in the body/or not] - at least it didn't seem immediately apparent - do you know the terminology they use?

I just spent a little time browsing the Nikon Australia website and I must say that, unless you know exactly what you are looking for, they do not go out of their way to make this obvious. I looked up the D60 and D90 and could not find anything in the technical specifications to identify that the D60 only supports lenses with internal motors (AF-S, HSM etc.) for autofocus. I found a lens compatibility chart that showed what lens were manual focus on these bodies but that was about it (unless I have missed something obvious)

Ant.

[NeoTiger]

thanks mate - actually that's why I asked the question - I have checked specs and couldn't see what Nikon call it [ie the motor in the body/or not] - at least it didn't seem immediately apparent - do you know the terminology they use?

Yeah I had a look, couldn't find any mention of it either...