50 mm Nikkor shootout (1) : organ in church

[Airy]

This is the first part. Three old Nikkors : 50/1.2 AI, 50/1.4 AIS, 50/1.8 AI. One newer design : 50/1.8 G. All shots handheld at 1/50s, so I took 3 to 5 pics of each lens and f stop (from lowest to 5.6) and selected the best one using the handy X/Y feature of Lightroom. Some de-noising when necessary, standard sharpening (slider: 25). The camera was a Df.

The tricky aspects are (1) the shiny front pipes; (2) the fact that the subject is generally darker than the surroundings. So glow and flare are potential issues.

First shot, f/1.2 by guess whom. The usual haze. Not really usable here. You'll find below the overall view and two crops.

[Airy]

Nest stop, f/1.4. The 50/1.4 AIS (bottom) is clearly better, but ill-adapted too. For reference, I generally found the 50/1.4 AIS to be better than the 50/1.2 at f/1.4. Stopping down from f/1.2 to f/1.4 does not fundamentally change the lens performance. For one thing, the 50/1.4 has the better contrast.

[Airy]

However if you look at the details, it is a tie. In the center, the lenses have a very different glow - the 50/1.2 (left) leaning towards purple while the 50/1.4 (right) leans towards blue. And while the 50/1.2 has a lower contrast, it is sharper, in the center and (even more so) in the lower left.

[Airy]

In any case, do not inspect the corners. They are equally mushy (ok, the 50/1.4 is not quite as bad), and there is also significant coma. By the way, the greater distortion of the 50/1.2 is visible here (greater slant of the columns)

[Airy]

Now at f/1.8, the old AI and the new G... Overall they look similar. The G looks warmer, but the weather outside was slightly cloudy, so I do not guarantee constant color temperature.

[Airy]

Now looking at the center, the conclusion seems clear : the new G is sharper. But both are free from nasty glow, and therefore more usable (arty effects aside) than the above ones at 1.4.

[Airy]

Looking into the lower left, same conclusion, but there is less striking a difference, maybe because the scene is dark. The G also sports higher contrast.

[Airy]

Looking into the upper right corner does not reveal any big difference. A bit more contrast with the G, maybe.

[Airy]

Near the center, this zone also shows the extra sharpness of the "G" version. But that's a small difference for a 40 years gap.

[Airy]

Now f/2, where the fab four can be compared. It is midnight, you got impatient but I got tired. I'll resume after a good sleep

[John Geerts]

Thanks for the comparison so far.

[Airy]

Now all at f/2.0. In succession : 1.4 AIS, 1.8 AI, 1.2 AI and 1.8 G, whole field but downsampled, due to forum limitations. By the way, the filenames are explicit.

[Airy]

Now in pairs, starting with 1.4 and 1.8 AI. The 1.4AIS colors are warmer. Despite the uncertainty brought about by the changing weather conditions, I can state that, generally speaking, the 1.8AI (as well as 1.8AIS pancake) lean to the cool side.

Looking at the center, it is apparent that the 1.4 AIS is sharper. Also, the reflections on the front pipes are more color-neutral.

[Airy]

On the lower edge and top right corner, same observations. The corner sharpness is still wanting, but in any case the 50/1.4 is better. Coma is quite apparent in both cases.

[Airy]

Now the 50/1.4 AIS and the 50/1.2 AI. Their overall color balance is similar. To my surprize, the 50/1.4 is undisputably better in the center.