Nikon 50 2,0 HC Auto

[Lumens Pixel]

The cheapest and humblest Nikkor probably.

But a delightful lens to use. Not without defects, but easier to manage in the digital age rather than on film.

The bokeh is not the smoothest but you come to like it for whatever reason. The blur is contrasty but not jittery. Resolution is very good in the center and extends to the corners at middle apertures starting from f3,5. The lens seems optimised for middle distances.

Colours and micro-contrast are subdued compared to more recent lenses. But a simple click and this is solved. Old lenses sometimes like digital. My copy shows its age with a gritty focusing. A typical Nikon problem since it seldom happens with my Canon or Minolta lenses.

There might be better lenses but that is quite hard to notice if you post process your pics.

Some pics:

L'observatoire by lumens pixel, sur Flickr

Le primeur druze by lumens pixel, sur Flickr

Chez le Tailleur (1) by lumens pixel, sur Flickr

Chez le Tailleur (3) by lumens pixel, sur Flickr

 

[Fons Baerken]

Interesting shots, monsieur. Les primeur Druzes a unique ethnic group of people!

[Lumens Pixel]

Interesting shots, monsieur. Les primeur Druzes a unique ethnic group of people!

Merci Fons!

[ColinM]

I don't know how much is down to the lens, as opposed to your skills Mr L Pixel
But I like this varied collection of images

[Airy]

Colin just stole my words

Great shots. My favourite is "chez le tailleur (1)".

[Snoogly]

Can you share the details of your simple click? ;-)

[MEPER]

Very nice images and good BW conversion. With MF lenses on digital it can be a challenge to hit exact focus where it should be.

The gritty focus I am quite sure it is because Nikon uses pure aluminium helicoids. When grease dries out it is more and more alu against alu which will destroy its other over time (helicoid slack will occur). Lens needs a CLA and it will be fine again (re-grease). Other brands uses either alu against brass which has a self-lubricating effect. Also brass against brass has lower friction than alu against alu. There are a few old Nikkors that uses brass helicoids but not the Nikkor-F and up (as far as I know). New MF Nikkors or re-greased was known to have a very easy moving MF focus where other brands were more "heavy" moving. I think that was by purpose by Nikon to be able to focus very fast when used for action shots. Also the aperture ring was easy to move (a bended flat-spring was used instead of a steel ball to implement the click stops). Spring loaded steel ball usually feels nicer but bended flat-spring usually makes it faster to move (my own subjective experience).

[Thomas Stellwag]

The cheapest and humblest Nikkor probably.

But a delightful lens to use. Not without defects, but easier to manage in the digital age rather than on film.

There might be better lenses but that is quite hard to notice if you post process your pics.

very good series, your skills and the lens seem to have a wonderful cooperation

[Lumens Pixel]

I don't know how much is down to the lens, as opposed to your skills Mr L Pixel
But I like this varied collection of images

Thank you! The lens is participating a lot, be certain of that. I have tried without. And failed.

[Lumens Pixel]

Colin just stole my words

Great shots. My favourite is "chez le tailleur (1)".

Glad you liked it!

[Lumens Pixel]

Can you share the details of your simple click? ;-)

Sure. I am using Rawtherapee as Raw converter but I am quite confident same results can be achieved with any other software.

The 50 HC Auto lacks a little bit micro-contrast despite having very good resolution. A combination of lightly added local contrast, high frequency wavelets and deconvolution, which is three clicks rather than one, I must admit, will get you very close from out of camera better 50ies.

This is why I think that some differences in quality are less relevant on digital.

The field is not perfectly flat either which is not an issue with ordinary 3D subjects but might be a concern at infinity. You would better close the aperture to f4,0 in that case, which is hardly a concern. Note that the center area is sharp at f2,0.

So all in all a very useful lens.

[Lumens Pixel]

Very nice images and good BW conversion. With MF lenses on digital it can be a challenge to hit exact focus where it should be.

The gritty focus I am quite sure it is because Nikon uses pure aluminium helicoids. When grease dries out it is more and more alu against alu which will destroy its other over time (helicoid slack will occur). Lens needs a CLA and it will be fine again (re-grease). Other brands uses either alu against brass which has a self-lubricating effect. Also brass against brass has lower friction than alu against alu. There are a few old Nikkors that uses brass helicoids but not the Nikkor-F and up (as far as I know). New MF Nikkors or re-greased was known to have a very easy moving MF focus where other brands were more "heavy" moving. I think that was by purpose by Nikon to be able to focus very fast when used for action shots. Also the aperture ring was easy to move (a bended flat-spring was used instead of a steel ball to implement the click stops). Spring loaded steel ball usually feels nicer but bended flat-spring usually makes it faster to move (my own subjective experience).

Yes certainly alu helicoids. I must say I prefer Canon and Minolta implementation of the helicoids since they fare better in time.

I have from time to time opened simple lenses to clean a glass element. But I often chicken doing so because of some memorable failures. I have never re-greased helicoids and this is certainly an error. Of course you can always find a professional to do the job. But I have the souvenir of a well reputed pro that fogged a Canon nFD 28 2,0 after servicing, probably due to excessive or incorrect grease.

In addition most of my lenses have been bought quite cheap and it does not make sense economically to service them rather than buying another sample. I hate writing that because I feel a kind of attachment to lenses that serve me well but that remains a reality.

I have a look from time to time to videos showing the greasing process but stubbornly pass on them. I should not.

[Lumens Pixel]

very good series, your skills and the lens seem to have a wonderful cooperation

Thank you Thomas!

[Matthew Currie]

I don't know whether it's still the case, but one used to be able to find the AI version of this lens dirt cheap. Some years ago I bought one from KEH in bargain condition (perfect looking, but maybe a bit stiff in focus) for something like 25 bucks, and later got one at a yard sale complete with a minty looking FG-20 for $5.  A really nice lens, robust and well behaved. These days, since "normal" is closer to 35 mm. I don't use mine much on DX digital, but the above photos remind me that I probably should.
I'm certainly no hot shot photographic artist, and have always tended to favor normal perspective. This is a lens that performs well with no surprises. Here is a picture of what I saw.

e.t.a. that last sentence should have quotes around it.  It's what I presume the lens says, not an invitation to see a picture which clearly is not here.

[John Geerts]

Beautiful examples of use of this great lens.

I don't know whether it's still the case, but one used to be able to find the AI version of this lens dirt cheap.

I have the AI version, great lens.