Author Topic: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS  (Read 15789 times)

the solitaire

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #30 on: June 06, 2016, 08:49:25 »
I read that, but only after I found this 5cm f2 lens stuck to a Nikon F I bought.

I only used it wide open so far but I might try stopping it down some time ;)
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richardHaw

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #31 on: June 06, 2016, 09:00:20 »
the older lenses' weakness is flare. try shooting it at the sun and it becomes apparent  :o :o :o

the solitaire

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #32 on: June 06, 2016, 10:58:20 »
You mean lik ethis?



I love it!
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Harald

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #33 on: June 06, 2016, 13:36:49 »
Hi Buddy,

Do not give lenses with flaws to good photographers. ;)

Harald

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the solitaire

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #34 on: June 06, 2016, 13:55:14 »
Hi Buddy,

Do not give lenses with flaws to good photographers. ;)

Harald

I will keep that in mind Harald. In the meantime I consider myself a photographer with flaws that are outflawed by flawed lenses. Minus and minus makes plus. ;)
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richardHaw

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #35 on: June 06, 2016, 14:11:06 »
You mean lik ethis?



I love it!
Yes :o :o :o
The blobs can get uglier if the sun is barely out of frame. I love the cats eye bokeh on this lens. For me this gives the lens so much character wide open

David H. Hartman

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #36 on: June 07, 2016, 05:56:26 »
I owned a 50/1.8 AI and a 50/1.4 AI at the same time and I found the 50/1.8 to be sharper at f/2.0 so I sold the f/1.4. I figured the only reason to own it was to shoot at f/1.4.

Today I've got a 50/1.8 AI, AF 50/1.8 late, AF-S 50/1.8G, 50/1.4 Nikkor-S AI-ed, 50/1.4 AIS lube contaminated and 50/1.2 AIS. I bought a spanner wrench so I could do a full strip and relube on the AIS as a friend has cleaned it twice and the oil just oozes out again. My guess is someone baked it in a car trunk. I want to do a round up for the heck of it.

My gut feeling is the 50/1.8 AI and 50/1.2 AIS will be my favorites while the AF-S 50/1.8G will see a lot of use because the AF makes it fast and easy to use.

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the solitaire

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #37 on: June 07, 2016, 17:25:51 »
David, if you are looking for sharp 50mm lenses you already made the right choices.

Some might recommend the 55mm f1,2 for it's superb qualities in rendering things unsharp. The 50mm f1,2 and 50mm f1,8 are better in sharpness (even if the 55mm f1,2 is no slouch there, but it does have soft corners at nearly all apertures)
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Frank Fremerey

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #38 on: June 07, 2016, 20:45:10 »
Of all the 50ies I ever shot I liked the 2.0 Ai best. All correctly focussed eyes glow like stars at 2.0. Totally love it. Also a solid metal build from the late 70ies / early 80ies: http://www.nikkor.com/story/0002/

The one 50 I shot most was the 1.4/50 Ai which is very soft & glowy wide open. I feel Airy's first shot in #10 shows very nicely the effect this lens has wide open. Hate it or love it.

The 1.8/50D plasticky China lens is wonderful if you avoid bright spots in the back. It creates a rather blocky bokeh. Color rendition is nice though, very nice, but fine skin tones render a tad too harsh for my taste.

The 1.4/50G was wonderful on the D3, awful on the D600, very bad match. Yet I have seen some classy wide open shots with that very lens taken with the D8xx-series.

My current love in the AF-S 50/f=1.8G ... superb in nearly ever respect.

I will soon replace it with (or add to my collection) the 1.4/58mm which I want as the portait offer for my D500.
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John Geerts

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #39 on: June 07, 2016, 21:54:34 »
In that case one should mention the special 45mm/2.8 P   ;)

the solitaire

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #40 on: June 07, 2016, 22:45:22 »
Special indeed. A bit too narrow for my hands. It is a very sharp lens indeed, and more then decent background seperation can be achieved because of the close minimum focus distance. If I remember correctly it has 9 aperture blades?
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John Geerts

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #41 on: June 07, 2016, 22:50:52 »
7 rounded blades. Its rendering is beautiful too. The older 45mm GN version I didn't like, also by the very long close focus distance...

Roland Vink

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #42 on: June 08, 2016, 00:57:28 »
The close focus distance of the 45P is 0.45m, same as most other 50mm lenses, so close focus distance is average for this focal length. The older 45GN has a rather long 0.8m close focus limit, due to the GN mechanism. Early 45GNs have 9 aperture blades, but that later changed to 7.

I bought a 45P with my FM3a. Although I don't have big hands I found it too small for my liking - the focus and aperture rings are very narrow and there is no grab ring so it's not so easy to take on and off the camera. When I need a compact standard lens I use the Japanese "pancake" 50/1.8 which is based on the series-E lens but focuses to 0.45m instead of 0.6m. It's still very small but there is more real estate on the barrel to make handling easier. It's also over a stop faster which is useful.

My favourite 50mm is the AI 50/1.8. It has a different optical design from the Series-E/pancake/AF versions, sharpness is possibly better and background rendition is smoother, becoming harsh only towards the corners. The focus throw is also longer. It has a full size barrel so handling is even better, although it is still compact compared to the current AFS models.

If close focusing is important, the AIS 55/2.8 micro is worthy of consideration. The AI 55/3.5 is also excellent but f/3.5 is starting to feel too slow for this focal length, and I'm not a fan of the bokeh produced by 6-blade apertures. The AIS 55/2.8 feels fast enough (just) to be used as a general purpose lens, and it has a nicer 7 blade aperture.

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #43 on: June 08, 2016, 07:27:22 »
PS. Browsing prices I also found a Voigtländer 58/f=1.4  never heared of it before. Opinions?
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Akira

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Re: Worth getting another 50mm Nikkor? 1.4/50 AIS
« Reply #44 on: June 08, 2016, 07:32:53 »
PS. Browsing prices I also found a Voigtländer 58/f=1.4  never heared of it before. Opinions?

Frank, Airy has posted some reviews on the lens here in NG.  You may want to look for them to refer to.
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