A 50mm adventure

I recently purchased a used 50mm f/1.4 prime Nikkor lens which I've been putting through its paces. Since I usually post mini-reviews of the glass I own, I decided to put some photos together in a single place showing the strengths and weaknesses of this classic lens.

The Nikon Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D

This is the much-desired f/1.4 version of the standard 50mm produced by Nikon in the millions. Mine is made in China, and has no serial number.

I bought it used on eBay, and it was in pretty good shape for the price. There is the usual bits of dust inside the lens itself, which should not affect the optics. But upon closer inspection there appears to be a bit of the lens coating rubbed off right in the centre of the lens! This is a definite optical flaw that could show up in photos.

So, the lens that took these photos is not perfect, and may not represent the ability of this lens when in perfect working order.

(Stock photo courtesy of Nikon Canada, only they don't really know it.)

Here is a throw-away shot I took while testing out the lens first day to make sure it autofocuses properly and works throughout the aperture range.

This is actually a terrible example of what the lens can do since the image is full of high-ISO noise. It does show that the lens has pretty decent bokeh and seems to be pretty clear edge-to-edge even when run wide open.

This image has been cropped, but I did not see any significant distortion or fall-off at the edges. This is to be expected with a full-frame lens on a DX format camera. The sensor is only seeing the light from the best part of the lens. Regardless, I should probably grab some images showing sharpness over a range of apertures, along with some full-frame photos in varying light.

But initial tests indicate that this lens is pretty slick, as long as you understand its limitations.

The general consensus among many web reviews is that this lens suffers from flare.

Well, this image has all sorts of flare, and under very low-light conditions. Unless the flare is a result of the less than ideal coating on this particular used lens, I'd say that the consensus is accurate.

Boring old bokeh and DOF test shot.

This lens is so light compared to most of the zooms we all carry around. Focus is fast and (to my eyes) pretty sharp. Switching to manual allows fast smooth hand focus.

This lens feels like a tele on a DSLR, which allows a whole new world of depth-of-field. A bright tele, too.
Stopped down things get nice and sharp, and images stay flat. Maybe too flat?
There's that lovely bokeh, again.
A little moiré there, which is rare on my Nikon with other lenses.
Looking for fringing, and can't find any obvious (or noisy) fringing.

Most modern zooms -- even good ones -- introduce a little fringing, especially when you push the exposure a little.

This lens is very bright,
and clear
and sharp.
I tried to make this otherwise uninteresting photo a little more compelling by treating it as a monochrome image, so I went for a classic Ilford B&W look.

While it may be a bit too flat for landscape work, the lens is clear and sharp edge-to-edge. Certainly part of that is that this is a film lens being used on a DSLR. Light is passing through the centre of the lens, where the optics are the most accurate.

You can stand away from the action and still capture intimate portraits...
Of course, this is all currently under construction! I need to spend an evening with Lightroom in order to get some nice shots that show both the beauty and warts of this lens.

ToDo: get some example portraits, as this is a perfect portrait lens.



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