NIKON AF-S Nikkor 50mm f / 1.8G Lens

Product Information

After testing multiple samples of the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.8 lenses, we've found the f/1.8’s autofocus system to be much more accurate and reliable than its older sibling. Sharpness is also better than from Canon’s 50mm f/1.4 lens, from the centre to the edges. Large aperture lenses are for isolating your subject and for shooting under low light conditions. So for a street-shooter / reporter and for capturing nature such a lens is very practical. Alternatives

The main reason for the Art lens’s weight gain is that it has a much more complex and sophisticated optical path than its predecessor, based on 13 rather than eight elements. These include one complex aspherical element and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements. The following images were taken with the Nikon AF-S 50/1.8G. Each image was recorded in RAW and converted with Capture NX 2 at standard settings. Some images have White Balance set to a standard daylight value to make them comparable. No extra sharpening, or tone-, color-, saturation-adjustment was used. I prefer the conventional straight-bladed diaphragms of older lenses that make much better sunstars than this new lens. This lens makes wimpy sunstars, if any at all. There are also quite a few manual focus lenses with Z-mount and you can of course use a plethora of F-mount lenses via Nikon’s FTZ mount adapter – adding another 31mm in length and 133g in weight. This is the world's first 50mm f/1.8 that autofocuses on Nikon's cheapest DSLRs like the D3100 and D5100.One major advantage of the new lens comes via the introduction of an internal AF motor. The two previous AF versions of the 50mm f/1.8 optic rely on a motor in the camera to drive an AF screw in the lens.

Note: Unlike AI lenses, the aperture rings of these pre-AI lenses extend a bit past the mounting flange. I made a differential measurement from the flange mounting surface, not the overhanging aperture ring. Here are the answers to a few of the most common questions we get about Nikon F-mount lenses. FAQ: Is Nikon discontinuing F-Mount? The 50mm f/1.4 is typical in having a beautifully engineered metal barrel and a full set of weather-seals. The optical design is based on Zeiss’s legendary Distagon principles. The long rotational travel of the focus ring helps focusing precision, and its super-smooth fluidity makes focusing a joy. We’ve reported previously on 35 F-mount lenses being discontinued in recent years. Despite this, there are still a vast number of lenses available new, and in the used camera market. A discontinued lens may still be a very good, or indeed a great performing lens. The newest Nikon DSLRs to be released are the Nikon D780 and Nikon D6– both in 2020. FAQ: Can you use Nikon F lenses on mirrorless cameras? Of course, it is the optical changes that will most interest photographers. The introduction of a new aspherical element takes the construction of the 50mm f/1.8G to seven elements in six groups, and is designed to reduce comatic and chromatic aberrations. These optical distortions have previously been most prevalent when shooting with a large, fully open aperture, and are the Achilles’ heel of many a 50mm f/1.8 lens.The increased size of the G-series lens means the rubberised manual-focus ring is also larger than on previous models. But this is something of a paradox: with no aperture ring on the lens, it cannot be properly used on a manual-focus Nikon camera. However, it does prove useful when shooting in live view to ensure the subject is precisely in focus. I can't detect any air coming out of my viewfinder as focused. The internal optics move as a unit inside the outer barrel. So, while the emphasis may be placed on the inclusion of an aspherical element, there are a number of other small changes that should significantly improve the performance of the new 50mm f/1.8G lens. Build and handling This unassuming lens is the best budget choice for a D3 or D700, much better than any zoom, to get you the fast autofocus, great low-light performance and the sharpness for which you bought a D3 or D700 in the first place. If you do buy one of those expensive cameras, consider as well the 50mm f/1.4 version. It's also perfect on decent or recent AF film cameras like the F6, F100, F5, N80 and N75. I tried it on my Nikon F4, and it works great, although there's no way to set a manual aperture as explained below.

Detailed specifications for the lens, along with MTF charts and other useful data can be found in our lens database. NIKON D700 + 50mm f/1.4 @ 50mm, ISO 200, 1/1600, f/2.8 Lens Handling and Build Distance information is relayed to the camera, so the Nikon body can do all the advanced exposure-related stuff with this lens. But this is true for all the alternatives too. [0] Again results aren't great wide open, but the centre sharpens up well on stopping down to F4, and by F8 the corners are looking very sharp too. Barrel distortion is quite visible, and red/cyan chromatic aberration quite visible. A further sign of the downsizing is that the Nikkor only has a 58mm filter thread, which is quite small for a 50mm f/1.4 lens. The straightforward optical path doesn’t contain an aspherical element (as featured in Nikon’s more budget-oriented 50mm f/1.8), and there are neither any ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements nor any Nano Crystal Coat.

Best Nikon tele zoom: AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 G ED VR

Central sharpness is very good wide open, but you get a distinct boost as you move away from that into the DX area by stopping down to f/4. At all non-diffracted apertures beyond wide open I’d call the center performance clearly excellent, which is probably where most of the praise is coming from. Across the entire DX boundary the lens is very good wide open and improves to a solid excellent by f/5.6. Again, praiseworthy. Falloff on FX is typical: some of the usual wide open, and goes away stopped down. It's the same as the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D. The Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G is an affordable prime lens for Nikon’s range of FX and DX format DSLRs, and as an AF-S model, it’ll autofocus on any Nikon body. The focus ring is 16mm wide. Its surface is kind of rubberized and it moves super smooth. AF-operation of the lens in photo-mode can be heard from the outside and if you record video with the built-in microphone there is some low buzzing noise.