« on: February 15, 2014, 01:05:41 AM »
Long term ownership review ? Nikon 50mm 1.8 D
I?ve been using a 50mm lens in some form or the other for sometime. I?ve used the older metal ones and the 1.4 however I?ll restrict this review to just the 50mm 1.8D
I got this lens when I purchased the D90. The camera was taken as a body only when it was launched and I took the 50mm 1.8D as a ?kit? lens for this camera as I don?t like the 18-55 / 18-105 option.
There is an endless debate that a 50mm isn?t really a 50mm on a crop sensor camera and a 35mm is more like a 50mm etc etc however
I put my eye to the viewfinder, I liked the view I got there with the 50mm on the camera and so I took it. I also later checked the view I got from the 35mm and I preferred the view from the 50mm to the view I got from the 35mm ? this is a debatable topic so I?m not going to venture into this.
Anyways?some technical details of the lens I?m referring to (from the Nikon website) -
Focal length 50mm
Maximum aperture f/1.8
Minimum aperture f/22
Lens construction 6 elements in 5 groups
Picture angle 46? [31?30' with Nikon digital cameras (Nikon DX format)]
Closest focusing distance 0.45 m/1.5 ft.
Maximum reproduction ratio 1/6.6
No. of diaphragm blades 7
Filter/attachment size 52mm
Diameter x length (extension from lens mount) Appproximately 63.5 x 39mm/2.5 x 1.5 in.
Weight Approximately 155g/5.5 oz.
Supplied accessories 52mm Snap-on front lens cap
Overall
It?s a nice small light weight lens. What I particularly liked about it is that it?s got an aperture ring.
The aperture ring needs to be locked in place at f22 and cannot be used on a camera like the D90 but I?m used to seeing lenses with an aperture ring and the new G lenses don?t feel normal to me. Maybe it?s just me being a bit old fashioned but I want to see that ring and those numbers on my lenses. Unlike the newer G lenses, this lens with the numbers and the ring looked good to me?this may sound a bit stupid but it was one of the reasons why I took the lens.
The lens is a pleasure to carry around and if I had to choose just 1 lens to take with me on a holiday I?d choose the 50mm 1.8D. This lens makes me think and look at the world in a creative manner so it gives me photographs unlike an 18-55 which gives me ?snaps?
Some details of usage
I?ve been using the lens mostly for portraits and some photos where I felt the need to go a bit closer than the 20mm / 10mm I mostly use for landscapes. Its sharp..really sharp. I haven?t ever looked at MTF charts and measured this lens on a computer so when I?m saying sharp I mean its sharp in real life and I haven?t been able to personally find any flaw in the sort of photos this lens gives me.
I?ve also made a conscious effort to shoot a variety of different subjects at different apertures using this lens.
Pros & Cons
Pros ? light weight and balances well on the camera, it?s cheap, is sharp, has an aperture ring so can be used on my older cameras too, can be mounted on extension tubes / can be reversed and used for macros / close-ups.
Cons ? will not auto focus with the lower end Nikon cameras so if you?ve purchased something like a D3100 / 5100 or whatever else Nikon is calling its entry level range, I?ve got 2 words for you ? bad luck :p
Build quality
It?s a fairly well built lens in terms of overall finishing. It doesn?t appear to be as strong as my older metal lenses but I liked the quality of plastic that has been used on the lens. Its got a fairly good finish and doesn't look like something that costs just around 5k INR
How does it compare with similar products available?
I?ve got a 1.4 but I would rate the 50mm 1.8 a bit higher than that lens due to the price difference.
I would recommend a 1.4 if you really want to shoot at that aperture. For everything else atleast for me, the 50mm 1.8 works perfectly well.
I cant think of a photograph where I would really want to use 1.4 instead of 1.8 - if you can think of a situation where you will need 1.4 then buy the 1.4 else stick to the 1.8
I bought the 1.4 because I wanted to know what 1.4 feels like..no other reason. I find the 1.8 as good as the 1.4 for most of the normal photos i take.
Focus
I?d rate the focus speed for this lens as somewhere in-between. It?s not exceptionally fast & silent but then it?s not as slow and noisy as my tamron 90mm macro.
I usually use just 1 auto focus point if I use the auto focus mechanism and I?ve found this does the job without hunting around too much.
On the whole the auto focus is quite usable. I get very irritated with lenses like the 90mm 2.8 Tamron and the sigma 10-20 and the minute the lens starts hunting instead of locking focus I turn the auto focus off and focus manually ? I haven?t yet had to do this with the 50mm 1.8
Bokeh
Is good depending on how wide open you shoot. Not as good as a DC lens but it?s good enough for regular usage and better than anything you?ll get from a normal kit lens or any other lens that I?m aware of for this price.
Sharpness
I felt that photos at f2.8 were a bit better than photos shot at f1.8 with this lens. Cant find any problem or issues with the ones taken at f2.8. It?s a bit difficult to get the focus right at these large apertures though. As long as you?ve focused in the right place its fine. Unlike taking a portrait at f8 where even if you don?t focus on the eyes you?ll end up with a photo that?s fairly usable ? with this lens when shooting at large apertures you need to ensure your focus is where it should be.
I?ve also shot with this lens at smaller apertures ? no issues or diffraction that I?ve noticed. I?m not saying it?s not there?maybe it?s there but I can?t see it hampering my photos in any way.
Distortion
I haven?t seen any distortion in the photos I?ve taken over the past few years with this lens. There may be some that can be measured on the computer..nothing that my eyes can see though.
Overall summary
I love this lens and would recommend it as a must have for any photographer who needs something that is cheap, sharp and fun to use.
This lens forces you to think creatively if you use it at large apertures.
It teaches you to compose things right and forces you to think ? a zoom makes you lazy as it gives you the luxury of zooming in or zooming out.
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Do feel free to add your own views / thoughts to this write-up.
If you've got some photos taken with this lens that you'd like to share as examples please feel free to post them here on this thread.
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« Last Edit: February 15, 2014, 01:18:42 AM by Ayaz »

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Nikon FM(black), Nikon FG, Nikon D700, Nikon FM(silver), Nikon FM10, Pentax Spotmatic, Zenith TTL, Minox Wetzlar, Agfa Optima III, Yashica & Rollei rangefinders etc
28mm 2.8, 70-300vr, 200mm f4, 50mm 1.4, 55mm 2.8 macro, 50mm 1.8, 16mm 2.8, 70-210 f4 macro, Lensbaby, Helios 44 f2, 90mm macro, etc