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Articles and Reviews
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Home >> Photography >> Film Equipment Nikkor 50mm AF Lenses 50mm f1.4 AF-D First build quality. The lens seems to be as well built as any of the smaller AF lenses sold by Nikon but even so, it was still shocking to see the "Made in China" stamp at the bottom of the lens. I knew that Nikon had a factory in Thailand for their cheap consumer-quality zoom lenses but China?! Maybe I would have thought more highly of my ancestral country’s ability to manufacture high quality optics if the lens wasn’t such a tight fit on my cameras’ lens mount. I was alarmed when I first mounted the lens onto the body and had to use a bit of muscle to do so. Most certainly not the silky smoothness of the Japanese made Nikkors. Fit and finish was one aspect of this lens that disappointed but what surprised me was that the initial prints I got from this lens were very soft. Not the tack sharpness that I was accustomed to from my 35-70mm 2.8 lens. I resolved to test out the lens in an outdoor shoot during one of Vancouver’s rare snowfalls. I loaded a roll of Velvia in the F90x and proceeded to walk down to the Cambie St. Bridge that connected downtown with the rest of Vancouver. I probably shot off half a roll and was planning to do some sunset shots at the same bridge on another day. That day however, never came. I took my F90x and 50mm 1.4 and 24mm 2.8 as well as my small Manfrotto 190 tripod with the 352 small ball head to use for a few sunset shots of False Creek on my walk back from work. Unfortunately, my gear was stolen at my work place when I was asked to look after some files during a department move. I left my pack sack (just a normal, non-photo pack) on a counter around a hidden corner. Alas, my carelessness gave an unscrupulous mover or lucky vagrant who happened to have sneaked into the building carte blanche with my packsack. When I returned to retrieve my packsack, it was gone. I became ill when I realized what had happened. But all was not lost. I found the remnants of my pack in a hallway leading out to the back alley with my Manfrotto 190 tripod and 24mm lens and Sony Walkman still there but my F90x, MB 10 grip and 50mm 1.4 were gone. Thank goodness for insurance, as I was able to replace my gear for a smaller then average deductible. Given the questionable quality of the 50mm 1.4, I decided not to replace this lens. I got the 50mm 1.8 instead and used the remaining money leftover from the difference in price towards a new F70 body to replace the one I had sold earlier. In some ways, losing the 50mm 1.4 wasn’t so bad since I convinced my wife to let me buy another body. Maybe she felt sorry for me given how down and violated I felt after the theft. Anyway, I never had a chance to see how good the 50mm 1.4 was but I think the 50mm 1.8 is a sharper lens (the non-technician speaking again). I don’t see the softness that I received with the faster lens and I can’t believe a half-stop can make that much of a difference. I’m thinking I got a dog of a lens that slipped by the QA since my 50mm 1.8 was probably made in the same factory and appears to be better in most fit and finish aspects. The experience turned me off fairly fast lenses given their cost to quality ratio. As an example, I think that given the opportunity to buy either the 85mm 1.4 or the 1.8 version, I would probably buy the 1.8. For my needs, I don’t require blistering speed as I generally don’t like handholding such shots outdoors in low light (if I do I would use high speed film to aid me anyway). I also find the added warmth of indoor handheld shots to be a bit too much of a good thing. Update: ah, the joys of being an amateur photographing knowing so little about photography, when I wrote the paragraph above. I have since discovered that fast lenses offer other advantages than just low-light capabilities. 50mm f1.8 AF It’s a good little lens to have due to its compactness and weight. It makes a nice package with the F70 for my wife to use. It’s probably my sharpest lens but I haven’t taken to shooting pages of newspaper taped to my wall yet so I won’t comment on such technical matters. There are plenty of other sources available that will attest to the high quality optics in this little lens. For me, the fact that it seemed much better then the 1.4 I had was good enough for me. I do have to admit that I don’t use this lens that often though. I’m too spoiled by the 35-70mm lens and the ability to change focal lengths in the normal range without moving. I have to force myself to carry this lens whenever I’m faced with a low light situation since I don’t always care for the very warm tones of indoor shots without flash. But it’s cheap enough that I don’t worry about not using it too often. I think it will be a fine lens for my son to learn on. I like many other users, fine the 50mm perspective a bit boring and just a little too short for portraits and just a little too long for some landscapes. The main reason I bought into the 50mm perspective was because I kept coming across postings on the internet saying you have to have a fast normal lens for the low light situations you come across. Well, since my 35-70mm is my most used lens, if I know I’m faced with a low light situation, I’ll cheat and use fast film like Fuji Superia 800 or its pro-grade brother, NHG II. I used this exact combo with the F70 in Las Vegas for a nighttime shot of the strip. I can’t remember the exposure information but I know I didn’t shoot wide open (probably f5.6) and I know the shutter speed wasn’t very slow because the cars in the shot weren’t blurred much at all. So, I don’t find myself needing high-speed lenses too often. *July 1, 2000 - I'm sure I'll regret doing this but this lens is no longer part of my kit, again. * July 2007 - What comes around goes around, as I have the AF-D version of the 50 f1.8 lens, as well as my original made-in-Japan version |
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