Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: AFairley on May 29, 2015, 02:50:22 pm
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I had the chance to compare the 50mm f1.8G to my old AF Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8. I was considering the 1.8G because everyone raves about how good it is. Actually, not so much. Perhaps the copy of the 1.8G was a bad one, but the Micro-Nikkor just spanks it away from the center. The AF Micro-Nikkor never got much love back in the day because it looks like a plastic piece of junk (and the manual focus is a nightmare to use, it has an insanely short throw), but it really holds its own on the D800E (unlike the wide angle AIS lenses I've tested, which are handily bested by their 1.8G equivalents). Anyway, it's staying in the bag for now. Here's the overall scene and some 100% crops of the center and right edge. (OOC tiffs cropped and saved for web as JPEGs; focus was center point Live View, two shots with mirror up at each aperture, best frame selected.)
Now I'm curious to see how the AF 55 stacks up against the 60mm G which has a really impressive MTF chart.
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I had the chance to compare the 50mm f1.8G to my old AF Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8. I was considering the 1.8G because everyone raves about how good it is. Actually, not so much. Perhaps the copy of the 1.8G was a bad one, but the Micro-Nikkor just spanks it away from the center. The AF Micro-Nikkor never got much love back in the day because it looks like a plastic piece of junk (and the manual focus is a nightmare to use, it has an insanely short throw), but it really holds its own on the D800E (unlike the wide angle AIS lenses I've tested, which are handily bested by their 1.8G equivalents). Anyway, it's staying in the bag for now. Here's the overall scene and some 100% crops of the center and right edge. (OOC tiffs cropped and saved for web as JPEGs; focus was center point Live View, two shots with mirror up at each aperture, best frame selected.)
Now I'm curious to see how the AF 55 stacks up against the 60mm G which has a really impressive MTF chart.
Oddly enough, other than special 50s like the Noct, 58mm and the micros, I have found the Nikkor 50mm rather mediocre.
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Nikkor 50mms are like Fender & Gibson guitars: the best ones were made in the 1950s. :D
-Dave-
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I'm a real fan of the 60 G series macro.
I mostly use it for fly fishing photos where it really excels for shots of fish with rods or close-ups of insects ect.
Not sure how it would compare to your older 55 in image quality, but you certainly can't fault the build of the newer lens.
My only complaint with it would be the crap lens hood fit.
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Optically the AF-Nikkor 55/2.8 is the same as the 55/2.8 Ais. That lens introduced a floating element to optimize across the full range and replaced the 55/3.5. But- it only got to 1/2 life-size. I end up using the 60/2.8 AF-D, but will get out the 55/2.8 Ais again. Many people preferred the 55/3.5.
Maybe your copy of the 50/1.8 G is off, but I have found mine quite good. I bought it with the Df.
The best Nikon 50mm lens is the "Millenium Nikkor" that came with the S3-2000. It is sharp, just cannot be used on an F-Mount camera. It is based on the 1964 5cm F1.4 Olympic Nikkor.