First shots with 50 mm 1.8 lens. Which one is best?

[odiy33]

I tried out the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Lens I purchased, I wasn't sure if i was going to keep it. I have a D3100 and can't auto focus with it, but it was cheap and the reputation it has is very good, so thought i would give it a try. Found this mushroom in the yard the other day, took a couple pics and played with it a little bit. Any C&C would be appreciated, such as which one of the three you like most, our do they all suck, lol. Thanks in advance.

 

[gummibear]

It looks like your focus was off a little bit, It looks like its on the clover patch in front.

 

[odiy33]

Yeah I'm still trying to get ahold of the manual focus on this lens, i'm still debating on returning it and going with the newer model for 50 bucks more with autofocus, nost sure, but yeah the clovers and the dome of mushroom are in focus (atleast part of the dome) it was shot at 1.8.

 

[vtf]

Your exif data shows an aperture of f4.5. This mushroom should be crystal clear. Are you using centerpoint focusing because although the mushroom is centered and should be the focus point it actually is the clover patch to the lower left and the grass blades along the same plane which just clips the front of the mushroom.
The dof at 4.5 should be deeper.
I'm not fond of the PP used in shots 2 and 3.

 

[KmH]

The DOF will still be very shallow, even at f/4.5, if the focal point is close to the lens. The focal point distance has a lot to do with the DOF.

If the focal point were only 3 feet in front of the lends the total DOF is only 0.19 feet or 2.25 inches, 48% in front of, and 52% in back of the focal point. If the focal point was even closer, the DOF using f/4.5, would have been ever shallower.

The way I picture it in my head, is that the camera and the focal point are connected by a scissor attachment. When the subject is far away the scissor is nearly straight and the DOF is deep. When the subject is close the scissor arms are are spread to the sides and the DOF is shallow.

 

[TheBiles]

I'd get the autofocus version, personally. Your plane of focus is so thin at f/1.8 that you don't want to but trying to worry about manual focus unless you're very comfortable with it. Even with autofocus it took me a while to get it down.

 

[vtf]

It is paper thin. The picture below was just taken at f4.5 with the focus squarely on the mushroom. Mine is a Canon 50mm 1.8 but results should be similiar. The focus falls off halfway through. On the OP's image, it appears the focus is on the patch prior.
As for auto/manual focus, in low light manual is best.

 

[odiy33]

It is paper thin. The picture below was just taken at f4.5 with the focus squarely on the mushroom. Mine is a Canon 50mm 1.8 but results should be similiar. The focus falls off halfway through. On the OP's image, it appears the focus is on the patch prior.
As for auto/manual focus, in low light manual is best.

Thanks for all the info guys, I am returning the lens and spending an extra 50 bucks to get the 30 mm 1.8 lens that allows AF on my camera, it really is hard to manually focus this lens, weird data shows f4.5, I know I shot it at 1.8. I,m going to go take two pics for heck of it , one at 1.8 and one at 4.8, see what we come up with, thanks for your mushroom example as well.

 

[odiy33]

Ok, so like i said, i went out and took a pic of the mushroom again (as you can see, it has opened up and looks much different the first couple shots i took), i tried to improve on my focal point as well as show the difference between 1.8 and 4.5

F 1.8

F 4.5

 

[TheBiles]

Here's a handy tool for determining how big your plane of focus is at different apertures/focal lengths/distances. They also have Android and iOS versions.

 

[odiy33]

TheBiles Thank you, awesome suggestion. I've just downloaded it on my phone and ipad. Thanks again

 

[jands]

The way I picture it in my head, is that the camera and the focal point are connected by a scissor attachment. When the subject is far away the scissor is nearly straight and the DOF is deep. When the subject is close the scissor arms are are spread to the sides and the DOF is shallow.

Thanks for that analogy, it is really helpful.