Nifty Fifty

hawee99 · Aug 16, 2007

do you know where your towel is?

hahahahahaha

Neuner · Aug 16, 2007

Got my Nikon 1.8 a couple of weeks ago and have been using it exclusively for portraits at f4. I love this lens and I can't believe how sharp it is. I don't know when I would use f1.4 if I ever had it - the DOF would just be too narrow for my use.

lightmajestic · Aug 18, 2007

The 1.4 is the first lens I bought for my D70 (now D200) and it's still my all round favourite. Awesome for portraits, super sharp. Buy it NOW! :hail:

castrol · Aug 29, 2007

Here is some possible useful information...

Well, I picked up my fastest piece of glass ever yesterday.

50mm f1.4.

So, I decided to see how this one compared to the 50mm f1.8 I already owned.
(I couldn't pass on the 1.4... it was a good deal.)

So, I decided to set up my tripod and try 3 different f stops with each. The photos
are at 1.8, 2.8 and 8.0. I didn't feel like doing anymore. I have been lazy lately.

I forgot to mention these are 100% crops.

Anywho, check the glass out on this thing compared to the 1.8.

Here are the comparo pics.

1.8 vs. 1.8

2.8 vs. 2.8

8.0 vs. 8.0

Sw1tchFX · Aug 29, 2007

did you shoot these in jpeg?

castrol · Aug 29, 2007

Yes, I did.

Sw1tchFX · Aug 29, 2007

The Nikon Jpeg compression pretty much makes these all look the same. NEF's don't have the Jpeg blurring to eliminate antialiasing.

The differences would be much easier to spot in RAW images.

castrol · Aug 29, 2007

Sweet. Good information.

I'll redo tomorrow and see if there is anything noticeable.

Thanks.

Garbz · Aug 29, 2007

For those who like graphs:
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_50_14/index.htm
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_50_18/index.htm

The 1.8 and 1.4 are very much on par with each other at higher apertures. In the lower segment the 1.8 has horrible border performance. The 1.4 fairs much better at the borders.

The Nikon has a MUCH better build quality than the canon (talking the 1.8 here). It has sharper centre performance too. The Canon however fairs better on the boarder. I would consider the 1.8 a must in any kit because of the price. The 1.4 is nice, but also costs twice as much.