Nikon 50mm 1.4g vs 1.8g. Which one should I buy?

[Lanna.O]

I'm looking forward to buy 50mm lens, but I can't decide which should I get 1.8g or 1.4. Please help

 

[astroNikon]

Your title has 85mm
Your post has 50mm
??

Do you have a total budget ??
as the price varies considerably between the 50s and 85s.

 

[Lanna.O]

Your title has 85mm
Your post has 50mm
??

Do you have a total budget ??
as the price varies considerably between the 50s and 85s.

Yup, it was a mistake, I've already corrected it. I have a total budget, but some people say 1.8g is good enough and buying 1.4g is waste of money so I'm little but confused

 

[Braineack]

1.8G for various reasons. reminds me i want to sell mine.

 

[jaomul]

50mm f1.8 is normally enough for most. The f1.4 obviously leaves in more light and allows marginally shallower dof if required. Almost anyone who has an f1.4 say its better, but you'd hardly pay 2.5 times the price and say different.

Some experienced people here whose opinion is from actual usage reckon the f1.8 is the one to go for, all things considered

 

[Designer]

I'm looking forward to buy 50mm lens, but I can't decide which should I get 1.8g or 1.4. Please help

What make? (some differences)
What body? (some lenses don't have the focusing motor in the lens)
Which exact lenses? (post links if you have them)
Very little difference in the actual apertures, and possibly very minor difference in IQ.
What are your objectives?

 

[astroNikon]

If you NEED f/1.4 then the f/1.8 model won't be able to do that.
So the question is what are you plan on doing that needs f/1.4?

I have the 50/1.4G (slower focusing but still fast) and 50/1.8D (and had the 50 1/8G).
I use 1.4 from time to time for artistic things. But the 1.8s are perfectly sharp as needed.

If you need it for low light then you also have to take into consideration the Depth Of Field too. DOF is the reason ppl that use these lenses are often seem Out Of Focus. ie, just because you have f/1.8 doesn't mean you should use it for all occassions.

I prefer the 50/1.8D due to it's super small size and fast AutoFocus but it requires an in-camera body focus motor (d7x00 and higher cameras) for AutoFocus.

 

[jaomul]

The f1.8 is a nice sharp lens also though. I think a 50mm portait lens on a crop is generally a good thing to have. To be fair you can't really go wrong with them. Below is an example @ f1.8, which btw isn't a setting you'll regularly be using

Rogue by jaomul, on Flickr

 

[480sparky]

I'd say get the 1.4 if:
1. you need to focus in low light a lot.
2. you have lots of discretionary income.

 

[Braineack]

I prefer the 50/1.8D due to it's super small size and fast AutoFocus but it requires an in-camera body focus motor (d7x00 and higher cameras) for AutoFocus.

read this:

Nikon 50mm 1.4G vs 50mm 1.8G - ima|foto

If you want a lens that:

1. Doesn't render any better.
2. Can't handle shooting into light.
3. Shows CA like crazy.
4. Soft when shot wide.
5. Costs a lot more.


Buy the 1.4G

 

[astroNikon]

I prefer the 50/1.8D due to it's super small size and fast AutoFocus but it requires an in-camera body focus motor (d7x00 and higher cameras) for AutoFocus.

read this:

Nikon 50mm 1.4G vs 50mm 1.8G - ima|foto

If you want a lens that:

1. Doesn't render any better.
2. Can't handle shooting into light.
3. Shows CA like crazy.
4. Soft when shot wide.
5. Costs a lot more.

Buy the 1.4G

Yeah, I like my 1.8D as mentioned.
But use the 50/1.4 G from time to time in controlled environments. Bought it for about the same price as the 1.8G that I also had, and found I needed the f/1.4 at times.
Read all the articles out there at the time too & tested all 3 together. Yes the 1.8G was better BUT it DID NOT do f/1.4. I also have 50mm covered by a couple other zoom lenses. YMMV
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens Review by Thom Hogan

 

[Braineack]

now the 58mm 1.4G seems like a winner to me.

 

[Designer]

Yup, it was a mistake, I've already corrected it. I have a total budget, but some people say 1.8g is good enough and buying 1.4g is waste of money so I'm little but confused

Read post #10 from braineack. He has listed the differences.

Who is telling you to get the 1.4?

 

[goodguy]

After some thought I say

1. If money isn't a factor then get the 1.4G because its faster
2.If money is a factor get the 1.8G, this lens is slightly sharper then the faster sister and its about half the price so you really are paying a lot for going from f1.8 down to f1.4

I think most people who own a modern 50mm Nikon lens chose the 1.8G, I think that say enough.
I chose the 1.8G for reason 2

 

[Derrel]

I have read from several sources that the f/1.4 G-series 50mm focuses more slowly than the f/1.8 G-series model does. In the link Braineack posted ( Nikon 50mm 1.4G vs 50mm 1.8G - ima|foto ) it was pretty clear that wide-open, coma was much less well-corrected in the more expensive f/1.4 model.

If there was an issue with the tests shown above, it was that there was not much emphasis on normal, real-world apertures, like f/4.5, f/4.8, and f/5.6, not anything showing how the lenses did when stopped down to say f/8 or so for deeper DOF type shots on what I would call a "normal shooting situation". Everything in the tests was at wide-open, or at f/2, one frame at f/2.8, and yes, there was one,single intensely flared-out extremely backlighted scene that was shot at f/8 and which has 3/4 of the whole frame basically blown out to white--but the whole image was so ruined by flare it was hard to get much worthwhile out of it, excerpt that the 1.8 lens resists flare a bit better.

If it's true that the 1.4 model focuses significantly more slowly than the f/1.8 model, that could be a practical difference. I dunno...

Seems to me the f/1.8 model gives slightly better performance, optically, at wider apertures. I just do not see the value in the f/1.4 G lens for most people.