| Lens |
Rating |
Comments |
45 mm f/2.8
Nikkor P
[AI-P] |
4.5
(DX:D1X)
4.5-5
(DX:D2X, D200)
IR:
4.5
(DX:D1, D70, S3Pro UVIR)
|
This petite
lens is an enigma with its "retro" looks and
purely manual operation. With its superb precision
construction in bright, satin-finished metal, it is an
endearing contrast to the current breed of plasticky,
wobbling AF lenses. The focusing throw is very short so
focusing is fast and positive up to the 0.45m near limit.
The lens is so short that the focusing and aperture rings
are closely adjacent and thus need to be very narrow. To
make handling the lens easier, the rings are conveniently
ribbed and the inner aperture ring is slightly wider,
thus easier to locate by touch only. To top it all, there
is a peculiar-looking (shaped like a reversed funnel)
sunshade that allows the special grey lens cap to be
mounted with the shade in place. The sunshade is quite
inefficient in keeping sunrays and raindrops from hitting
the front element, however, so adding one or more K-rings
to push it further out from the lens front is advisable. Like its predecessor, the venerable
GN-Nikkor 45 mm f/2.8, this lens has a simple Tessar
optical design. This means just 4 elements (in 3 groups)
are used and thus the reflecting surfaces are fewer than
in most other lenses. In shooting against bright light
sources, a small ghost spot occurs, but flare is
otherwise quite well under control.
I have compared the new
and old 45 mm closely and conclude that their designs are
not identical, although both are Tessars. The new lens
has a bigger exit pupil to make illumination more even
over the entire image. It also focuses closer. Colour
rendition is superb and image contrast is quite high,
although slightly softer than most modern Nikkors. There
is no ED glass in this lens, but colour fringing is
perfectly controlled nonetheless. The aperture has 7
blades and is nicely rounded, this combines with the
simple Tessar design to give excellent smoothness
("bokeh" is the buzz word) in the out-of-focus
zone of the image. Geometric distortion is virtually
absent so this is a perfect lens for architecture and
similar applications.
This lens obviously is
targeted for the new FM3A camera, but attaches to any
Nikon body to make a splendid travel companion. It is
small, inobtrusive, and capable of producing sparkling
images. Equipped with a CPU, it will make the most out of
all Nikons, even the most modern camera such as D1/D1X.
A final point: this lens
is so small you can easily misplace it and never be able
to locate it again. I hate to admit this has happened to me, so
I'm on my second sample now. You are warned!
IR: The
performance is excellent and no issues with hot-spots are
observed on any camera tested so far.
|
50 mm f/1.2
Nikkor
[AI] |
4-4.5
(DX:D1X, D1H, D2H)
4.5
(DX:D2X)
5
(FX:D3)
IR:
2
(DX:D1, D70)
4.5 (S3Pro UVIR)
|
This lens
replaced the older 55/1.2 and besides being neater and
lighter, also offered a much better performance even at wide apertures. There is
an endearing slight softness (bokeh) when the lens is
deployed on a D1/D2-series camera and shot wide open, but
the image even at f/1.2 has plenty of detail. Stopped
down in the range f/2.8-f/5.6, image contrast is
enhanced, sharpness is very good to excellent, and
veiling flare has gone entirely. Quality deteriorates
rapidly as expected with the lens stopped down beyond
f/8. I suspect the corners at wide settings would be soft
with this lens mounted on a 35 mm film-based camera, but
haven't tested this so far. The 50/1.2 is less troubled by
hight-contrast and against-the-light shooting than many
of its brethren, and the propensity to flare is kept well
under control. Occasionally you can get a greenish ghost
spot when the sun is placed towards the frame corners,
though.
Image contrast even at
f/1.2 is higher on the D3, so pictures come across
crisper and appearing sharper with this camera. Focusing
the lens on a D3 was easy.
IR: The
performance is troubled by a strong tendency for a
central hot-spot on several cameras, but not on the S3Pro
UVIR (?). Strange.
|
| 50 mm f/1.4
Nikkor-SC [non-AI]
|
4 (F2)
|
Nikon
actively developed their fast normal lenses throughout
the '70s. The coatings were improved and the basic
double-Gauss formula was trimmed to squeeze even better
performance out of the 50/1.4. The last version before
the AI epoch featured a shimmering red front element and
sported a very capable performance. Wide open there is
some softening in the corners that disappears by f/2.8,
At f/4 it gives excellent images, and the quality stays
basically the same up to f/8. Beyond that f-number the
performance declines perceptibly. Flare levels are low,
but ghosting can be provoked by pointing the lens towards
bright light sources. |
50 mm f/1.4
AF-Nikkor D |
5
(DX:D1X)
5
(DX:D2X, D200)
4.5
(FX: D3, D3X)
IR:
2
(DX: D200 modified)
|
This AF lens
is encased in a dreadful plastic barrel, but manages to
focus quite smoothly with my preferred manual operation.
It delivers crisp and sharp images even set wide open,
and by f/4 the sharpness is all you could wish for. Image
contrast and detail hold up well to f/11 and just begin
to lose "bite" at f/16. Vignetting is minimal
on the D1X and so is the geometric distortion, which is
of the barrel type. Mounted on an F5, however, the barrel
distortion may be a bit more visible. The lens focuses quite close, but
when shooting up close the images loses some of its
crispness. Not entirely unexpected for such a fast lens.
Fast lenses tend to be
susceptible to flare and the 50/1.4 AF is no exception,
so you should shield the front element from being hit by
direct sunlight if at all possible. Ugly ghosts are
easily invocated if there are any dust specks left on the
front element, so keeping the lens immaculately clean is
mandatory.
The rendition of the
out-of-focus areas can be nice when aperture is large,
but tends to be much harsher when the lens is stopped far
down. You definitively need to watch the background
rendition using the DOF preview .
With the FX:D3,
performance is excellent but I have reduced the rating a
trifle since corner fall-off is slightly more in evidence
on this camera.
IR:
Definitively not recommended for IR use since there is a
nasty central hot spot.
|
| AFS 50 mm
f/1.4 G Nikkor |
5
(DX: D2X)
5
(FX: D3, D3X)
IR:
3
(DX: D200 modified, Fuji S3 Pro UVIR)
|
An update of
the older "screwdriver" 50/1.4 Nikkor was long
overdue. The new model, largely finished in lightweight
material of an organic nature, sports an improved 8/7
optical design and at last, AFS operation. But unlike
other recent new Nikkors, there is no nano-coating and no
ED glass inside. While the lens barrel does not extend
during focusing, there is no internal focusing (IF) to
work its magic (and sometimes, adding colour aberrations)
- the inner unit moves back and forth as an entity. Thus,
the autofocus operational speed won't set a world record,
but for most purposes it suffices well enough. A side
effect is that the outer casing needs to be pretty big,
thus a 58 mm filter thread is used. This breaks the
earlier pattern of normal lenses (by Nikon) being served
by 52 mm filters. However, in a predominantly digital era
in which filters see much less use than before, this
disruption of old habits might be easier to accept. One
gets a better fitting lens hood and since it flares just
a little, the front element is deeply shaded. Towards the
rear there is a rubber gasket to provide weather sealing. Corner fall-off is visible when the
lens is set to the widest apertures, but less annoying
than seen with the earlier AF-D model. Fall-off will of
course be most visible on the FX cameras. From f/2.8
onwards vignetting is negligible on DX and FX alike. The
barrel distortion, typical for this class of lens, is
kept under good control. Field flatness also is better
than shown by most fast lenses. Image quality is quite
good in fact at f/1.4 although some blue fringing can
occur at high-contrast transitions, increases to f/2.8
accompanied by a rise in contrast and reduction of
fringing, and really gets into its stride in the range
f/4 to f/9 or so. The smallest apertures see more
softening of the image and a reduction in contrast, so
only stop down to f/16 if you desperately need the
increased depth of field, or like to shoot into the sun.
The aperture opening is nicely rounded and the
out-of-focus rendition (bokeh) is softer and less harsh
than seen with the older 50/1.4 AFD model. However, the
50 mm lenses are too short to really throw the background
way out of focus unless you shoot fairly close and have
the lens nearly wide open. So don't expect the image to
"pop" like it often does with a telephoto lens.
Colours are rendered
vividly saturated and come across crisp and clear. On
some subjects, however, one can detect a slight
longitudinal colour aberration leading to reddish fringes
to the foreground and greenish fringes towards the
background. Even in this respect the new lens does better
than the predecessor so this behaviour should be
interpreted in its proper context, and many shots will
not show this problem at all.
Although nano-coating is
missing, the new lens handles awkward backlighting and
point light sources better than the model it replaces.
Ghosting is usually minimal, but when shooting straight
into the sun, you tend to be rewarded by a big blur
rather weak blue ghost spot. Flare is well controlled,
though, and I did not encounter situations in which flare
was an issue for my shooting with the AFS 50 G.
The new model is an
evolution of the older lens, so you don't need to rush
out to purchase it unless you can only work with AFS.
Anyone looking for an excellently performing normal lens
should consider the "G" carefully. It
complements the high resolving power of the D3X in a nice
fashion too.
IR: Not a
good candidate for IR use since there is a central hot
spot when the lens is stopped down.
|
| Zeiss 50 mm f/1.4 ZF (Nikon mount) |
4.5
(DX:D2X)
|
Sometimes
big companies also produces big surprises, such as Zeiss
of Germany starting to deliver ZF lenses for the
"F" mount. Now, these lenses are not really
German as such since they obviously are made in Japan by
Cosina, but the engraving on the ZF 50 follows European
style in using "1,4" instead of
"1.4", just to take one example. And you can't
eliminate the possibility than German engineers have been
present somewhere, or sometime, along the production
line. The ZF 50 /1.4
is very nicely made and its aperture ring turns smoother
than on most Nikkors. It uses a non-standard (in the
Nikon line) 58mm filter thread and the curved aperture
blades form a smooth circle. Thus you would expect it to
deliver a pleasant bokeh.
Direct side-by-side
shooting with the ZF 50 and the Nikkor 50/1.4 AFD
demonstrated the following: For distant motifs, the ZF
was sharper and distinctly showed more contrast than the
Nikkor at f/1.4 and f/2. From f/2.8 the difference
started to decline and from f/4 onwards differences, if
any, were negligible. Same trend occurred for close
subjects, but here the quality difference was much
smaller and the ZF had occasionally more CA issues than
the Nikkor as well.
The biggest surprise
occurred when I tried to evaluate the bokeh of the ZF
lens. Let me summarise this by stating that at f/1.4, the
Zeiss exhibited a weird or downright ugly bokeh with pronounced double lines
and harsh edges. The transition from sharp to unsharp is
abrupt. The Nikkor on the other hand delivered pleasantly
soft-looking backgrounds without any harshness to them.
Stopping further down the picture tended to change, thus
the Nikkor gets harder and harsher and the ZF availed
itself of its very circular aperturte to give less harsh
backgrounds than the Nikkor. But having heard a lot of
hype regarding the alleged superiority of the ZF line in
terms of bokeh, I have to admit that the Zeiss lens was a
clear disappointment. The reason for having a superfast
lens is amongst others to use it set more or less wide
open. I quickly stopped using the ZF 50 in that fashion
and decided not to keep the lens for myself. I give the
ZF 50 due credit for its sharpness qualities, but be
warned that its bokeh can give nasty surprises if you
shot the lens wide open. At the very least, do try out
the lens before you commit to purchasing it.
|
50 mm f/1.8
Nikkor
[AIS, AF] |
5
(AIS version: F4, D1, D1X)5
(AF version: F4, D1, D1X)
5+
(AIS: D2X)
4.5
(AF: D2X)
5
(AIS version, FX: D3X)
IR:
4-4.5
(DX:D1, D70, S3Pro UVIR)
|
A small,
cheap and unobtrusive lens with an outstanding optical
performance - can anyone wish for more? This petite
Nikkor delivers the goods with a snap and clarity many
lenses could - or better - should, envy. Wide open there
is a trace of softness into the corners that disappears
by stopping down to f/2.8. From f/4 to f/8 its
performance hardly can be improved. I have obtained
decent results even at f/22. The multi-coating layers on
this lens gives it much better contrast and colour
saturation than the E-series derivative. According to my sources the AF and
AF-D versions of the 50 mm f/1.8 are virtually identical
to the MF lens, so can be safely recommended as well (if
you stand the plasticky feeling of the newer versions,
that is). However as more and more Nikon cameras become
crippled when an older lens is mounted on them, we should
at least be thankful that some of the best optical
designs survive into the brave new world.
The earliest AIS version
of the 50/1.8 delivers a truly stellar performance on the
D2X. The field is admirably flat, too. There is nothing
more to be said here. As perfect a lens as anyone could
imagine. What a shining little star this lens proved
itself to be.
The modern, plasticky and
cheap-looking AF 50/1.8 ("Made in China") also
gives excellent central image sharpness, but not so set
wide open, you need to go to f/2.8. Field curvature is
more prominent on this version and the corner performance
a little less convincing than with the MF model, but when
you factor its low price into the equation, you do get a
lot more quality than you have bargained for.
IR
performance: When used for IR photography on some DSLR
bodies, the newer AF versions can show an occasional
"hot-spot" in the image centre. The MF lens, or
at least my sample, isn't troubled with this at all. I've
downgraded this lens a little for IR to indicate the
potential issue. So don't tell you haven't been warned.
|
50 mm f/1.8
Nikon Series E
[AIS] |
4 (F2,
F4)
|
This
economical version, made for the EM and FG cameras, was
virtually identical to the Nikkor 50/1.8 in optical
design, but built even more compact than the Nikkor. It
came in a cheaper-looking (and -feeling) barrel and
lacked multi-coating and an aperture coupling prong.
Sharpness is very good, but contrast and colour
saturation result in images that do not quite match the
clarity of the Nikkor. |
| 50 mm f/2
Nikkor [non-AI, AI]
|
5
(F5)5
(DX:D1X)
5+
(DX:D2H)
4.5-5
(DX:D2X)
IR:
4
(DX:D1, D70)
|
I was
genuinely surprised with the test results of this humble
normal lens. It delivers sharp and contrasty images
already at wide apertures. Even at f/2, there is just a
trace of flare and corner softness, and beyond f/2.8 it
renders excellent image quality. Despite its
multi-coating, some flare and ghosting result when the
lens is pointed towards the sun, so be careful in that
situation. The 6-bladed aperture can give some
not-so-nice ghosts and while these normally are well
controlled, they become much more obvious for IR
photography. To show
age doesn't mean a thing, this lens is probably one of
the sharpest Nikkors I've deployed on my D2H. A pity it
isn't comfortable with my D70 because of the AI
construction.
For use on the D2X, you
should be aware of the less than perfectly flat field of
this lens. Centre of the image is very very sharp with
D2X, but you can see a slight deterioration of quality
towards the corners, thus preventing the lens from
getting a perfect score with this camera.
The earlier, non-AI models
are engraved "H" or "H·C", the
latter being multicoated. Optically, both are fine
performers as is the AI model.
IR
performance: Not giving a true hot-spot, but I've seen
some unevenness of light across the frame, so have
adjusted the rate to reflect this observation.
|
| 55 mm f/1.2
Nikkor-SC |
3.5
(F5)
not tested on DSLRs |
This lens is
impressive to behold, but image quality is modest when it
is used wide open. There is a veiling flare from internal
reflections that softens the image and coma is apparent
at f/1.2. Residual optical aberrations lend a softness to
the corners until the lens is stopped down to f/4-f/5.6,
at which point it becomes a capable performer in terms of
sharpness. Image contrast picks up beyond f/2.8 and is
very good at f/8 to decline when the lens is stopped more
down than this. Note that the 55/1.2 is susceptible to
knocks from the side, such abuse can misalign the optical
elements. |
| 58 mm f/1.2
Noct-Nikkor [AI]
|
4.5
(F5)5
(DX:D1X, D2X)
4.5
(DX:D200)
4-4.5
(FX: D3, D3X)
IR:
4.5
(DX:S3Pro UVIR)
|
The 'Noct' designation
calls attention to the main application area for this
super-fast lens, viz. its intended use in low-light and
night photography. The front element is hand-polished to
give its aspherical shape and this by necessity inflates
the price of this infrequently seen optic. Improved
control of coma and spherical aberration is the main
reason for including the aspherical element in its
optical design. This effort pays for itself by giving
very sharp pictures even when the lens is used nearly
wide open. In fact, performance is good even at f/1.2,
really picks up at f/1.4 and simply is marvellous at
f/2-f/2.8. Flare control is very good, but some ghosting
can occur when extremely bright spots are included in the
picture. Unusual for a normal lens, field curvature is
readily apparent and focusing it closer exacerbates the
situation. The prominent curvature of the field can
explain why the 'Noct' scores low in tests: the corners
simply are not brought into focus at wide apertures when
the lens is focused on a test target. This is not the
proper lens for copying or close-up photography. For
shooting 3D objects however, the field curvature isn't a
big issue. Beyond f/4 the image contrast also begins to
decline slightly and there is a significant drop in
optical quality beyond f/8. The 'Noct' is built for speed
and should be used for its targeted purpose. End users
also may be attracted to its special image rendition, the
texture of which has an appealing 'creamy' smoothness
(nice bokeh). D2X
and D200 mercilessly show that focusing accuracy is
critical in order to get the maximum quality from the
Noct-Nikkor. The new high-resolution D3X further
underlines this fact. With such a bright lens as the
Noct, manual focusing is really difficult using these cameras. This is
counter-intuitive but unfortunately true.
On the
other hand, if the image is properly focused, and
you are aware of the strong field curvature and its
possible effects on the rendition of your subject, you
are rewarded with excellent sharpness and very high image
contrast at settings from f/1.4 to f/4. Beyond f/4, image quality
declines, after all this is a specialised design not a
"normal" lens. This is further witnessed by the
very good image rendition at f/1.2.
IR
performance: Seems to be equally good to the visible
light rendition. At f/16, and under strong contrast
lighting, you might just notice the first sign of a hot
spot. However, since this stopped-down setting is
off-limits territory for the Noct anyway, I haven't
emphasized that too much.
|