Fast lens

just curious to find out as to which is the fastest Nikon lens currently in the

market for use on a DSLR ?

50 1.2 AIS

Canon used to have a AF 50mm f1.0 lens.

Canon used to have a 50mm f0.7 lens for their rangefinders.

 

Dave

However... the 50 1.2 is ONLY available in a manual (which means NON-metering on D50,

D70, D100) lens and when you use it wide open it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get much in

focus because there is so little depth of field at 1.2. the 50 1.4 is the fastest AF lens... And

the 50 1.8 is only a hair slower, still mighty fast for low-light photography, and is a

BARGAIN at about 100 bucks. It is also sharper and better in almost every respect than the

1.4 even though it is one-third the price! Some have said it's the sharpest and most

distortion-free lens Nikon makes!

 

There's also a 28mm 1.4 and an 85mm 1.4. They're pretty pricey. but excellent...

 

Go to www.nikonusa.com and salivate over all their cool lenses!

The Canon RF lens in fact was a 50 mm f/0.95, i.e almost one stop slower than the f/0.7 claimed.

"Canon used to have a 50mm f0.7 lens for their rangefinders."

 

As Bjorn says, it was a f/0.95 lens.

 

The famed f/0.7 lens was made by Zeiss for NASA.

Peter

 

I shoot with the 50 1.2 on a regular bases. I really do not have an issue with focus. I use it on a D2h and on my D100. There is no metering on the D100 but then I am used to using a hand held meter.

The shallow DOF is the reason for using this lens.

I also use a 50 1.4 50 1.8 55 1.2 55 2.8. 60 2.8 AF-D

The 50 1.2 lives on my D2h.

They all have there uses.

The more you use them the easer they are to use.

 

This is a shot with my 55 1.2 on my D2h with a K-1 ring.

 

Michael<div></div>

The Planar 50mm/f0.7 was once used by Stanley Kubric to shoot the film "Barry Lyndon".<div></div>

Sorry for the off-topic response.

 

The fastest Nikon "AF" lenses ever on the market are 50mm/f1.4 and 85mm/f1.4. There has been no faster AF Nikkor.

 

If you can include manual focus lens, The 50mm or older 55mm Nikkors are the fastest for SLR (f1.2).

 

Nikon used to make a 50mm/f1.1 lens for its rangefinder cameras.

 

For industrial use, Nikon made very fast lenses like Repro-Nikkor 85mm/f1.0, FR-Nikkor 75mm/f1.0, TV-Nikkor 35mm/f0.9 etc.

As Akira noted, the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 are the fastest AF lenses.. The 50/1.2 AIS is manual focus, and I'd rather be using the Zeiss ZF 50/1.4, which is already sharp at f/1.4... :)

"The Planar 50mm/f0.7 was once used by Stanley Kubric to shoot the film 'Barry Lyndon'"

 

Actually, I think Kubrick was the only filmmaker to shoot with that lens, as he actually purchased it. He certainly owned the Arriflex camera that had to have its lens mount custom-modified to hold the Zeiss f/0.7, to the point where the camera would not be able to mount any other lens. Even when modified, the rear element was a fraction of an inch away from the film plane.

Thanks a lot friends for your insight and information. Appreciate it very much.

Eric, according to a sidebar in Geoffrey Crawley's recent review of the Sigma 30mm f/1.4,

Kubrick did own the lens, but he never paid for it:

 

"When movie director Stanley Kubrick insisted that the candle-lit dinner scene in the film

Barry Lyndon (1975) should be filmed lit only by candles and with no artificial lighting, I

remembered the lens and recommended he try it. Zeiss opticians later told me that I had

cost them DM40,000, to adapt it for the Arri movie camera. When I askes why they hadn't

sent Kubrick the bill, the reply - typical of Zeiss idealism - was: 'How could we? the guy

was creating something with it.'"

 

Geoffrey Crawley, Amateur Photographer magazine, 24th June 2006.

"Zeiss opticians later told me that I had cost them DM40,000, to adapt it for the Arri movie camera."

 

I really shudder to think what they might quote me to adapt/fix a couple of my lenses. At least in one case, they flatly said, no they do not because that lens has been out of production for some years.

<br>Another fast lens that Nikon made is the recently discountinued <a href="http://

www.nikonusa.com/template.php?

cat=1&grp=5&productNr=1921"<b>28mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor</b></a>.<br>

(<a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?

cat=1&grp=5&productNr=1921">Nikon USA 28mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor information page</

a>)<br>

<br>