Best Manual Focus 50mm Nikkor?

[sliu]

I have both 50 f/1.4 and 50 f/2. Usually I use 50 f/1.4 for low light night shot. For no reason I took only 50 f/2 for the 24 Hour in New York Project two weeks ago. It managed to capture this:

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<img height=346

width=511 hspace=5 vspace=10 src="image?bboard_upload_id=18814184">

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Do you like the bokeh?

[roland_vink]

There are two aspects to bokeh which need to be considered separately:

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The first is the <b>shape of the aperture</b>. This determines the shape of out of focus hightlights in the background and foreground (street lights in the background, specks of sunlight filtering through trees ...) When the lens is set wide open, we get circles in the center of the image. Towards the edge of the image the edges of the front and rear elements eclipse the circles.

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When the lens is stopped down, hightlights take the shape of the aperture blades. An even number of blades gives an appearance which is very 'regular' or 'square'. I prefer the look of hightlight with an odd number of sides which looks more natural and balanced. An odd number of blades also produces much more spectacular star-burst effects for night photography. Generally out of focus highlights look nicer and are less distracting when they are rounder, so the more aperture blades the better.

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<li>The 50/2 and 55/3.5 micro have 6 blades so we get hexagons, which I think is one of the poorest shapes.

<li>Most 50 and 55mm Nikkors have 7 aperture blades so highlights are 7-sided polygons (septagons).

<li>The AIS 50/1.2, AIS 58/1.2 Noct and 35/1.4 have 9 blades (AI versions of these lenses have 7 blades).

<li>The 45/2.8 has 7 aperture blades which are curved so when stopped down a little, the aperture opening is almost a perfect circle.

<li>The Cosina-Voigtlander 40/2 Ultron has 9 curved aperture blades, the aperture opening is nearly round at all stops.

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The second and more important aspect of Bokeh is the <b>distribution of light</b> within the out of focus highlight. If the light intensity increases towards the edge of the blur giving a hard bright edge, we get blur effects which are busy, contrasty, harsh, and we see double-line effects. Most find this effect is unpleasant. If light intensity reduces towards the edge of the blur giving a soft edge, we see a smooth soft blended effect.

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Distribution of light is mainly due to how a lens is corrected for spherical abberations. An under-corrected lens generally produces smooth bokeh in the background, and harsh effects in the foreground. Over correction causes harsh effects in the background and smooth effects in the foreground. Since subjects are usually photographed with a background and rarely with a foreground, under corrected lenses tend to produce the nicest bokeh. This effect is most noticeable at wide apertures. As the lens is closed down, spherical abberations (good and bad) are neutralised and most lenses look very similar at smallish apertures.

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Most 50mm Nikkors are over-corrected. Perhaps this is a reason for their sharpness and high contrast, but it leads to poor, harsh bokeh in the background. Yet this aspect of bokeh can be suble and at times even so-called poor lenses can produce smooth effects.

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<li>The 50/1.4 (AI, AIS and AF) share the same optical design, which is noted for its poor bokeh.

<li> The 50/2 is often reputed to have good bokeh, yet <a href="http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/society/nikkor/n02_e.htm">this article</a> states: <i>"However, the spherical aberration is somewhat large when compared with a shorter lens barrel design model called "AI Nikkor 50mm F1.8S"(1980~) in Japan, which was a further improvement on the AI Nikkor 50mm f/1.8(1978~)"</i><br>

and<br>

<i>"when fully open an out-of-focus background can become harsh or appear doubled, so handling the background requires care."</i> This, and the 6 blade diaphram suggests the 50/2 is not the best lens for bokeh.

<li>The AI 50/1.8 (1978~) is better corrected which suggests it has improved bokeh. The compact AIS 50/1.8 (1980~) is better still - the E and AF versions have the same optics. These lenses have 7 blade diaphrams which is another improvement. While they have better bokeh, they are still not very good, and still produce harsh effects in the background.

<li>The 50/1.2 is neutral - if it's not good at least is it not bad. The fast aperture is useful for throwing the background out of focus and the 9 blade diaphram of the AIS version is also helpful. Although not the sharpest all-round lens, it excellent at mid (portrait) distances. This is probably the best of the 50mm Nikkors.

<li>The 55/2.8 micro is extremely sharp but produces very harsh effects at wide apertures. I've read mixed comments about the 55/3.5 micro - some good, some bad. It has a 6 blade diaphram so on balance I'd say it's not the best for bokeh.

<li>The Cosina-Voigtlander 40/2 as a beautiful round diaphram, yet in my experience the background blur is very harsh, not smooth at all.

<li>The 45/2.8 produces somewhat smooth effects, perhaps the best of the standard Nikkors, and is has the nice rounded diaphram too. Pity about the slowish f2.8 speed.

<li>The 35/1.4 can produce varied effects depending on the aperture and camera-subject-background distances. Mostly it produces very nice bokeh. The fast aperture and 9 blade aperture of the AIS version are good too. Closed down a little it is very sharp. If you like a shorter 'standard' lens, this is the one to get.

<li>I've heard good things about the 58/1.2 Noct Nikkor - if you can afford one. I don't know, never used one...

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Hope this helps.

[jovan]

Depend on what you wont to do:

1. Nightshots 50mm 1.2 AIS 4.2/5

2. Fine details 50mm 1.8AF 4.4/5

3. Macro 58mm 2.8 4.4/5

 

 

I have some post about sharpnes

go to http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008tdt

[jovan]

Hi Roland,

In one thing I disagree with you and I have all rights to say this

nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS is exelent performer.

Not becouse I have one in my posseson, I also have nikkor 50mm f2.0 AI(from F2), 50mm f1.8AF and have chance to work with 50mm f1.4 AIS, noct 58mm f1.2, nikkor E 50mm 1.8 and 55mm 2.8 AIS macro.

 

Nikkor 50mm f1.2 is beter then 50/1.4 AIS and 50/1.8 AIS.

 

Cliff my RECOMMENDATION are 50mm 1.8AF, 50mm 1.2AIS and 55mm 2.8 macro.

 

go to http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008tdt

[larry_miller5]

<p>Get the Nikkor 50MM F1.8 "S" version. IF you can find it. One of the most sought after 50's Made in Japan lens ever. Focuses down to 0.45. Truly a spectacular lens...</p>