Nikon AF 50mm F1.8D
I bought this lens after shooting a typhoon day with A09 because it's fast and cheap, which made it the first prime of mine. This is among the sharpest of Nikon, the image quality made me switch to prime... Put aside the cheap construction of this lens (the focus ring is uneven with my copy), the cons of this lens lies in its bokeh and its rather cold color rendition. The light spot in the background is far from circle due to its non-circular aperture, and it's not nice. This lens weighs only 155g.
11-JAN-2007
Nikon AI 50mm F1.4
Bought cheaply and it ends my 50mm hunt. Color rendition is slightly different with AF lenses but also very good. Excellent sharpness from f2 and not bad at f1.4, it's an ideal lens for portrait. Flare might be a potential problem so keep the hood on.
Nikon AF-S 50mm F1.4G
With the need of an AF 50mm, this is the lens I've been waiting for. Although it's not entirely fair to compare it to the Noct (different focal length, and the design), here's what I've found so far (on full frame camera). At very close range, the new 50 outperforms the Noct at the center below f2 but the corner to corner sharpness starting to lag behind as the lens stops down. Going beyond 1 or 2 meters, the Noct is the down right winner (if you can focus the Noct right. Only tested below F4). Color rendition of the new lens is much warmer than that of the Noct and resembles the beautiful color of recent new Nikon lenses. Bokeh-wise it's not as good as the Noct either, the edge of the high light out of focus area does not fade out as seen on the Noct. Compared my old 50/1.4 AI, it shows quite some improvement, especially the vignetting and sharpness at f1.4. With all that said, the new 50mm is definitely a keeper, you would not be worry about the sharpness in real world situation. Not being an IF lens, the new 50mm focuses somewhat slower than the old AF-D version (due to the SWM), but unless you always start far from your subject distance in low light, it¡¦s that serious. Build quality of this lens is similar to the 70-300VR- both has the rubber gasket at the lens mount, and it also comes with bayonet hood and lens pouch. For manual focus, it takes a little more than a half turn get from 45cm to infinity.
Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux R-Cam
Converted to F mount, this is by far my favorite Leica-R lens. It’s a very good performer from wild open, and even sharper than the new Nikon AF-S 50mm at close focusing range. However, at distance and stopped down, the performance of these two lenses equals. The only thing you could tell is the much colder color rendition of the Leica. Also, above 1 or 2 meters, the Nikon Noct still out performs this lens significantly. This is definitely the best 50/1.4 I've ever seen. The build quality is what you expect from lens of this price, but the focus ring rather tight on my copy, maybe it needs CLA. The hood is built-in like the rest of the Leica-R I own, I consider it quit convenient. (This is the E55 version, or the second version of this lens.)
11-JAN-2007
Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm Tessar
Even with the correction lens in the lens adapter, this M42 old lens focuses quite short. I've only made less then a hundred shots with it and so far the contrast is not good and sometimes there's double-line in its bokeh- maybe it has something to do with the correction lens.
Noct-Nikon AIS 58mm F1.2
I got one with lower than average price due to a small problem with handling, but optically it's as good as the legend goes. At wild open, coma isn't 100% corrected, however, if you use it from F1.4 to F4, the sharpness and contrast are brilliant! The AIS version has 9 diaphragm blades and very good bokeh. On the D200, focusing is not exactly easy at aperture larger than F2, the bright AF focus screen doesn't help either, as the depth of field isn't correctly shown- you need to rely on the focus indicator, which works. Even with its slightly longer focal length and larger aperture, it's less likely to flare compared with 50/1.4 AI. For this lens, I quit buying any camera or lens for more than half year now, but it's worthy.
On full frame camera and normal working distance, this lens is sharp from wild open, and corner sharpness is best of all the normals I tested. Stopping down to f2.8 and f4, it also shows amazing sharpness and contrast compared any other lenses. The only problem is, if you want make use of f1.2 or f1.4, you have to get the focus right- which is hard even with the focus indicator.
Leica 80mm F1.4 Sumilux 3-cam
Like the Contax 85/1.4, this lens is soft at large apertures. Stopping down past f2.8 will give you more acceptable sharpness. (F mount converted and tested on D3.)
11-JAN-2007
Nikon AF 85mm F1.8D
I've been looking forward to buy this one and it doesn't let me down. Another great lens that I have nothing to complain about except that it's a bit long on DSLR. The bokeh it produces is very beautiful. It has 9-bladed aperture (but not rounded) and weighs 380g.
Nikon AF 85mm F1.4D
It's just way too good! Balances nicely on D200 when vertical grip is on. Image quality is very good even at f1.4. Compared with the 85/1.8, I would say the photos from two lenses have different feels (more dreamlike from the 85/1.4). 85/1.8 is more compact and easier to travel with.
Nikon AIS 105mm F2.5
A very sharp lens near wild open, image is of high contrast when stopped down a little. Color is vividly saturated. It's nice to see a legendary lens lives up to its name. Like other Nikon manual lenses, it's nice to handle. The short built-in hood has kind of flannel texture on the inner side- just like the 300mm F4.5 AI.
Nikon AI 135mm F2.8
Slightly bigger than the 105mm, this one performs good throughout the entire aperture settings. Compared to the 105/2.5 Ai-S, the corner image quality comes up faster when stopping down, but manual focusing is slower on D200 (at least it is to me).
Nikon AF 135mm F2D DC
Great lens for portrait on full frame camera; I consider it good wild open, stopping down a little bit it's very sharp. Build quality is similar to 85/1.4 though I think the 85 is slightly better. Defocus control is something I don't use, and the DC ring is a little bit easy to turn by accident- the button lock on the ring is too easy to be pressed. The modern 135 retains the built-in hood from the manual version, which is a quite welcome feature.
