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Nikon 50mm Lens Comparison
© 2006 KenRockwell.com

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI Nikon 18-200mm VR Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s

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Index of individual test pages

Top of 50mm comparison

back to sharpness f/1.4 - f/4

Sharpness f/5.6 - f/32

Guide image

Guide Image, Suburban Sprawl

 


f/5.6

F/5.6 is the first aperture present on all six lenses. The VR lens is only f/4.8 maximum at 50mm. All of the other 5 lenses are operating at their optimum aperture while the 18 - 200 VR is practically wide open; it's weakest aperture. At f/5.6 the VR and the f/1.8 AF are worse than the others, but only if you're using a microscope as we are here. You're seeing a 100% display, which from my D200 is magnifying these images over 40 times their size at the sensor! Your monitor is probably 100 DPI while the D200 is over 4000 DPI (3872 pixels across 23.6mm = 164 pixels per mm or 4,167 DPI)

At f/5.6 I see a four-way tie for first, with the VR and f/1.8 AF tied for second.

 

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI Nikon 18-200mm VR Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
1.4 ZF at f/5.6
1.4 AF-D at f/5.6
1.8 AF at f/5.6
1.4 AI at f/5.6
18-200 VR at f/5.6
55 AI-s at f/5.6

 


f/8

These all look identical to me, even at this high magnification. The F/1.8 AF looks softer than the others.

F/8 is where most people shoot, and it's where diffraction starts making all lenses look the same.

 

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI Nikon 18-200mm VR Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
1.4 ZF at f/8
1.4 AF-D at f/8
1.8 AF at f/8
1.4 AI at f/8
18-200 VR at f/8
55 AI-s at f/8

 


f/11

The biggest difference at f/11 is slight variation in exposure. The VR is exposing about a quarter stop more than the others, and the 55 Micro is exposing about a tenth of a stop less.

I call this a six-way tie. In real life you'd never see anything, even if it's fairly obvious here. I see nothing at all different at f/11.

 

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI Nikon 18-200mm VR Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
1.4 ZF at f/11
1.4 AF-D at f/11
1.8 AF at f/11
1.4 AI at f/11
18-200 VR at f/11
55 AI-s at f/11

 


f/16

Everything looks the same, except for exposure. Diffraction is the limiting factor.

 

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI Nikon 18-200mm VR Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
1.4 ZF at f/16
1.4 AF-D at f/16
1.8 AF at f/16
1.4 AI at f/16
18-200 VR at f/16
55 AI-s at f/16

 


f/22

Only the three slower lenses go to f/22. Everything looks the same, except for exposure. Diffraction is the limiting factor.

 

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF
Nikon 18-200mm VR
Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
1.8 AF at f/22
18-200 VR at f/22
55 AI-s at f/22

 


f/32

Only the two slowest lenses go to f/32. Diffraction is the same as shooting through a soft filter, and that;s why these look so soft. The differences I see are exposure and magnification. The 55mm looks softer, but it's darker, and at a smaller effective aperture (shown by the less exposure) and larger magnification from it's longer focal length is spreading the same details over a larger area. I also had my VR set to a little less than 50mm, increasing the difference in magnification.

The VR still looks better at f/32. If you want sharpness, avoid small apertures.

These images are the same magnification as all the others. I only have two images instead of six, so I included more width to fill the page.

 

Nikon 18-200mm VR
Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
18-200 VR at f/32
55 AI-s at f/32

PLUG

I spent almost two months shooting and writing this comparison of 50mm lenses. No one pays me for this. If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me write more with a donation.

Thanks for reading!

Ken

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