Nikon 50mm f/1.4
© 2008 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF D. Enlarge. I'd get mine at Amazon, Adorama or Ritz. It helps me keep adding to this site if you get yours through these links, too. Thanks! Ken.

Introduction     top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

This Nikon 50mm f/1.4 is a secret weapon for low-light photography. Far more important than a fast ISO speed is the ability to gather light, which this lens does extremely well. In low light, this f/1.4 lens on a D80 should perform about as well as an exotic f/2.8 zoom will on a D3.

At less than $300 brand-new, this 50mm f/1.4 Nikon's fastest and least expensive super-speed lens. The next closest f/1.4 AF lens is the $1,000 85mm f/1.4 AF, or the discontinued 28mm f/1.4,which sold for $1,700 when you could get it new, and now sells for over $3,000 used since it's been discontinued.

I love this lens on my Nikon D3. It's fast f/stop makes it child's play to photograph just about anything hand-held. For casual people photography it's wonderful, since I can shoot at about 1/125 in dim indoors light at a reasonable ISO on my D3.

I just broke down and bought one for myself in October 2007, and with my D3, appreciate it much more than I ever did previously.

Nikon 50mm f/1.4 D at f/5.6.

Specifications    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

Name: Nikon calls this the Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D.

Optics: 7 seven elements in 6 groups. Traditional spherical design, multicoated.

Diaphragm: 7 straight blades stopping down to f/16.

Close Focus: 1.5 feet (0.45 meters).

Depth of Field Scale: Yes, for f/11 and f/16.

Infra-red Focus Index: Yes.

Filter Thread: 52mm, Nikon's standard for small lenses since 1959.

Size: 1.658" extension from flange by 2.542" diameter (42.13 x 64.58mm) when focused at infinity, as measured by me. Nikon specifies 1.7 x 2.5" (43 x 63mm). It extends an additional 0.287" (7.30mm) when focused at 1.5 feet (0.45m).

Weight: 8.080 oz. (229.1g) as measured by me. Nikon specifies 9 oz (260g).

Hood: HR-2 folding rubber hood.

Nikon Product Number: 1902, in catalog as of spring 2008.

Performance    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

Focusing

AF action is fast! One full turn of the AF screw focuses the lens from infinity to 6.'

Sharpness (on a D3 FX Digital Camera)

As with most 50mm lenses, this is one of Nikon's sharpest lenses.

The 50/1.4 D is sharp at every aperture. It loses a little local contrast at f/1.4, but by f/2 it's great in the center. The full-frame corners have some coma and softness at f/1.4, and they are also perfect by f/4, even on test charts.

This comes from the spherical aberration common to all conventional 50mm f/1.4 lenses. Stop it down a little, and all that is left is perfection.

Lateral Color Fringes

The 50/1.4 D has no lateral color fringes on the D3.

Distortion

It has the typical mild to moderate barrel distortion of all Nikon's 50mm f/1.4 lenses.

Plug these figures into Photoshop CS2's lens distortion filter to correct the distortion. These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires a lot of data collection and computation.

© 2007 KenRockwell.com

Construction

Barrel: Plastic.

Filter Threads: Plastic.

Focus Ring: Plastic covered in ribbed rubber.

Focus Window: Plastic.

Aperture Ring: Plastic.

Markings: Paint.

Internals: I can't see, I presume plenty of metal.

Mount: Metal.

Serial Number: Laser engraved into bottom of aperture ring. US versions are prefixed with "US" with no space between US and the digits.

Made in: China since about the year 2000. The earlier ones were made in Japan.

Recommendations    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

This is a great lens. It's one of the sharpest and fastest lenses made by Nikon, and it's reasonably priced. I shoot it all the time on my D3.

I keep a 52mm Nikon NC filter and Nikon HR-2 rubber hood on it for protection.

If you want an ultra-sharp, ultra-portable lens for use in daylight and are on a budget, the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D has the same image quality when stopped down an extra stop. Unlike the 85mm f/1.8 vs. f/1.4 question (where the f/1.4 costs three times as much and is made three times as solidly) I see no such difference in these 50mm lenses.

If you want to shoot in available light on a $5,000 camera, of course get this f/1.4 version.