Premium 50mm Lenses Compared

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Premium 50mm Lenses Compared
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September 2014 Nikon Canon LEICA Zeiss Sigma All Reviews

Here are the hottest current 50mm DSLR lenses. I also included the inexpensive f/1.8 lenses, as well as the classic Nikon 58mm NOCT and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.0 super lenses just for fun.

	Nikon 58/1.4G	Nikon 50/1.4G	Canon 50/1.2 L	Canon 50/1.0 L	Nikon 58/1.2 NOCT	Zeiss OTUS	Sigma ART	LEICA 50/1.4 ASPH	Nikon 50/1.8G	Nikon 50/1.8D	Canon 50/1.8 II
Fits	Nikon	Nikon	Canon	Canon	Nikon	Nikon, Canon	Nikon, Canon, Sony, Minolta, Sigma	LEICA M	Nikon	Nikon	Canon
Autofocus?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	NO	NO	Yes	NO	Yes	Yes	Yes
Filter size	72mm	58mm	72mm	72mm	52mm	77mm	77mm	46mm	58mm	52mm	52mm
Filter ring	plastic	plastic	plastic	Metal	Metal	Metal?	plastic	Metal	plastic	plastic	plastic
Close focus	2' 0.6m	1.5' 0.45m	1.5' 0.45m	2' 0.6m	1.7' 0.5m	1.1' 0.33m	1.3' 0.4m	2.5' 0.7m	1.5' 0.45m	1.5' 0.45m	1.5' 0.45m
Max Repro	1:7.7	1:6.7	1:6.7	1:9.1	1:6.7	1:6.8	1:5.6	1:11.3	1:6.7	1:6.6	1:6.7
Sharpness, overall	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	VG	E	E	E
Sharpness, corners wide open	E	E	E	G	E	E+	E+	Fair	VG	G	G
Distortion	+2.5	+2.0	+1.4	+1.4	+2.0		0.0	-0.5	+1.7	+0.2	+1.4
Diaphragm	9 rounded	9 rounded	8 rounded	8 conventional	7 or 9 conventional		9 rounded	9 conventional	7 rounded	7 conventional	5 conventional
Sunstars	few	few	few	8 points	14 or 18 points		18 weak points	18 points	14 soft, weak points	14 points	10 points
Bokeh	Excellent	Excellent	Fair	Fair	Very good		fair-good	Excellent	Very good		fair-good
Cote d'amour*	Fair	Good	Excellent	Very good	Very good	Good	Fair	Fair-good	Very good	Very good	Very good
Cachet**	Very good	Good	Excellent	Excellent +	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Excellent	fair	fair	fair
See also***	more comparisons and bokeh comparison	more comparisons and bokeh comparison	Canon 50mm Comparison	more comparisons and Canon 50mm Comparison	more comparisons and bokeh comparison		more comparisons	more comparisons	more comparisons and Nikon 50mm comparison	more comparisons	Canon 50mm Comparison
Weight	13.5 oz. 382 g.	9.8 oz. 278 g.	20.9 oz. 592 g.	35.9 oz. 1,018 g.	16.6 oz. 470 g.	36.3 oz. 1,030 g.	28.5 oz. 809 g.	11.8 - 16.2oz. 335 - 460g	6.6 oz. 185 g.	5.5 oz. 157 g.	4.3 oz. 122 g.
Price, 9/2014	$1,700	$425	$1,550	$4,000 (used)	$3,000 (used)	$4,000	$950	$4,000 - $4,250 $3,000 used	$216	$122	$125

*Cote d'amour: How much I love it when I'm carrying it.

**Cachet: How cool it seems when someone else is carrying it.

***These are links to even more comparisons of similar lenses.

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