Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-s.. Any thoughts?

S

semajha

Well-known member
I'm considering on buying this lens for a few reasons... ATM I have a Canon 50mm 1.4 lens but I want buy something that I can use in the future with other camera bodies and still have manual control over everything. Another is that I hear that the focusing on these older lenses are very smooth.

My question is, are these lens worth the price tag? ($700 brand new)
or should I spend my money on another nikkor 50 that's 1.4 instead. How are the optics /IQ in these particular lens compared to the other nikkor lens?
 
Ken Rockwell talks about this lens HERE.
He also does a 50mm lens comparison HERE.
He is reviewing these lenses from a photo standpoint, but I believe there is some good info for us video heads.
 
The older lenses do have better manual focus, but you are sacrificing a fair amount for the money $700 verses $350 for the Canon 50mm f1.4 which is an EXCELLENT lens that has reviewed very well..

1) No autofocus for stills. If you take stills, autofocus can be really nice and fast.
2) Many people cannot get Infinity focus with the adapters.
3) you have to use an adapter. The interfacing is never quite as solid as a lens that's made specifically for the 7D

For more than 2x as much money, maybe wait until the day you have a camera that needs the Nikon lens
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I checked out keh.com and they seem to be going for around 450... And Gene_can_sing, you're right.. $700 is a bit too much for 50mm lens when there's the cannon 50mm 1.4. I didn't know you couldn't focus to infinity.. haven't heard of anyone having that problem with nikkor lens and nikon adapters. Thanks for the tip.
 
I did a bunch of tests comparing 50mm f1.4 and f1.2 for both nikon manuals and canon manual, see for yourself

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1718559#post1718559

of these four lenses I sold both 1.2's and the canon 1.4 and kept the nikon 1.4

3828040040_6316663d83_o.jpg
 
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question...can I use non AI's on my 7D? I don't know much about nikons

Edit: what Nikon lenses Can't be used?
 
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From my understanding, as long as you have a Canon- Nikon adapter, you can use any Nikon lens. They dont have the new/old distinction like the Canons do.
 
xmephestox said:
u should also consider the zeiss 1.4. ze or zf. Incredible optics, still fast. And manual controls.
Click to expand...



Zeiss makes nice glass, but as much as I like the way they feel in hand,
I have never been able to justify the price.

Zeiss lenses are soft around the edges wide open, which for me, makes it much slower to pull focus when the camera is moving even the slightest bit.

If you are tracking a subject wide open, the area of in focusness is much smaller than most. To me that is not good.

Yeah they have great contrast, and look great at F8 locked down,
but many who shoot locked down and at f8, will hate DSLRS.

If you LOVE DSLRS, I can't see how you would like Zeiss for realistic shooting.

Ok , bash me, I don't care. Been there, done that.

There are so many other lenses that you can buy 3 times that are sharper wide open than the Zeiss.

I like to shoot DSLRS from f2-5.6.

Some say with Zeiss, you can throw all of your money into a lens system that will last a life time, that may be true, but if I had $5,000 to drop on gear, I would rather spread it out and replace things as I go, then have a set of Zeiss lenses and nothing else.

Even if I had $15,000 to spend on gear, I can buy some nice wireless mics, several cameras, rails, etc, and finance a short film.

It just doesn't make sense, to me.

Yeah they feel nice, yeah they have a longer throw, Yeah they look great at F8 and F11, but show me a Zeiss lens at F2.8 or F4

Compared to:

A Nikon 28mm F2.8

A Tokina 11-16

Any Canon "L" glass

Other than "Feel", looks or bragging rights, The above will match or surpass
any Zeiss lens I have ever seen (AT F2.0- F4).

Don't get me wrong, I will take any Zeiss lens, you GIVE ME!

I just can't see buying them for a DSLR, it just doesn't look good to me with a moving camera at f2.0- f4.

Ok, now attack me.... :kali:
 
no attacking needed, your entitled to your own perceptual opinion on look. Only real way to prove what's better are full on lens tests. Generally the rule of thumb is that optics get soft wide open, it's just how it is. Some lenses just have to stop down a lot more than others to finally get to its sharp point. With my experience with Zeiss glass, u don't have to go that fair, I've had to deal with a nikon 50 mm once, i believe a 1.4, don't rmemeber when it was made, but it was manual focus and it couldn't get sharp till f4...

But Zeiss has the reputation of beyond sharp optics, great flare resistance, and a quality build. In the end its best to see what aesthetics you like the most because, nikon, canon, zeiss, they all make amazing lenses, with all unique characteristics. If you pit a 50 mm zeiss, with a nikon 1.2, and a canon 1.4 L series, your gonna get very close results along with a lot of things that make you happy but none of them able to do everything.
 
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