Old news : the Nikkor 50mm F/1.4D

[herc182]

An example of the F1.4 PF

Awful

[XaiLo]

I heard of the famous 70-200 but it's really confined to outdoors use.
Any pointer?

The 70-200 is well deserving of it's rep. I've used it primarily indoors for years now, you can't go to wide of course but it's still very usable. You can get decent group shots indoors.

[tim11]

XaiLo,

I have no doubt about the reputation of the 70-200. Of course it's in my wishlist.
But, first there is its cost; and second, for my application it can only be used for portrait. (50 mm is sometimes too close for the bridal dance.)

Herc182's example shows exactly what I mean on the PF. What annoys me is the PF shows all along the bride's white dress. LOL. Did someone mention 'Okay if you only do B&W'?

What really got me is the softness at wide. With my 50 1.4D everything below F/2.8 will need a lot of sharpening. If my hands slightly shake or the subject moves a little the shot is useless.

This is from Rod's other thread on the 50 mm 1.8D, no sharpening.

Now the 1.4D costs more and can't even be used at 1.8 or 2.0; I am thinking ebay.

[herc182]

Tim - completely agree with everything you have said!

[tim11]

Tim - completely agree with everything you have said!

Thank you. Not everyday that someone agrees completely with 'everything' I said.

[tim11]

The question now is... should I get the 50 1.8D or 50 1.8G.
The 'D' version is now dirt cheap. I can order one from $107. As for the G it's still in mid 200.

[D70FAN]

The question now is... should I get the 50 1.8D or 50 1.8G.
The 'D' version is now dirt cheap. I can order one from $107. As for the G it's still in mid 200.

Decision made...

D it is.

[tim11]

Decision made...

D it is.

It's on order...
At that price, it's cheaper than from ebay - new or used.

[XaiLo]

Sorry about the late reply, I saw the sample, I actually owned the 50mm 1.8D when I had the the D40 for a while but alas I was too lazy... manual focus was not my forte to say the least, but the image quality was great. I agree, the on PF on the 1.4 suxs. I'll actually pick it up again soon, I want to do some street photography and I think it will fit the bill perfectly now. Enjoy XaiLo

[tim11]

I got the 1.8. It does perform better than the 1.4 at F/1.8. I should have believed it when I read about this somewhere.