Camera Labs

Is Gordon going to be doing a review of this lens for the site?

It looks like a nice little budget prime.

I'm looking at the sample images at full size and bokeh looks very good at F/1.8, less nervous than that of the 35mm F/1.8 at the same focal ratio; which is good news, particularly for DX shooters planning to use it for portraits.

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Nikon D90 | AF-S 18-200 VR II | AF-S 35mm f/1.8 | Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 | SB-600 | Gorillapod + Manfrotto 484RC2

(advice: use the 35mm at F/2.0,the bokeh is better compared to F/1.8)

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

Thanks for the tip Razvan! I was already aware bokeh improves when stopping down a little, in fact it looks great at F2.8!

It's good news though that in this new lens it already looks good wide open.

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Nikon D90 | AF-S 18-200 VR II | AF-S 35mm f/1.8 | Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 | SB-600 | Gorillapod + Manfrotto 484RC2

I hope to publish some results from one in the future, and I believe Thomas will too...

Some further observations:
The 1.8G focuses clearly faster than the 1.4G. I'd assume (as I have no timing-device) about 1/3 faster.
The focus ring of the 1.4G turns about 180° from infinity to 45cm, the 1.8G turns about 90°. But still the short throw of the 1.8G is good enough for manual focusing (in live-view), although the longer throw of the 1.4G makes it more comfortable.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Some other images from this weekend shot at f/2.0. You can judge sharpness (look at the plaque), behaviour against stark contra-light, and oof-gradation (the palm-tree). Enjoy!


Schneeburg 30260 by Thomas, on Flickr


Palm Tree 30211 by Thomas, on Flickr

Developed in CaptureNX 2 at standard settings. Click through the images to have a look at the original resolution.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Lately, Nikon seems stubborn to remind us why primes should be loved...

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Nikon D90 | AF-S 18-200 VR II | AF-S 35mm f/1.8 | Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 | SB-600 | Gorillapod + Manfrotto 484RC2

I'm shooting less and less with zooms. I have one with me just in case, but normally use a prime.
And the DX 35/1.8G plus 50/1.8G are premier examples of what you can achieve technically at a very good price.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

A focus test under dim light (2-3EV = 1/8-1/15 sec at ISO 1600 and f/2.0) on a contrasty test-target showed no hunting with the 50/1.8G or 50/1.4G whatsoever, neither coming from infinity nor from MFD. 1 out of 10 tests ended with a slight stutter, but that was towards the target, no overshooting.
Focus accuracy will be tested later...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

There is some speculation on the existence of an aspheric element in the 1.8G and absence from the 1.4G. My take on this is the following:
Nikon tries to make the 1.8G shine in the sharpness-department because this is what is most widely tested and reported. And in this respect Nikon seems to have succeeded.
But the downside of using an aspheric might show up in the bokeh and in transmission (the latter because cheap aspheric elements might be made from less transmissive materials).
This is purely speculative until I have discovered the evidence. But I'll be looking closely!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Perhaps not very field-relevant, but so you know: The lens has some field-curvature that makes it necessary to stop down to f/2.8 on a D300 body to capture center and corners of a flat target in comparable resolution.
In practice this effect makes it necessary for me to shoot two series of test-shots for my Siemens-Star targets: one with focus on the center and one with focus on the corner.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

In case you wonder what the difference is between f/1.8 and f/2.0 on the new Nikon 50/1.8G, here you are:
Left=1.8, right=2.0, second group with a slightly changed focus. You can see a slight increase in contrast and sharpness.
These are 100% crops from near the center.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I would call that something more than a slightly increase & it's the same for my 35mm,it shines at F/2.0 but at F/1.8 it's less sharp & the bokeh is quite ugly.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

I've added another shot above with focus a tad further away. You can see the red tinge (axial color / longitudinal CA) that indicates that the test-subject is just a little in front of the focal plane.
Surprisingly sharpness seems to increase just a bit in the f/1.8 shot (left) and the difference in contrast and sharpness between f/1.8 and f/2.0 seems slightly smaller than with the previous shot.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses