NIKON AF-S Nikkor 50mm f / 1.8G Lens

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For many years, 50mm primes (or ‘nifty fifties’) were sold as general-purpose lenses with 35mm film cameras, but they fell out of favour for a few decades. Recently, however, there has been a resurgence in their popularity for use with APS-C format DSLRs. They tend to be small, light and relatively cheap, yet very sharp, and perfect for shooting portraits. So, while the emphasis may be placed on the inclusion of an aspherical element, there are a number of other small changes that should significantly improve the performance of the new 50mm f/1.8G lens. Build and handling The Nikon AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens is the lightest 500mm full-frame telephoto prime lens; weighing just 1.46kg, it is lighter than most 150-600mm zoom lenses – light enough to shoot with handheld. The Vibration Reduction system gives 4-stops of stabilisation. This makes the AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR highly attractive, and as we noted in our review, it’s an excellent lens all-around. Vibration Reduction (optical image stabilisation), an electromagnetic diaphragm, a 5x zoom and the aforementioned generous maximum aperture, all wrapped up in a lightweight body make it impressive. Our AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR test results showed good centre sharpness, with some expected drop-off in the corners, especially at large apertures.

The Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G is an affordable prime lens for Nikon’s range of FX and DX format DSLRs, and as an AF-S model, it’ll autofocus on any Nikon body. The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lenses: Top Left: AF-D. Top right: the new G series. Bottom left: original AF. Bottom right: manual E series In addition, the AF-S motor gives the ability to use autofocus with a manual focus override, which you cannot do on any of the AF-D prime lenses. Just like the older AF-D cousin, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G also has Super Integrated Coating, which helps reduce lens flare and ghosting. The lens is designed to work on both Nikon FX and DX sensors, although it is certainly better suited on FX sensors for everyday photography. On DX sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 75mm lens, which is perfect for portraiture, but a little too long for other types of photography. The lens retains the 7-blade diaphragm, which can result in heptagon-shaped bokeh at large apertures above f/2 (see bokeh examples below). NIKON D5100 + 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm, ISO 100, 1/125, f/8.0 A discontinued lens that can still be acquired at a good price second-hand, the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR delivers unparalleled versatility for a Nikon DSLR user. It’s one of the few superzoom lenses that’s compatible with full-frame. Does it deliver the kind of optical quality you get from Nikon’s prime lenses? No, of course not – but it does pretty well across the entire zoom range, and you won’t have any problem shooting dynamic, striking images with it.Lateral CA is extremely low, with almost no visible fringing. As on DX, the measured CA in the centre of the frame at F1.4 reveals a degree of color-specific spherical aberration, but rather lower than the old 'D' lens The Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED was introduced in 2007, and is quite simply a beautiful feat of optical engineering. It delivers images of outstanding sharpness thanks to its extra-low dispersion elements and the Nano Crystal Coating and Super Integrated Coating that have been added. It’s also weather-sealed, and the constant aperture of f/2.8 enables real creative freedom. If it bothers you, it cleans right up from film scans or FX digital with a value of +1.4 in PhotoShop CS2's Lens Distortion Correction Filter.

Processing was done in CaptureNX2 at standard settings, with white-balance adjusted to a neutral white and some exposure compensation to make the brightness match. CA-removal is ON. Focus was achieved as usual live-view based with a little optimization by hand and it was done separate for the center and the corners because the lens has slight field curvature. But I’d doubt that this is field-relevant.

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This is Nikon's first new optical design for a 50mm f/1.8 lens since 1978. Previous lenses used 6 spherical elements. Lateral chromatic aberration is, as expected of a double Gauss type standard prime, pretty well negligible with this lens. If you go looking for it towards the edge of the frame you'll find it, but it's rarely going to spoil an image in any way (and of course most current Nikon DSLRs remove it in JPEG processing anyway). The sample below shows just how little fringing you'll see in normal use, even when looking at output from the 24Mp D3X at 100% (if anything this is testament more to the camera's resolution than a failing of the lens). Unlike previous f/1.8 editions, the ‘STM’ model has a stepping motor autofocus system that gives speedy yet quiet operation. The focus ring no longer rotates during autofocus, which improves handling, as well as enabling manual override in Single AF mode.