50mm Suggestions for my Nikon F3

wibbly

wibbly

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I currently have a 50mm 1.8 (non d) Nikon lens I use on my F3, but the focussing ring isn't particularly smooth in use. It works fine on my digital cameras, but I'm not feeling it for the F3.

I quite fancy looking at the options available options of alternative 50mm Nikon lenses, but not sure which to go for. In an ideal world I'd love the old 50mm 1.2 but with trips away and Christmas looming, that ain't going to happen! I love the look of the older Nikon lenses, the d models still look a bit modern on the classic F3 :)

So, any suggestions for me to consider?
 
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Any of the AI, AI-S or even converted non-AI lenses will all offer excellent manual focusing - the dampening on most of them is superb.

I personally think the f/1.2 offers a weight and size penalty for a relatively small gain in performance - the f/1.4 is the sweet spot for me, and all the classic 50mm f/1.4 are great lenses. Additionally with the wide Nikon family compatibility and ability to use on modern mirrorless cameras with an adapter, they retain their value very well if you wish to chop and change.
 
freecom2 said:
Any of the AI, AI-S or even converted non-AI lenses will all offer excellent manual focusing - the dampening on most of them is superb.

I personally think the f/1.2 offers a weight and size penalty for a relatively small gain in performance - the f/1.4 is the sweet spot for me, and all the classic 50mm f/1.4 are great lenses. Additionally with the wide Nikon family compatibility and ability to use on modern mirrorless cameras with an adapter, they retain their value very well if you wish to chop and change.
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I am referring to the f2 not the f1:1.2 as I think you believe, as I have put in f1.2 and not just f2.:( sorry.

The second hyperlink is the lens,not the first.
 
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How about the Voigtländer Nokton 58mm f/1.4 for something a little 'different'?

I personally use the Nikon 58mm 1.4G, but on a D5 & D850 - a lens with amazing character!!
 
It's a cost thing more than anything else, pick one from the f2, f1.8, f1.4 or f1.2 depending on size of wallet and need to shoot in low light. Optical quality is the same across the range until you start opening the lens up

Keep in mind that if you pick a non-ai lens you'll need to get it converted or use stop down metering.
 
Not a 50mm, but I would recommend a Voigtländer 40mm f2. A real gem, with incredibly smooth operation.
 
Cheers for all the suggestions, going to make a list and check them all out. In an ideal world if I could find a 1.4 Nikon for the right price, I think that's the way I'll go.
 
wibbly said:
if I could find a 1.4 Nikon for the right price, I think that's the way I'll go
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I think you are right, it is at about the sweet spot for sharpness / max aperture / price. The f/1.2 is a lot dearer for somewhat less sharpness wide open. And I like to think that I have the ridiculously fuzzy picture category all to myself, and I can tell you, fuzzy gets you nowhere in the challenges!
 
compulsivehordr said:
I think you are right, it is at about the sweet spot for sharpness / max aperture / price. The f/1.2 is a lot dearer for somewhat less sharpness wide open. And I like to think that I have the ridiculously fuzzy picture category all to myself, and I can tell you, fuzzy gets you nowhere in the challenges!
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[Not having a dig] Sharpness isn't everything :) My Nikon 58 1.4G isn't as sharp as the infamous Sigma 50 1.4 ART, but has way way more character!! Give me my 58mm any day of the week :)
 
The only thing the f/1.2 does better than the (oh so much!) slower options is … f/1.2. Even wide open, the f/1.4 is sharper than the marginally stopped down f/1.2. I found the ultra thin DoF of the f/1.2 more of a hinderance than a help.
 
A Zeiss ZF 50mm f/2 Makro Planar might be a nice option as a general-purpose lens. The 50mm f/1.4 Planar has a bit of barrel distortion, but the Makro is sure to be rectilinear.
 
Nod said:
The only thing the f/1.2 does better than the (oh so much!) slower options is … f/1.2. Even wide open, the f/1.4 is sharper than the marginally stopped down f/1.2. I found the ultra thin DoF of the f/1.2 more of a hinderance than a help.
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I've never had any trouble getting sharp images from my f1.2 at f1.2. It's better than it's slower counterparts at f2 and faster but it's at f2.8 and smaller apertures where it gets bested by the slower alternatives. From my experience, it suffers from massive amounts of coma flare in the third of the image in all corners. The centre two thirds is always capable of being very sharp, provided focus is accurate. Vignetting is very strong and the bokeh in the areas where coma is worst can look a bit weird in certain circumstances.

Unless you really want f1.2 or that extra sharpness at f2 or below, it's not really worth extra outlay vs the slower lenses. I find myself using the 55mm f2.8 micro more often as I don't always need the speed.
 
I spent a while researching my options for F mount 50s after discovering how miserable the focus ring on my 50/1.8D is, came to the following ranking (size/weight was my main priority):

50/1.8 AIS Pancake (the 0.4m focusing version) > 50mm AIS Pancake (0.6m version) > 50mm 1.8 AIS (Long nose version first then all the rest after) > 50mm 1.4 AIS (sweet spot for speed/size) > 50mm 1.2 AIS

I had a look at Zeiss' offerings but the extra £££ didn't seem to translate very well over the Nikon offerings. The Milvus/Otuses are different ballpark though.

This was what I had shortlisted on my eBay searches, but I went for a completely different lens to fill in the normal gap in my F-mount lenses: I went for a 40mm f/2 Voigtlander pancake and I'm super happy with it. Pairs very nicely with the 20mm from them that I also have, 40mm seems just about right for general use. 99% of the time when I spot something I want to take a photo of the 40mm frames it perfectly.
 
wibbly said:
Cheers for all the suggestions, going to make a list and check them all out. In an ideal world if I could find a 1.4 Nikon for the right price, I think that's the way I'll go.
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Honestly you'll be happy with any of them - they are the "standard" prime lens for a reason.

I like a slightly shorter focal length like @FruitFlakes. My go to lens is a Nikon 35mm f/2, which is a better all round focal length for me than the 50mm.

Look forward to seeing your shots in due course (y)
 
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