Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikkor Test Review (c) KenRockwell.com

Introduction

This lens was just replaced by the very similiar AF 50mm f/1.8D in 2002.

This was Nikon's least expensive lens selling new at about $90, and was also probably one of the best. It was made in China when it was discontinued in 2002..

It was made continuously since about 1985. I have not yet seen the new "D" lens which I presume is probably almost identical.

Photodo.com rates no other Nikon lens as sharper. Here's the report (Photodo accidentally has a photo of the 1.4 lens posted with that report)

It is unchanged since 1990. It is not a "D" lens, which is a meaningless feature anyway. In fact, the lack of this pointless feature means a great low price for you.

The very first version introduced in 1986 had a nasty hard thin focus ring and a plastic window through which the focussing scale was displayed.

Filter threads are just plastic, which is fine for an inexpensive lens like this.

This lens appears to have the same build quality as the three-times more expensive f/1.4. This f/1.8 probably has better performance than the f/1.4 since the distortion is probably lower.

Specifications

This lens has six elements in five groups.

It focusses down to 0.45 meters or 1.5 feet.

It takes 52mm filters and the HR-2 hood.

It weighs only 5 oz. or 155g.

It's 2.6" (65mm) around by 1.7" (43mm) long.

It has a seven-bladed diaphragm and stops down to f/22.

Performance

AF action is really fast on an F100. One full turn of the AF screw focusses the lens from infinity to 6.'

Although it appears multicoated and has a very simple design it has more ghosting than most other Nikkor lenses. Watch it if you have the sun in your image.

The autofocus seems completely accurate on an F100, so shoot away at f/1.8 all you want.

Here's the performance by aperture:

f/1.8: some light falloff. Some coma in the corners and a little less contrast all around seemingly due to spherical aberration
f/2.8: almost no falloff and the coma seems to be gone. Sharp all over
f/4: no falloff. Very sharp all over
f/5.6: great, same as at f/4

Bokeh is fairly nice. It's better than a $10,000 400mm f/2.8 AF-I.

Even without the stupid "D" feature fill flash and metering work flawlessly on an F100. The "D" feature only is for people who insist on making flash photos directly into mirrors. Otherwise the "D" means nothing.

Recommendations

Buy one. In spite of its Chinese manufacture it's better made than any discount lenses you might be considering at this price. I'm personally not a fan of the 50mm focal length, but if you are, this lens is the best bargain there is on a great lens.

In case you are new to photography, let me emphasize that this $90 lens is as sharp and over twice as sensitive to dim light as the $1,500 28-70mm AF-S lens. The reason to spend sixteen times as much is for no other reason than to get a lens that can zoom instead of you having to move forward and back to compose your image.

If you need super sharpness and a fast aperture than choose this over a zoom at the same price. This lens makes almost no compromises in image quality; it is inexpensive because it is both a very simple lens to make and few people want them today. A $90 zoom lens has to cut many corners in image quality that this 50mm doesn't.

In spite of my bellyaching I have found that as the decades pass that gear is more and more cheaply made, and it continues to work better and better.