Chris101
summicronia
In another thread, there is a discussion of the 50mm f/2 AIS and 50mm f/1.8 AFD lenses for Nikon SLR cameras. Since I have both of those lenses, I did a comparison of them for bokey and sharpness at f/2 and f/5.6. Here are those comparisons:
50mm f/2 Ai at f/2 full frame
50mm f/2 Ai at f/2 detail
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50mm f/1.8D AF at f/2 full frame
50mm f/1.8D AF at f/2 detail
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50mm f/2 Ai at f/5.6 full frame
50mm f/2 Ai at f/5.6 detail
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50mm f/1.8D AF at f/5.6 full frame
50mm f/1.8D AF at f/5.6 detail
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Interested readers should draw their own conclusions.
50mm f/2 Ai at f/2 full frame
50mm f/2 Ai at f/2 detail
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50mm f/1.8D AF at f/2 full frame
50mm f/1.8D AF at f/2 detail
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50mm f/2 Ai at f/5.6 full frame
50mm f/2 Ai at f/5.6 detail
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50mm f/1.8D AF at f/5.6 full frame
50mm f/1.8D AF at f/5.6 detail
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Interested readers should draw their own conclusions.
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Ranchu
Veteran
Excellent test, Chris, thank you very much for this. I like the colors of the f2, but the AF sure is sharper.
Benjamin Marks
Veteran
Chris: I can see differences in the OOF areas (white board frame etc.) in the wide-open shots, but not much else. What to the full-res files show you?
Ben
Ben
ampguy
Veteran
AIS version has better bokeh.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I didn't know there was a 50mm f2 AF-Nikkor. Do you mean the 50mm/1.8 AF Nikkor?
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
There was not even a f/2 AI-S - the f/2 was only made up until AI, and not long into that until it was superseded by the f/1.8.
filmfan
Well-known
The 50mm f/1.8 AFD is my most used lens.
Chris101
summicronia
Oops, yep, that is what I meant. I was just copying and pasting too fast. Fortunately the legend gets the dats right from the Exif, so the line across the bottom of each picture is correct. I'll go fix my text now!
Chris101
summicronia
To my eye Ben, the f/2 (Ai - I was told it was an S when I got it, but how does one tell) is slightly sharper at f/2, while the f/1.8 barely edges it out at f/5.6.
Bokey-wise, the f/1.8 seems to have more prominent 'ring edges' to blur circles at f/2. One thing I did notice is that the manual focus f/2 lens is slightly longer than the f/1.8 AF lens.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
AI-S lenses have the smallest aperture marked in orange on both aperture scales, while AI has a mix of colours on the main scale and white throughout for the small through-the-finder index scale. Besides, AI-S has a few extra notches and ridges on the mount.
Chris101
summicronia
Thank you Sevo! That makes it easy.
Ranchu
Veteran
Not complaining, I do appreciate the pictures. I just noticed the wide open pics are focused at different distances. Looking at the hair on the top of the 'head' on the wide open shots.
Just a heads up.
Just a heads up.
Chris101
summicronia
Thanks Ranchu,
I used manual focus and the upper left focus point to focus on the caliper dial in all of the shots, with the green dot of the D2x as the "in focus" indicator. If that lead to a different focal plane, then I guess that is also part of the data. I will look at this more closely should it be a problem with my normal shooting. (This testy-westy stuff is not something I enjoy spending a lot of time doing - it's too much like work.)
I used manual focus and the upper left focus point to focus on the caliper dial in all of the shots, with the green dot of the D2x as the "in focus" indicator. If that lead to a different focal plane, then I guess that is also part of the data. I will look at this more closely should it be a problem with my normal shooting. (This testy-westy stuff is not something I enjoy spending a lot of time doing - it's too much like work.)
Ranchu
Veteran
I'm glad you did, it's helpful to me. I do appreciate you sharing your results!