High ISO performance makes fast lenses less attractive?

[healyzh]

I don't know about less attractive but it certainly makes them a little less necessary ... really fast glass is never cheap and it's nice to know that f2 is as fast as I'll ever need with my D700. It surprises me that a manufacturer like Nikon goes to such lengths to give us a DSLR that is perfectly usable at ISO 6400 and then tries to sell us f1.4 lenses that make the body seem like a bargain.

Nikon are obviously well aware that the photography world is full of bokeh freaks! 😀

While I don't have a Nikon FX body yet, I view the 50mm f/1.4 AF as the one "must have" lens when I do get one. I have the 50 f/1.8 AF, but I want to maximize my shallow DOF (I also have 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.8 MF lenses).

As for Nikon being aware the world is full of bokeh freaks, I'd beg to differ. Canon and Voigtlander are aware of it, as is Leica. Nikon is only offering one lens faster than f/1.4, and that is the antique 50mm f/1.2 MF lens. Canon on the other hand has several AF f/1.2 lenses including their truly drool-worthy 85mm f/1.2.

 

[maddoc]

Bokeh is cringe-worthy to me and I make no qualms about saying it. I will never use it and i'm just a humble amateur.

You eventually know the difference between the terms "bokeh" and "shallow depth-of-field" ? 😀😉

 

[jonmanjiro]

As for Nikon being aware the world is full of bokeh freaks, I'd beg to differ. Canon and Voigtlander are aware of it, as is Leica. Nikon is only offering one lens faster than f/1.4, and that is the antique 50mm f/1.2 MF lens. Canon on the other hand has several AF f/1.2 lenses including their truly drool-worthy 85mm f/1.2.

Of course Nikon is aware that the world is full of bokeh freaks. Have you seen any results from the new AF-S 85/1.4G or AF-S 35/1.4G? Gorgeous smooth backgrounds!

There's no faster lenses from Nikon because its not physically possible with the current F-mount. Take a look at the rear element of an Ai-S 50/1.2 and you'll see that part of the glass edge is exposed. They're already pushing the limits with this manual focus lens. There's no way they're going to cram AF in there and still maintain the same lens speed. You're never going to see an AF lens faster than f/1.4 from Nikon unless they change the mount, and that's not likely for quite a while.

 

[ampguy]

I would

I would

feel limited if I had only a top speed of 1/1000, but with the M8 (original) 1/8000, it allows wide open in most daylight conditions (past couple of summers for me) without needing ND filters.

With high ISO performance improving very rapidly in digital cameras, do you feel the demand for expensive and heavy fast lenses would be diminished?

Or bokeh shots justify the price and weight of fast lenses?

 

[Krosya]

But, how could it be creative when you already know exactly what you gonna get? Its like being creative in a production line... you know if you shoot a certain thing at a certain f stop you get a certain look. You can do hundreds of it and it will look pretty much the same.

In a bokeh shot there is too much of the photographer in the picture as if saying, "hey look at me, i have a fast lens and i like bokeh".

Seriously? With a fast lens wide open you ALWAYS know what you will get? How bokeh/OOF will look? I beg to differ! Depending on light, type of background your bokeh will look different. Yet with a slow lens - that is something you can always predict, just like assembly line - everything will be in-focus!. IMO fast lens IS more creative tool than a slow one.

 

[robklurfield]

Roger, I'm told that many women (and even some men) prefer a man with a large front element.

We're stuffing our Thanksgiving turkey with bokeh-nuts. Yum. Tasty. That's what you miss by living on the wrong side of the pond. Instead, you get to enjoy Marmite.

It seems logical that higher ISO will reduce the demand for fast lenses, but then again, we all know how much logic counts for in this business. My suspicion is that demand for fast lenses will be kept alive in three ways:

First, 'available darkness'. I've shot ISO 2500 at 1 second at f/1 = 1/10 at ISO 25000 and f/1 = 1/10 second at f/2 at ISO 100,000.

Second, bokeh-nuts

Third, those who judge a lens's quality by the size of its front element

Cheers,

R.

 

[Keith]

Roger, I'm told that many women (and even some men) prefer a man with a large front element.

We're stuffing our Thanksgiving turkey with bokeh-nuts. Yum. Tasty. That's what you miss by living on the wrong side of the pond. Instead, you get to enjoy Marmite.

The words Marmite and enjoy should never appear in the same sentence Rob!

😀

 

[dyao]

I like slower glass because you get a lens that is smaller, better corrected, cheaper, and less conspicuous, and oftentimes better optically in the range I shoot at (f4-f11). I only have one f1.4 lens and I only use it when I know I'll be shooting in near darkness - otherwise I hate to use it because it's so big. If you could make a 1600 ISO film that looked like a 400 ISO film I'll be your first customer.

 

[dyao]

I remember that William Albert Allard carried around 3 50's: a 2, a 1.4, and a 1. That was because he only shot Kodachrome.