Nikon 50mm 1.2 or 1.4

Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED wrote:
Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Nikon makes (made) several lenses that fit that description. In general
a 1.2 lens will be less sharp, and cost more, but will gather a little more
light.

It is sort of like asking if you should buy a cherry or apple pie.
Which ever one works for you.

If you have a special need for every little bit of light gathering
power, go for the 1.2. For most of us the 1.4 would likely be a better
compromise.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED wrote:
Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Nikon makes (made) several lenses that fit that description. In general
a 1.2 lens will be less sharp, and cost more, but will gather a little more
light.

It is sort of like asking if you should buy a cherry or apple pie.
Which ever one works for you.

If you have a special need for every little bit of light gathering
power, go for the 1.2. For most of us the 1.4 would likely be a better
compromise.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"Mike - EMAIL IGNORED" wrote in message
...
Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Check out the 1.2 reviews:
http://www.photographyreview.com/PRD...x.aspx#reviews

The 1.4 reviews are all pretty much gushing, as in I'd take them with a
grain of salt. I have two pre AI 1.4s, and they're both soft at 1.4.
Useable, but soft. I took this shot with it, hand held at 1.4 and 1/15 of a
second:
http://www.shuttercity.com/public/e/...ay%5F01a%2Ejpg

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

"Mike - EMAIL IGNORED" wrote in message
...
Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Check out the 1.2 reviews:
http://www.photographyreview.com/PRD...x.aspx#reviews

The 1.4 reviews are all pretty much gushing, as in I'd take them with a
grain of salt. I have two pre AI 1.4s, and they're both soft at 1.4.
Useable, but soft. I took this shot with it, hand held at 1.4 and 1/15 of a
second:
http://www.shuttercity.com/public/e/...ay%5F01a%2Ejpg

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED wrote:

Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Neither? the 50mm f/1.8 is probably as much as 99% of photogs
need in a normal FFL. Very good lens.

Assuming that you're looking at MF lenses.

f/1.2 is not that much faster than an f/1.4. Distortion is
relatively high. Unless you realy need that tiny bit of speed,
don't bother.

f/1.4 if you really need that extra 1/2 stop, then by all means.
It is sharper than the f/1.8 but not that much. More
distortion than the f/1.8.

The other disadvantages of the f/1.4 is it is comparatively large
v. the f/1.8 ... and 2.5X the price of the f/1.8.

If small size matters you might take a gander at the cult classic
street lens 45mm f/2.8
http://tinyurl.com/4torg - that's a lens, not a lenscap!

In short, the f/1.8 has the least distortion, pretty sharp, more
than fast enough for most uses and brand new is under US$100.00.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED wrote:

Which should I buy? Why?
Thanks,
Mike.

Neither? the 50mm f/1.8 is probably as much as 99% of photogs
need in a normal FFL. Very good lens.

Assuming that you're looking at MF lenses.

f/1.2 is not that much faster than an f/1.4. Distortion is
relatively high. Unless you realy need that tiny bit of speed,
don't bother.

f/1.4 if you really need that extra 1/2 stop, then by all means.
It is sharper than the f/1.8 but not that much. More
distortion than the f/1.8.

The other disadvantages of the f/1.4 is it is comparatively large
v. the f/1.8 ... and 2.5X the price of the f/1.8.

If small size matters you might take a gander at the cult classic
street lens 45mm f/2.8
http://tinyurl.com/4torg - that's a lens, not a lenscap!

In short, the f/1.8 has the least distortion, pretty sharp, more
than fast enough for most uses and brand new is under US$100.00.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED writes:
Which should I buy? Why?

1.8 -- cheap, light, and so sharp my wife won't let me take
pictures of her with it.

Patrick

------------------------------------------------------------------------
S P Engineering, Inc. | The experts in large scale distributed OO
| systems design and implementation.
| (C++, Java, ObjectStore, Oracle, CORBA, UML)

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED writes:
Which should I buy? Why?

1.8 -- cheap, light, and so sharp my wife won't let me take
pictures of her with it.

Patrick

------------------------------------------------------------------------
S P Engineering, Inc. | The experts in large scale distributed OO
| systems design and implementation.
| (C++, Java, ObjectStore, Oracle, CORBA, UML)

Mike - EMAIL IGNORED writes:
Which should I buy? Why?

1.8 -- cheap, light, and so sharp my wife won't let me take
pictures of her with it.

Patrick

------------------------------------------------------------------------
S P Engineering, Inc. | The experts in large scale distributed OO
| systems design and implementation.
| (C++, Java, ObjectStore, Oracle, CORBA, UML)