11:15 Like most older Nikkors (which don't have floating mechanisms), at full aperture the lens performs better at short distances, typical for portraits (ratio 1: 30, 1: 20, 2 meters approx for the 50), the bokeh is soft at short distances (close up shots), but at medium and long distances it becomes quite nervous (this is due to the overcorrected spherical aberration at infinity, which changes radically at f2, where the aberration becomes undercorrected=soft bokeh). And it is super sharp from f2 upwards, at f5.6 it's similar to the Micro Nikkor 55 . At f1,4, 2 and 2,8, (despite the glow at f1,4) the Ais it's sharper than the modern AF-S 50 f1.4 version (but the modern has better contrast, flare control and bokeh) The spherical aberration at f1.4, mid/long distances, is super noticeable, and it's strange that a much older lens (the Nikkor 5.8ms f1.4) does not have as much. It's a matter of design, the old one has 2 glasses before the achromatic doublet (4 elements in front of the diaphragm, vs 3 in the case of the Ais), that makes the curvature of each lens less than the curvature of the single front lens of the 50 Ais. The older one has less spherical aberration fully open, but a huuge, ugly coma and curvature. I imagine that change was due to economic reasons (and better coma control); the 50 1.4 Ais would be a remarkable lens without that bluish/reddish glow at maximum aperture.
Oh wow! Thanks for the very detailed comment. :-) You seem to have really a lot of knowledge about lens design. Your explanations describe the "why" of what I just have observed empirically. At one point in future I want to test the AF-S Version with the same method and compare both lenses. I will keep your comment definitely in mind for that test. :D
Thanks! I also like the Nikon very much. At the moment I continue with the 50mm series, but the Nikon is my keeper, yet. Especially with the FM2 it is a soo good film photography combo. 😎
Worth mentioning the ai has a long focus throw over the ai-s which as you noted is short. Also I must of had a poor ai example but the older non ai version I have had less purple fringing and chromatic aberration also wide open it was better in the centre imo but the corners were a lot worse.
Thanks for the info. 😃 I am curious about the pre ai lenses, because I thought ai and AI-S are pretty equal, but as you say, it is very likely that some changes were made between generations. The question of having bad lenses of one type is also bothering me. Because i never know if my test lens is representative or at the edge of quality control from 40 years ago. 😅
Excellent, Manu. Whilst I don't own this particular version of the Nikon F1.4 (I have a digital iteration), I do possess the 85mm F1.4; obviously, slightly longer focal length, but the performance is unparalleled, whether using my old F4 or my D850. Fantastic critique - subscribed !
Good video, comprehensive test, I have just bought this lens for FM2 , found it works on D610 and D850 . But no metering on film F80 which is a surprise.
Thank you and Gratulation for your new lens. The 50mm ai-s + FM2 is my personal favourite for film photography. I have no personal experiences with digital Nikons. Maybe some day… 🤪😉
Great job going deep and reviewing this lens! :) I would really like to try these Nikon vintage lenses on my Nikon Zf, but unfortunately that Nikon adapter is for me personally too high priced to just buy and play around with vintage lenses :D (currently only have two Z primes for the Zf). Also my kids are too fast for manually focusing :D But would be interesting, since the Nikon Zf still has object recognition even on manual focus.
😊 thanks! I heard a lot of good stuff about Nikon and the adaptation of old Nikon vintage lenses. On the Sony it is a little annoying because the only precise enough way is to use the magnifier and then I loose the overview of the frame and I always have to toggle between normal - first and second magnification level. But the efficiency with manual focussing is really only training. At the moment I shoot almost everything with vintage glasses and my hit rate is quiet high. Of course not as fast and accurate as the Sony AF, but I get my images done. Even with children. 😅😪
Thank you! I'am used in the Minoltas lenses but I own a Nikon FM3a with a 50 f1.8 and I wander if the f1.4 was much better , what do you think It is worth changing it to the f1.4 ?
This should be strongly depending on which 50mm 1.8 you have. There is the Series E, which should be very bad, but there is also a pancake version, which was only made for the japanese market and this is at least on par, maybe also a little better wide open. But the 50mm 1.4 is a really good lens. Still my favourite and the FM3a is a great camera. As a matter of fact I am just working on a video to the japanese version, so stay tuned. It will be released somewhen in the next 2-3 weeks. :)
Wich lense is sharper al f1.4 the Nikon 50mm ai or the Canon fd 50mm? I bought the canon because from a recent test that I saw the Nikon seems not actually f1.4, in this test the nikon 50mm f1.4 ai was compared with the newer version nikon 50mm f1.4d, the older lens was darker (maybe f1.8 - 2 its real value) but it was sharper than the new d version. So it would be a very interesting test between Nikon and Canon
Your comments about the difference between wide open compared to f/5.6 for landscapes were a good message here. You get a character lens at f/1.4 and and a clinical one stopped down.
Hi mark, 🙋🏻♂️ Thanks for your comment. You are the first one I „know“ from their own videos on TH-cam who finds the way into my comments. 😁☺️ Yes, as far as I have tested 50mm lenses yet they all have their own characteristics wide open and Become all very good/flawless at some point. But it always depends on what you want to achieve. 😄
I think the f1.4 may be extremely useful at night. I am gonna get the lens anyway when I get my new camera, just because the used market for these old lenses is truly amazing in my eyes. I do astrophotography and a lens like this would be perfect for getting the landscape at night time when it is pitch black outside We dont use auto focus in astrophotography anyway so thats why i want all these old lenses
I am not deep into astro photography, so i did not tested the aberrations of these lenses in night photography with stars. But i would be interested how your experiences will be with this lens. :)
I am also pretty interested in the voigtlander F- and Z-Mount lenses. But they are a little pricy and I have a couple of other projects (also non YT ones) to handle at the moment. :) So... someday maybe :D
This AIS version came to the market in 1981, so it cannot be used from 60’s thru the 80’s. The non-AI and the AI version (from 1977 on) could be used from the 60’s thru 80’s.
안녕하세요, my Korean is most certainly worse than your English. ;-) No, the Nikor AI-S series is too modern for radioactive Glases. Those were used in the much older Pentax m42 lenses for example.
A better Nikon f-Mount 50mm is the 50mm f/1.8 AIS Japan version made in 1980 thru 1982. Special version for Japan users who like better optics then the f/1.4 versions, much lighter 145-160g, all-metal construction, with only the focus ring has a rubber ring. More expensive to acquire, because the Japanese sellers know the quality difference.
Hi again, 😉 That is really interesting! I am not yet so deep Into the Nikon system, since I was always a canon guy. 🤪 at the moment I am happy with the 1.4, but I will keep an eye open for the 1.8 Japanese version. 👍
My First Nikkor in 1989! Love the look, size and feel!
11:15 Like most older Nikkors (which don't have floating mechanisms), at full aperture the lens performs better at short distances, typical for portraits (ratio 1: 30, 1: 20, 2 meters approx for the 50), the bokeh is soft at short distances (close up shots), but at medium and long distances it becomes quite nervous (this is due to the overcorrected spherical aberration at infinity, which changes radically at f2, where the aberration becomes undercorrected=soft bokeh).
And it is super sharp from f2 upwards, at f5.6 it's similar to the Micro Nikkor 55 . At f1,4, 2 and 2,8, (despite the glow at f1,4) the Ais it's sharper than the modern AF-S 50 f1.4 version (but the modern has better contrast, flare control and bokeh)
The spherical aberration at f1.4, mid/long distances, is super noticeable, and it's strange that a much older lens (the Nikkor 5.8ms f1.4) does not have as much. It's a matter of design, the old one has 2 glasses before the achromatic doublet (4 elements in front of the diaphragm, vs 3 in the case of the Ais), that makes the curvature of each lens less than the curvature of the single front lens of the 50 Ais. The older one has less spherical aberration fully open, but a huuge, ugly coma and curvature. I imagine that change was due to economic reasons (and better coma control); the 50 1.4 Ais would be a remarkable lens without that bluish/reddish glow at maximum aperture.
Oh wow! Thanks for the very detailed comment. :-) You seem to have really a lot of knowledge about lens design. Your explanations describe the "why" of what I just have observed empirically.
At one point in future I want to test the AF-S Version with the same method and compare both lenses. I will keep your comment definitely in mind for that test. :D
Cool video about one of my favourite lenses! 🙂
Thanks!
I also like the Nikon very much. At the moment I continue with the 50mm series, but the Nikon is my keeper, yet. Especially with the FM2 it is a soo good film photography combo. 😎
Worth mentioning the ai has a long focus throw over the ai-s which as you noted is short. Also I must of had a poor ai example but the older non ai version I have had less purple fringing and chromatic aberration also wide open it was better in the centre imo but the corners were a lot worse.
Thanks for the info. 😃 I am curious about the pre ai lenses, because I thought ai and AI-S are pretty equal, but as you say, it is very likely that some changes were made between generations.
The question of having bad lenses of one type is also bothering me. Because i never know if my test lens is representative or at the edge of quality control from 40 years ago. 😅
Excellent, Manu. Whilst I don't own this particular version of the Nikon F1.4 (I have a digital iteration), I do possess the 85mm F1.4; obviously, slightly longer focal length, but the performance is unparalleled, whether using my old F4 or my D850. Fantastic critique - subscribed !
Thanks for the subscription and you for the compliment, Andrew. 😄
Avec plaisir, Manu 🙂
Good video, comprehensive test, I have just bought this lens for FM2 , found it works on D610 and D850 . But no metering on film F80 which is a surprise.
Thank you and Gratulation for your new lens. The 50mm ai-s + FM2 is my personal favourite for film photography.
I have no personal experiences with digital Nikons. Maybe some day… 🤪😉
Great job going deep and reviewing this lens! :)
I would really like to try these Nikon vintage lenses on my Nikon Zf, but unfortunately that Nikon adapter is for me personally too high priced to just buy and play around with vintage lenses :D (currently only have two Z primes for the Zf).
Also my kids are too fast for manually focusing :D
But would be interesting, since the Nikon Zf still has object recognition even on manual focus.
😊 thanks!
I heard a lot of good stuff about Nikon and the adaptation of old Nikon vintage lenses.
On the Sony it is a little annoying because the only precise enough way is to use the magnifier and then I loose the overview of the frame and I always have to toggle between normal - first and second magnification level.
But the efficiency with manual focussing is really only training. At the moment I shoot almost everything with vintage glasses and my hit rate is quiet high. Of course not as fast and accurate as the Sony AF, but I get my images done. Even with children. 😅😪
Thank you! I'am used in the Minoltas lenses but I own a Nikon FM3a with a 50 f1.8 and I wander if the f1.4 was much better , what do you think It is worth changing it to the f1.4 ?
This should be strongly depending on which 50mm 1.8 you have. There is the Series E, which should be very bad, but there is also a pancake version, which was only made for the japanese market and this is at least on par, maybe also a little better wide open. But the 50mm 1.4 is a really good lens. Still my favourite and the FM3a is a great camera.
As a matter of fact I am just working on a video to the japanese version, so stay tuned. It will be released somewhen in the next 2-3 weeks. :)
@@manugeee thanks , yes the .45m MDF only for Japan , maybe the 50 F1.8 D will be a good choice , it is chinese , plast but the same optics.?
Wich lense is sharper al f1.4 the Nikon 50mm ai or the Canon fd 50mm?
I bought the canon because from a recent test that I saw the Nikon seems not actually f1.4, in this test the nikon 50mm f1.4 ai was compared with the newer version nikon 50mm f1.4d, the older lens was darker (maybe f1.8 - 2 its real value) but it was sharper than the new d version.
So it would be a very interesting test between Nikon and Canon
Hard to say at f1.4 both are pretty soft at f1.4. I would say the canon is a little sharper in direct comparison.
Your comments about the difference between wide open compared to f/5.6 for landscapes were a good message here. You get a character lens at f/1.4 and and a clinical one stopped down.
Hi mark, 🙋🏻♂️
Thanks for your comment. You are the first one I „know“ from their own videos on TH-cam who finds the way into my comments. 😁☺️
Yes, as far as I have tested 50mm lenses yet they all have their own characteristics wide open and Become all very good/flawless at some point. But it always depends on what you want to achieve. 😄
I think the f1.4 may be extremely useful at night.
I am gonna get the lens anyway when I get my new camera, just because the used market for these old lenses is truly amazing in my eyes. I do astrophotography and a lens like this would be perfect for getting the landscape at night time when it is pitch black outside
We dont use auto focus in astrophotography anyway so thats why i want all these old lenses
I am not deep into astro photography, so i did not tested the aberrations of these lenses in night photography with stars. But i would be interested how your experiences will be with this lens. :)
The aesthetics is similar to those Voightlander SLii-S Nikon F - mount lenses. I think they have a 90mm, 58mm, 40mm and 28mm.
I am also pretty interested in the voigtlander F- and Z-Mount lenses. But they are a little pricy and I have a couple of other projects (also non YT ones) to handle at the moment. :) So... someday maybe :D
Nikon has their EDG Binoculars. Is this lens the same quality 🤔
This AIS version came to the market in 1981, so it cannot be used from 60’s thru the 80’s. The non-AI and the AI version (from 1977 on) could be used from the 60’s thru 80’s.
Hi Alberte, 🙋🏻♂️
I think, I was referring to the Mount itself and not on the period of the lens itself.
But what you say, is of course correct. 😁👍
@@manugeee f-Mount lenses are used from 1959 upto today. Nikon still sell F-Mount lenses in 2023, not many …
Nice. Always found the Pentax-M 50 1.4 better than the Nikkor, but the nikkor is definitely sexy.
I could also not choose between both. Actually I am reducing my camera collection significantly and I could not let the Pentax nor the Nikon go. 🤨
Thank you for your video! I am Korean, so I am sorry for my poor English. Is this lens radioactive?
안녕하세요, my Korean is most certainly worse than your English. ;-)
No, the Nikor AI-S series is too modern for radioactive Glases. Those were used in the much older Pentax m42 lenses for example.
@@manugeee Thank you! Your videos are really great!!
@@uservs0201, thank you very much. 😊
A better Nikon f-Mount 50mm is the 50mm f/1.8 AIS Japan version made in 1980 thru 1982. Special version for Japan users who like better optics then the f/1.4 versions, much lighter 145-160g, all-metal construction, with only the focus ring has a rubber ring. More expensive to acquire, because the Japanese sellers know the quality difference.
Hi again, 😉
That is really interesting! I am not yet so deep Into the Nikon system, since I was always a canon guy. 🤪 at the moment I am happy with the 1.4, but I will keep an eye open for the 1.8 Japanese version. 👍
BTW lens rotations no problem for a established Nikon user 😂
Yes, only for everyone else. 😂
My First Nikkor in 1989! Love the look, size and feel!
My First Nikkor in 1989! Love the look, size and feel!
I know what you mean. 😄
You never forget your first time.
Pure pleasure!
Muahahahahaha!