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The forgotten 50 https://www.yesterdaysweapons.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=14330	Page 1 of 2

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:46 am ]
Post subject:	The forgotten 50
50mm f2 Nikkor. I have several iterations of these~ They tend to come on Nikon camera bodies. This particular one is of the first AI variation, long prong and all. Considered Nikon's workhorse lens for over 40 years, for good reason. 1/125sec at f8, ISO 100. 1/80 sec at f8, ISO 200. Almost distortion free. very slight pinching in the corners, just barely noticeable. 1/250 sec f8, ISO100 1/250 sec f8, ISO 100 Bit of trouble metering this one. Went to spot and read off the mannequin's leg. Came out fine despite the sun setting in the mirror. 1/60 sec f5.6, ISO 200 Dunno if it'll show, but the building in the back ground has lions head's rainwater spouts. 1/250 sec f8, ISO 100. Lineal study. I focused on the 4th pot light fixture from camera position. 1/50 sec f5.6, ISO 100. Super easy lens to use. As a matter of fact, it was an old 50mm that got me started in the first place. A friend loaned me a Pentax K-1000 with an old 50mm 1.7 Super Takumar aboard. It performed similarly to this with a bit better close focus capability. Apparently the old Super Taks are sought after items these days. I'll take the color rendering of the nikkor before anything else in a 50, but that's just me... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	NebrHogger [ Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:59 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
What do you feel is the new "normal" lens? 85mm? SW

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:42 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
The photography landscape is still changing. With the movement towards full frame sensors and mirrorless systems, more cameras are being sold body only. Most DX/APSC cameras have an 18-55mm A/F lens supplied as the "kit " lens. I don't think much of these a/f variable aperture lenses. Trouble starts where manual control is required. The new optical formulas in them are vastly superior to anything from the film era. Apparently Nikon's biggest seller is the a/f 50mm for the "Z" mirrorless system.... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	NebrHogger [ Tue Jul 27, 2021 3:06 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Not to go off topic, but it's not worthy of a separate thread... A friend in Ukraine convinced me to try making kvas = very low alcohol content rye bread beer. Which is almost done per the recipe and ready to be poured into plastic pop bottles. For that I needed a funnel which was in my old dark room/reloading supplies & bulk ammo storage place. While sorting through junk for it, I discovered an old TLR taking 127 film. I think. I finish bottling the kvas, I'll get pics up. SW

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:19 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
The color reproduction on this lens is scarily accurate... It seems to avoid color blending. Vibrant reds tend to slight pastelization in shadow areas. Perhaps backlighting helps a bit in this respect. ISO 125 f8, 1/160 sec. In flat shade lighting, not too bad. It reproduces faded shades quite well. Not quite E/D glass, but it handles just about everything I throw at it. ISO 100, 1/60 sec, f2. It does have a tendency to flare against a direct sun a bit. I think this lens is deserving of a hood in some situations. Maximum close focus is a bit of a surprise- at the minimum focus hard stop, there's a little under 14" to the focal plane... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	A square 10 [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
hard to get "off topic" on our threads these days ..........i still think the 50mm is the norm , but then im not aware of what our phones have as a standard and those are the new standard for most folks what do the pro photographers use ? i think , but am not certain , that a lot of the snap shot cameras of old used a 35mm - like the disposables we used to see at weddings and such

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
The earliest p&s disposable/returnable seen personally was a Hanimex with a 28mm and a fixed f5.6 aperture. There was a similar fuji with a 35mm f8 a bit later on, and likely the most common. All were fixed focus, and took advantage of the relatively high depth of field provided by such wide to semi wide lenses. Most were plastic elements in a single group design... I don't know what the pro's are using these days. They'd probably laugh at my dinosaur D-200 and my stable of manual focus film camera lenses. I suspect the fast 50mm auto focus to be in demand yet for the get up in a hurry shooting that most journalistic situations require. Apparently some of the ED glassed short to medium auto focus zooms are optical wonders. I suspect the latest versions to be very good indeed. I have handled a few of these modern lenses. The light weight plastic tubes are sort of a turn-off for me. Most now lack an aperture ring, with the aperture set by the camera's onboard micro-processor. I'm not sure that they would stand up to the rough use that the old metal tubes did back in the 70's. Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:28 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Here's a few more with the standard 50 f2 down at the now iced-over creek. Sturgeon Creek near the Assiniboine R. The 24 X 36 mm Sony Ex-speed-4 36 M/P sensor of the D-810 handles shadow detail beautifully. 1/125 sec at f5.6 at ISO 125. Aperture priority auto to engage the multi-zone metering system. It looks like the camera opted for about Zone V here. Not much problem with the snow turning gray. There's the river looking east from the mouth of the creek. Just about entirely iced over now. 1/400 sec at f8, ISO 125. Looking northward along the creek. I love this time of year. Could have used some ice cleats. The footing was indeed kinda slick, to put it mildly, 1/250 sec at f8, ISO 125. Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Tue Feb 01, 2022 3:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Hefty crop of an image taken with the 50mm. This GBT was about 75 ft. from the camera position. Not quite nailed focus- as usual for this camera in low contrast situations. I tried with the 200mm f4 here, and there was little gain in sharpness. Both taken at f8 and ISO 200. Looks like the shutter speed was a bit low for the 200 in the 2nd picture... We have about 18"-24" of snow on the ground now. Both the grey bushy tails and red fox squirrels will burrow through the snow, rather than trying to move around on top of the powder. Once the snow is a bit wind-packed, that will change, and they'll be back to running... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Wide open here at f2 and minimum focus distance. ISO 400. I actually prefer this type of gently muted back ground, over the swirly, bubbly stuff that is the current rage on photo enthusiast boards. Another 50mm f2 nikkor came with the last camera. I can't see any optical difference at all. There are minor differences in construction~ number of mount screws, etc. From what I've read, the optical formula ran un-changed for over 40 years.... I will be running a few tests with it outside on the week-end. It is supposed to warm up to high 20-lower30's F by Saturday. Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Sun Apr 03, 2022 11:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
I have done an infinity comparison between these. The newer one at left is a tiny shade sharper, and slightly prone to under-exposure. The one on right not quite as sharp, but I much prefer it's color rendering. I'll get a couple of comparison frames up after they're re-sized... This was taken with the still fairly new to me Nikkor-H 50mm f2 at minimum focus distance. Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	A square 10 [ Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:19 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
my nikon came with a 50 - that was the "normal" lens all others have distortion of some sort at certain focal points

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Mon Apr 04, 2022 1:06 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Even the standard 50mm will distort- wide open at the largest aperture. With the Nikkors, it's usually barrel distortion. It clears up completely by stopping down to f4 or f5.6, or better. This distortion is more pronounced with fast "speed" lenses. These are at least 100% image center crops here: This is the new a/i-s 50mm f1.4 at infinity and f5.6 This is the much older 50mm f1.4 S.C. at infinity and f5.6 These are the full frame un-messed with images. Straight out of camera "fine" jpeg's with no post processing. There's the a/i-s 50mm f1.4. And this is the 50mm f1.4 S.C... The advantages of one over the other are not entirely clear. That they handle color differently is very obvious from the above. The newer lens is smaller, lighter, and slightly sharper. I find the colors a bit more pleasing with the older lens... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:29 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
I did some test shots with the "H" 50mm f-2 recently. This set is at f5.6 and ISO 200. There's the un-messed with original full frame. As usual, shot in a snow storm 80-85% center crop. Very decent resolution gives more than enough data for the 36 m/p sensor to handle. 100% corner crop. Very surprising performance here. I really need to get this out in some good daylight for a corners test. As it stands now, I can find little wrong with it. The rendering is something else though. Not quite as sharp as the the "K" and above 50mm f2, but sharpness is not everything. The margin of difference is incredibly tiny... There's a shot of a red squirrel posted somewhere else in here that says it all for this lens. Definitely a keeper! Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Sun Apr 24, 2022 1:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Monochrome test of the recently acquired 50mm f1.4 a/i-s. Shot wide open at ISO 64 at infinity: There's the un-messed with image at about 1/5000 sec. Not too bad. Corners are a bit soft, but much better than expected. Some-what glowy c/a's on brilliant subjects wide open. Frankly, I had been expecting better for a lens from this period. By the program scoop on the rear of the bayonet, it was likely manufactured post- '95. I'll need to look again to see when it was made. Hopefully, if we can get a bit of sunshine, I will run a comparitive test with the 50mm 1.4 S.C. lens, which is likely a good 25-30 years older... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	A square 10 [ Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:47 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
ive always felt the 50 gave the optimum of both depth of field and distortion free focus thru a greater focal length than any either side of it but then its been years - no decades siince ive really dealt with any photographoc equipment , my last buy was a nikon cool pix to post on the net a good while back - it allowed great resolution and super closeups for what i was trying to do at the time , ive noted my phone takes great photos in a point and shoot scenario but then ive never tried it for other situations ,

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Fri Aug 26, 2022 2:10 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
"K" based 50mm Nikkor A/I f2. Wide open self portraiture here at f2 and ISO 125 monochrome digital. 1/8000 sec in high key early afternoon lighting. Yes, I'm that dark. I got one heckuva tan this summer... 100% crop of near image center. Top image shows edge fall-off, which is not all that drastic for wide open. This is actually one of the technically better lenses in the bag. The 28mm Nikkor A/I f3.5 is just as good... Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Sat Oct 08, 2022 11:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Nikkor 50mm f1.4 A/I-s at f 5.6 and ISO 100. This lens is a very capable performer at minimum focus distance, and stopped down to f5.6 or f8. Crops show very bright and clear detail. I am behind on photo editing (again), and have a lot of quality images to sort through. These examples show what modern era film lenses are capable of. As a speed lens, it ain't so hot, showing a lot of C/A's wide open. Still, a good keeper for when things get too hurried for the micro lenses and extension tubes. Regards, Doc Sharptail

Author:	A square 10 [ Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:28 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
doc i thought of you today , i was at my MILs home before the upcoming estate sale - they had my late FILs camera and a couple lenses out for the sale , it crossed my mind that you might be interested till i noticed they were minolta items - i think you are more interested in nikons

Author:	Doc Sharptail [ Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:43 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The forgotten 50
Daughter just brought a Minolta XG-1 from the thrift shop. 2 new SR-44 batteries, and it works. The grindy plastic bbl'd Rokkor-X 45mm f2 that came with it weirds me out though. I'll run a roll through it and see what happens, and get a pic up here. Regards, Doc Sharptail

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