50mm f1.8 AF

aroy · Mar 13, 2014

This is nearly a decade old lense and was bought with the D70. It is still excellent and sharp. I am now trying it out with my D3300. It is a manual focus on this body.

To compare the DOF and bokeh. The camera was on a tripod, but there was a slight breeze which seems to have affected the sharpness. The focus was sharp in live view. The focus conformation (green dot) on the D3300 is extremely accurate.

F1.8

F8

elijahosiris · Mar 13, 2014

My favorite lens in my collection

DraganDL · Mar 13, 2014

An excellent lens (probably the best "price vs quality" of all primes Nikon has EVER made - I got a brand new one for about 120$).
This one (AF-D): Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D Review

480sparky · Mar 13, 2014

Only one lens is better: the 50/1.8 G.

aroy · Mar 15, 2014

Now some more shots of flowers. I am taking flowers as I have yet to get then sharp let alone razor sharp.

Mike D90 · Mar 15, 2014

I too have this lens and am in love with it! I do wish it would focus closer but that can be remedied.

aroy · Mar 15, 2014

Mike d90 said:
I too have this lens and am in love with it! I do wish it would focus closer but that can be remedied.

Well it focuses to 0.45 meter, around 18 inches. You can always use an extension tube, which will make this lense a decent macro. In my film days this was quite a popular method, as dedicated macro lenses were always extremely expensive.

Blacktop · Mar 15, 2014

Is it ok to post pics in your thread with the same lens?
I just got mine and want to share. I will start a new thread if need be.

BTW great shots. I still can't get that sharp out of the camera, (D3100) using manual focus. Gotta practise.

Mike D90 · Mar 15, 2014

blacktop said:
Is it ok to post pics in your thread with the same lens?
I just got mine and want to share. I will start a new thread if need be.

BTW great shots. I still can't get that sharp out of the camera, (D3100) using manual focus. Gotta practice.

Bump your f/stop up to f/8 and see if it is sharper there. Some lenses don't like certain apertures as well as others.

aroy · Mar 16, 2014

blacktop said:
Is it ok to post pics in your thread with the same lens?
I just got mine and want to share. I will start a new thread if need be.

BTW great shots. I still can't get that sharp out of the camera, (D3100) using manual focus. Gotta practice.

You are welcome to post, as long it is the same lens. That way we can all see what is being achieved with this great but inexpensive piece of glass.

Blacktop · Mar 16, 2014

Thanks Aroy.
Here are 3 pics I took after reading about manual focusing using live view in another thread, where I would zoom in on the screen and focus that way. Giving a more accurate focus then the viewfinder.
I'm seeing better results doing it this way.

There were no post processing done on any of these photos, other then what the camera does converting to jpegs.
The second shot was taken while my wife was shining an LED flashlight on it,.
Didn't realize that LED turns things tu purple. lol

aroy · Mar 17, 2014

Today I started using the inbuilt flash with this lens. Here are some portraits

aroy · Mar 18, 2014

Some more shots

My son, deep in though

Now some more flowers with flash

rhubarb · Mar 18, 2014

I just received this lens and a D7100 today (stepping up from a bridge camera) and am a little nervous in working my way around the camera and lens combo. Will all come together soon enough no doubt

.

Question: Is there a sweet spot where the image is sharpest?

aroy · Mar 18, 2014

rhubarb said:
I just received this lens and a D7100 today (stepping up from a bridge camera) and am a little nervous in working my way around the camera and lens combo. Will all come together soon enough no doubt .

Question: Is there a sweet spot where the image is sharpest?

I think around F4, but the fun is in using it at F1.8 and get that lovely out of focus area.

480sparky · Mar 18, 2014

rhubarb said:
I just received this lens and a D7100 today (stepping up from a bridge camera) and am a little nervous in working my way around the camera and lens combo. Will all come together soon enough no doubt .

Question: Is there a sweet spot where the image is sharpest?

My 50/1.8D is best at f/8. My 50/1.8G, I can't see the difference of the sweet spot between f/5.6 and f/8.

Blacktop · Mar 18, 2014

I just posted some some pics at the "another 50mm 1.8D"" thread of my dogs today.
This is on a 3100 that has no focus motor with no processing. Shot at 2.8.

Sweet spot? I guess around 4-5, however it's really all sweet.

aroy · Mar 20, 2014

Till now I was using the "Green Dot" for focusing. Now I have started using the range finder which is pretty accurate.

Here are some shots taken in the morning.

Early morning shot, kept dark so that the back ground is dull

Flower bud

Early morning - just opening up

I think this is called Hibiscus. We call it Joba.

Fully opened

Another View

aroy · Mar 21, 2014

Realized finally that this lense does no expose with flash correctly. The "distance" as in D and later lenses is not relayed to the camera. So the camera assumes a distance. Had to manually adjust the flash compensation for each distance.