Finally broke down and purchased a very nice 50mm f/1.2 AI-S

They are as challenging to use wide open as I had heard. My initial shots up close at an AF fine tuning target showed I was missing focus about half the time. It's surprising how much more critical the focus is with this lens wide open vs. the f/1.4 at near subjects. I did better after a little practice.

Using the green dot AF confirmation light in the D750 viewfinder allowed for a tiny bit of movement of the lens' focus ring with the light still lit. Just this very tiny bit is enough to miss critical focus! I found that I need to be at the far end of that tiny bit for the image to be in focus with my D750. I haven't tried it on my D200 yet. Again, these focusing comments relate to shooting the lens at f/1.2 at close subjects.

The lens is all it's said to be, having a distinctive look to some of the images at f/1.2. And, yes... it's a little bit soft at f/1.2 and f/1.4. At f/2, it's sharper and more contrasty near the edges and corners of the frame than my f/1.8G at f/2, but it's subtle. And it maintains a small but discernible edge on down through to the the small aperture settings. I haven't compared it to the Nikkor 50mm f/2, f/1.4 Ai or f/1.4G yet, but I think seeing how it did head-to-head with the f/1.8G satisfies my curiosity. It is very sharp and contrasty from f/2 on down.

Using Live View and zooming in really makes it easy to focus at f/1.2 when the camera's on a tripod. I haven't tried that technique hand held yet.

Hopefully, I'll get to try it out on some human subjects over the weekend! I think this lens is going to be fun.

There is a fair amount of spherical aberration wide open but that can make for some very nice soft focus "dreamy" portraits. It is gone by f/2.8 and the lens is extremely sharp after that until diffraction sets in.

I do not trust the focusing dot, never have. Since all my Nikkors are manual focus Non-AI/AI/AIS I have microprism/split image screens in all of my DSLR's. The very narrow depth of field of this lenses makes the microprism show dead on focusing consistently.

Mine on my F3HP



I took this casual portrait of my lovely wife with the rig above at f/2 with Kodak Gold 100 film that I processed in Beseler C41 chemistry and scanned with my Nikon Super CoolScan 8000 ED. The proof is in the pudding!

I have a feeling my f/1.2 will probably eventually see its most use with my film bodies. My F2S and F3 have microprism and split image focusing screens (standard Type K). I think my F4s are the only bodies that might not... I can't remember off hand.

Heck... if I really fall in love with the lens, I could even replace the screen in my D750.

desmobob said:

I have a feeling my f/1.2 will probably eventually see its most use with my film bodies. My F2S and F3 have microprism and split image focusing screens (standard Type K). I think my F4s are the only bodies that might not... I can't remember off hand.

Heck... if I really fall in love with the lens, I could even replace the screen in my D750.

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I get my microprism/split image screens from focusingscreen.com. They work perfectly with the D850, D500 and D750

Focusing Screen

Those are the ones I'd consider. Then, the question is, which one? I think the F6-J with just central microprism dot would be best for working with the 50mm f/1.2.

Which do you prefer and why?

desmobob said:

Those are the ones I'd consider. Then, the question is, which one? I think the F6-J with just central microprism dot would be best for working with the 50mm f/1.2.

Which do you prefer and why?

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I don't know if I would choose a focusing screen based on the needs of just one lens. Put it in, it takes some care, and just leave it there all the time. These are not like the screens on all of the F series cameras where you just pop off the pentaprism and swap out screens. You have to remove the lens, undo the retaining clip holding the installed screen, which may sound easier than it really is, and carefully insert the new screen (and brass shim if it comes with one), with the supplied forceps and re-clip the retaining clip. It is something you do at home over a clean workspace, not in the field. To see if the AF works with these screens, I have put some AF lenses on all 3 of my DSLR's and the AF works perfectly with all 3. A split image/microprism screen is a good all around choice for all lenses, from super wide angle to super telephoto.

Yes... I would expect to leave the screen in place since I would hope the D750's AF would continue to function normally. My D750 gets used almost exclusively with AF Nikkors. I would like to be able to use the 50mmm f/1.2 occasionally and be able to more accurately focus it when it's shot wide open.

The reason I would pick the F6-J for the 50mm f/1.2 is that the microprism section is in the center, rather than in a ring around the center. The 50mm f/1.2 has such a shallow depth of field when shot open, I'd prefer to have a small prism spot right in the center of the viewfinder for precision. Otherwise, I would choose one of the K-type screens that I started out with back in the 1970s.

I haven't had any difficulties focusing my other Nikkor manual focus lenses with the D750 and would probably still depend on the AF rangefinder green dot for them (unless the microprism spot proves to be faster/easier).

desmobob said:

Yes... I would expect to leave the screen in place since I would hope the D750's AF would continue to function normally. My D750 gets used almost exclusively with AF Nikkors. I would like to be able to use the 50mmm f/1.2 occasionally and be able to more accurately focus it when it's shot wide open.

The reason I would pick the F6-J for the 50mm f/1.2 is that the microprism section is in the center, rather than in a ring around the center. The 50mm f/1.2 has such a shallow depth of field when shot open, I'd prefer to have a small prism spot right in the center of the viewfinder for precision. Otherwise, I would choose one of the K-type screens that I started out with back in the 1970s.

I haven't had any difficulties focusing my other Nikkor manual focus lenses with the D750 and would probably still depend on the AF rangefinder green dot for them (unless the microprism spot proves to be faster/easier).

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I just put my wife's 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 G Nikkor on my D750 and it matched up with the microprism perfectly. Focus was dead on.