This isn't all about the lens. Yes, it's sharp, but you can't get that type of quality and detail unless you have a high megapixel censor in your camera. The large censor and high pixel count is what allows your lens performance to show its best.
@TheRealrocker74 Actually the truth is that after a certain size of print the acceptable quality sharply declines. For example, a billboard is seen from so far away that 12MP is more than enough to create a great looking image. Look at a billboard close up, printers use certain algorithms to enlarge images that don't even look like pixels.
@poisonblack83 i have the old 1.8 and i love it, the only problem i have with it is the focusing at 1.8 is hard because when i look through my camera it looks in focus but when i look at the picture its out of focus but when you nail the focus its nice and sharp for the price
I've looked at a lot of Ken Rockwell's photographs and I've looked at some of his detractor's photographs and his are still better. At least he has the courage to post his photos. I don't see any of yours on the web anywhere Megasromanos. Post processing and photoshop are for people who can't take a decent picture with the camera in the first place. Just another crutch for people with no artistic talent. So put up or shut up.
@Bigrockets101 haha so I am guessing Ansel Adams, who used to do post processing in the film dark room was somebody who couldn't take a decent picture with his camera and had no artistic talent. Why don't you do your research before you make a complete fool of yourself.
@Bigrockets101 i understand where you are coming from about photoshop and how people abuse it. but, cmon, it's fucking 2011, that's how the post process works these days. instead of farting around in a dark room, you can do it with photoshop. and like that one guy said about ansel adams. are you saying he's a terrible photographer for doing post work in a dark room? photoshop is the same thing, buddy.
@Bigrockets101 I can't disagree more. Many great artists use Photoshop as a TOOL to convey their ARTISTIC VISION, not as a CRUTCH. Times change and so do art mediums.
I use a nikon d300 with the 50mm 1.4 lens and love it's sharpness, i used to use the 105mm 2.8 and just take a few steps back but unless im doing macro shots the 50mm doesnt leave my camera much nowdays, i'm still getting used to the softness at 1.4 tho.Love your vidoes btw, great for learning photographers such as myself. :)
so its not the megapixels that lacks my nikon d70s too get some good results ?
I did the whole setup like rockwell tells on his website about the D70 menu & settings to boost the camera colours and other things like whitebalans on auto and set to - 2 and so on.
I read many books and tutorials so i'm getting there and the result on my d70s lcd looks great but when i see the pics on my pc ...
it looks like a new compactcamera can give more coulour and sharpness.
First mistake is to boost the camera colors - to get the most out of your pictures, any in camera processing will make the quality deteriorate. This is why you should shoot in RAW since the RAW format adds the most opportunities for any post processing and turn off all in-camera sharpening and the like. The best you can do to get good colors is to understand lighting as well as getting the white balance correct the first time.
Second mistake: auto ISO. ISO boosting is a last resort for exposure (shutter and aperture comes first) - high ISO results in grainy pictures, in digital that means you get noise, which doesn't look good at all, high noise results in reduced sharpness and reduced sharpness results in loss of color. Always shoot at the lowest ISO possible, by that you should keep the ISO down at 100 and only turn it up when absolutely necessary.
Overexposure is slightly better than underexposure - if you shoot in raw, there's a better chance you get to keep the information and high contrast from a slightly overexposed image than an underexposed one (though correct exposure is the best) - do not set anything to -2, though you should try and set your camera to bracket and turn the exposure up or down if you notice the light meter is off.
Your first mistake is listening to Rockwell, the second is not learning about color theory and lighting - something far more important to know than silly photo tutorials (which are mostly just made to promote photoshop or the likes of it, or some excuse for lousy research by journalists who just sit on their asses all day and thus knows nothing about photography, but know rudimentary program skills any child can learn in five minutes)
If you want to read a serious book about photography there's the books by Ansel Adams, another book called "Light, Science and Magic" as well as Scott Kelby has a set of more entertaining ones.
The istockphoto . com site also has a set of tutorials for people who want to know the serious professional criterias of working with digital imagery.
@dombower sure, go ahead - just give credit when due (if you think the comments are good and useful, if you intend to make a rant on it, I guess it's better to stay anonymous).
@Megasromanos 7megs wont give you very much detail . .. . . If u use body with 18mpx sensor the imige will be nearly 3 times more detailed than yours so it may also appear "sharper" because of the larger amount of detail.
hmm....i can't seem to get this magnificant image quality ( i am NOT talking about the resolution or the the creativity) with my d40 and the 50mm. when i put it on, the colors really mess up. they are always very flat and nowhere near the colors you get in this video. i always set the arperture to about 2.5-3.5. but nothing works! i almost tried to adjust the color quality of my d40 ( VI; VI+) but absolutely nothing works :( what am i doing wrong?
While the sharpness is fantastic, the microcontrast isn't as extreme, as found on Leica lenses. hah. I bought my first film camera today, excited to try out the 50mm ƒ/1.8D on it. Even it it doesn't have autofocus! lol. (Nikon FE)
it's a nikon hah the nikon FE. but i might invest on a D90 with a grip and a 17-55 lens. cause my dad's backup camera is going into the crap hole... (fujifilm S3 Pro) i loved that camera... hah
Not sure if this is only YouTube's bad video compression but quality of that photo isn't impressive. In the maximum zoom you can see these horrible water painting artifacts. Its most likely your RAW conversion application's fault.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This lens is OVERRATED, The Sigma 50mm 1.4 is much better (Bokeh,Sharpness at any FL,Colors)...oh yeah, I used to own the Nikkor and very happy with the Sigma now
Thanks for posting that video. It's confirmed my choice between the f1.4D and the newer f1.4 G 50mm prime. Time to get that debit card out and get one snapped up before they all sell out!!
I also have this lens but often times found the saturation to be quite low.. do you have any issues with that?? This lens is really sharp once you go over f2.0 but at f1.4,,, it is not that sharp unfortunately.
Yes, it is easy to adjust saturation and contrast in post/development but having better saturation and contrast in the first place does make a difference in the final output. you can tell right off the bat that some lens are so much more "richer" in color and in contrast:) Don't get me wrong, I have this lens and I love it:) but I also have used the G type and I think it gives more color:) But again, this vid is about sharpness so it's all good:) thanks!
no lens should ever be used fully open- so if you have a 50mm f2.0 lens it would be terrible at f2.0 but great at 2.4 and upwards, hence the lower the minimum apperture the lower you can use it in relative terms, pentax have a f1.2 lens, which allows for use at f1.4
Amazing
jordansipa 4 months ago
This isn't all about the lens. Yes, it's sharp, but you can't get that type of quality and detail unless you have a high megapixel censor in your camera. The large censor and high pixel count is what allows your lens performance to show its best.
TheRealrocker74 5 months ago
@TheRealrocker74 this was 12mp
dombower 5 months ago 8
@dombower 12mp is plenty high, unless you're looking to print billboard sized.
TheRealrocker74 5 months ago
@TheRealrocker74 Actually the truth is that after a certain size of print the acceptable quality sharply declines. For example, a billboard is seen from so far away that 12MP is more than enough to create a great looking image. Look at a billboard close up, printers use certain algorithms to enlarge images that don't even look like pixels.
blickblocks 4 months ago
wow, sky and a sun visible in the eye. definitely takes a skill to use the lens like this!
bratvlad 9 months ago
@bratvlad that doesnt take skill the scenery they were in zoom into your pictures (if their sharp enough)
kmedina419 6 months ago
am getting a f1,8 , is it as good ?
poisonblack83 10 months ago
@poisonblack83 i have the old 1.8 and i love it, the only problem i have with it is the focusing at 1.8 is hard because when i look through my camera it looks in focus but when i look at the picture its out of focus but when you nail the focus its nice and sharp for the price
masongalbraith 5 months ago
is the 50mm 1.8 nearly as sharp as this one?
Spaeckli 1 year ago
I've looked at a lot of Ken Rockwell's photographs and I've looked at some of his detractor's photographs and his are still better. At least he has the courage to post his photos. I don't see any of yours on the web anywhere Megasromanos. Post processing and photoshop are for people who can't take a decent picture with the camera in the first place. Just another crutch for people with no artistic talent. So put up or shut up.
Bigrockets101 1 year ago
@Bigrockets101 haha so I am guessing Ansel Adams, who used to do post processing in the film dark room was somebody who couldn't take a decent picture with his camera and had no artistic talent. Why don't you do your research before you make a complete fool of yourself.
Gharril 8 months ago
@Bigrockets101 i understand where you are coming from about photoshop and how people abuse it. but, cmon, it's fucking 2011, that's how the post process works these days. instead of farting around in a dark room, you can do it with photoshop. and like that one guy said about ansel adams. are you saying he's a terrible photographer for doing post work in a dark room? photoshop is the same thing, buddy.
lbomb8 7 months ago
@Bigrockets101 I can't disagree more. Many great artists use Photoshop as a TOOL to convey their ARTISTIC VISION, not as a CRUTCH. Times change and so do art mediums.
nomadmtb 7 months ago
@Roundthebendfilms hello sir, expected to see you here : P
skippy1239 1 year ago
Comment removed
Spaeckli 1 year ago
I use a nikon d300 with the 50mm 1.4 lens and love it's sharpness, i used to use the 105mm 2.8 and just take a few steps back but unless im doing macro shots the 50mm doesnt leave my camera much nowdays, i'm still getting used to the softness at 1.4 tho.Love your vidoes btw, great for learning photographers such as myself. :)
MegaModish 1 year ago
so its not the megapixels that lacks my nikon d70s too get some good results ?
I did the whole setup like rockwell tells on his website about the D70 menu & settings to boost the camera colours and other things like whitebalans on auto and set to - 2 and so on.
I read many books and tutorials so i'm getting there and the result on my d70s lcd looks great but when i see the pics on my pc ...
it looks like a new compactcamera can give more coulour and sharpness.
Megasromanos 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
"I did the whole setup like rockwell tells on his website"
You're WAY off, even though Rockwell knows a great deal about testing lenses, everyone knows he knows nothing about practical photography.
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
First mistake is to boost the camera colors - to get the most out of your pictures, any in camera processing will make the quality deteriorate. This is why you should shoot in RAW since the RAW format adds the most opportunities for any post processing and turn off all in-camera sharpening and the like. The best you can do to get good colors is to understand lighting as well as getting the white balance correct the first time.
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
Second mistake: auto ISO. ISO boosting is a last resort for exposure (shutter and aperture comes first) - high ISO results in grainy pictures, in digital that means you get noise, which doesn't look good at all, high noise results in reduced sharpness and reduced sharpness results in loss of color. Always shoot at the lowest ISO possible, by that you should keep the ISO down at 100 and only turn it up when absolutely necessary.
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
Overexposure is slightly better than underexposure - if you shoot in raw, there's a better chance you get to keep the information and high contrast from a slightly overexposed image than an underexposed one (though correct exposure is the best) - do not set anything to -2, though you should try and set your camera to bracket and turn the exposure up or down if you notice the light meter is off.
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
Your first mistake is listening to Rockwell, the second is not learning about color theory and lighting - something far more important to know than silly photo tutorials (which are mostly just made to promote photoshop or the likes of it, or some excuse for lousy research by journalists who just sit on their asses all day and thus knows nothing about photography, but know rudimentary program skills any child can learn in five minutes)
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@Megasromanos
If you want to read a serious book about photography there's the books by Ansel Adams, another book called "Light, Science and Magic" as well as Scott Kelby has a set of more entertaining ones.
The istockphoto . com site also has a set of tutorials for people who want to know the serious professional criterias of working with digital imagery.
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
@EctoplasmicResidue do you mind if i use your comments on the 50mm lens shaprness test on a blog post?
dombower 1 year ago
@dombower sure, go ahead - just give credit when due (if you think the comments are good and useful, if you intend to make a rant on it, I guess it's better to stay anonymous).
EctoplasmicResidue 1 year ago
Hey,
when i do the same zoom in with a raw foto from my nikon D70s its not so sharp in resolution ?
Is it because i shoot with the 18 - 70 mm 3,5 f ?
Or maybe it's the 7 megapixels instead of the "i dont know how much your camera has" diffrence ?
thanks
Megasromanos 1 year ago
@Megasromanos its not your camera it is your lens its just not ver sharp
dombower 1 year ago
@Megasromanos 7megs wont give you very much detail . .. . . If u use body with 18mpx sensor the imige will be nearly 3 times more detailed than yours so it may also appear "sharper" because of the larger amount of detail.
eVerlastingTenrai 1 year ago
I like that "mi girl of the last 9 years" dont you guys never going get married ?(i have the same situation) lol
hanzeln 1 year ago
@hanzeln still far to young to be getting married!
dombower 1 year ago
hmm....i can't seem to get this magnificant image quality ( i am NOT talking about the resolution or the the creativity) with my d40 and the 50mm. when i put it on, the colors really mess up. they are always very flat and nowhere near the colors you get in this video. i always set the arperture to about 2.5-3.5. but nothing works! i almost tried to adjust the color quality of my d40 ( VI; VI+) but absolutely nothing works :( what am i doing wrong?
snakekiller110 1 year ago
Is she related to Wayne Rooney?!?! ROOOOOOOOONEY!
bradleypaul10 1 year ago 3
@bradleypaul10 yes
dombower 1 year ago
@dombower Really? Have you met him??
HokieFanatic1 1 year ago
@HokieFanatic1 no i am just joking
dombower 1 year ago
While the sharpness is fantastic, the microcontrast isn't as extreme, as found on Leica lenses. hah. I bought my first film camera today, excited to try out the 50mm ƒ/1.8D on it. Even it it doesn't have autofocus! lol. (Nikon FE)
RoundTheBendFilms 1 year ago
@RoundTheBendFilms how much was the leica?
dombower 1 year ago
@dombower oh nononononnooooo
it's a nikon hah the nikon FE. but i might invest on a D90 with a grip and a 17-55 lens. cause my dad's backup camera is going into the crap hole... (fujifilm S3 Pro) i loved that camera... hah
RoundTheBendFilms 1 year ago
Nice lens. You've reaffirmed my decision to buy it.
AmyK007 1 year ago
Not sure if this is only YouTube's bad video compression but quality of that photo isn't impressive. In the maximum zoom you can see these horrible water painting artifacts. Its most likely your RAW conversion application's fault.
Hin3KH 2 years ago
its a combination of the video recorder on the computer and the youtube conversion.
dombower 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This lens is OVERRATED, The Sigma 50mm 1.4 is much better (Bokeh,Sharpness at any FL,Colors)...oh yeah, I used to own the Nikkor and very happy with the Sigma now
NixxerJixxerWixxer 2 years ago
is that good ??
theroden 2 years ago
wow that is sharp! hoping to get the lens in a few months. (:
valtteri1234 2 years ago
holy jeez!
jewmonkey125 2 years ago
Is this the new 50mm?
904SF 2 years ago
no it's the old one
lorikzzz 2 years ago
Comment removed
lorikzzz 2 years ago
is that your sister ?? she looks like you
lorikzzz 2 years ago
eh! NO! its my girlfriend!!!
dombower 2 years ago
LOL i didn't know you had a girlfriend. Can't wait for your next video !!!
lorikzzz 2 years ago
i have one and i use it all the time!
lopezae33 2 years ago
That is incredible. Does Nikon make versions of their 50 f1.4 or is it just "the" 50mm f1.4?
brt5470 2 years ago
its got 3 the ais, the afd and the afs. google what the differences are
dombower 2 years ago
wow!
I have the 50mm 1.8
Do you think it would be necessary to get the 1.4 too?
pearl112 2 years ago
that would be stupid now wouldnt it having two lenses the same focal lengh but ony a half stop faster.
dombower 2 years ago
zeiss 135 f1.8 FTW
tpvoid 2 years ago
what does ftw stand for?
dombower 2 years ago
"for the win"
kind of like going "woot!"
colinstu 2 years ago
Probably the sharpest lens in the planet
focust 2 years ago
Is Nie-kon paying you yet?
anybizfinder 2 years ago
This lens is one of the best (if not THE BEST) 50mm lenses!
TheLeadGuitar 2 years ago
i would say it is the bestist of the bestististss
dombower 2 years ago
Hi Dom,
Thanks for posting that video. It's confirmed my choice between the f1.4D and the newer f1.4 G 50mm prime. Time to get that debit card out and get one snapped up before they all sell out!!
Mike.
Drpepper99uk 2 years ago
holy cow !!! i'm going to get it immediately
lorikzzz 2 years ago
Comment removed
theroden 2 years ago
read the description d300...
Atlixco1984 2 years ago
wrong and clearly you didint look at the description. dont know where you got d700 from
dombower 2 years ago
it's an excellent lens, so as the 50mm 1.8
giann1s 2 years ago
@giann1s how are those lens different?
alphacodexx 1 year ago
Holy crap that is sharp!
joshbourke89 2 years ago
wow. so neat.
cjosephwu 2 years ago
Shes is gorgeous. so is the lens i have the af-s 50 1.4 and stopped down to f4 its insanely sharp
devonly2 2 years ago
Is it the new 1.4G or the old 1.4D lens?
roger767 2 years ago
the old 1.4 D lens
dombower 2 years ago
Very beautiful!!
I also have this lens but often times found the saturation to be quite low.. do you have any issues with that?? This lens is really sharp once you go over f2.0 but at f1.4,,, it is not that sharp unfortunately.
JD95 2 years ago
saturation is not a problem with digital photgraphy just slide the saturation or vibrance slider along on your editing software
dombower 2 years ago
I wish that was true..
Yes, it is easy to adjust saturation and contrast in post/development but having better saturation and contrast in the first place does make a difference in the final output. you can tell right off the bat that some lens are so much more "richer" in color and in contrast:) Don't get me wrong, I have this lens and I love it:) but I also have used the G type and I think it gives more color:) But again, this vid is about sharpness so it's all good:) thanks!
JD95 2 years ago
no lens should ever be used fully open- so if you have a 50mm f2.0 lens it would be terrible at f2.0 but great at 2.4 and upwards, hence the lower the minimum apperture the lower you can use it in relative terms, pentax have a f1.2 lens, which allows for use at f1.4
electriktricks 2 years ago
yes exactly. That was my point:) unfortunately, some one gave me a thumbs down for my comment..
JD95 2 years ago
shes lovely,
butlerscabin2008 2 years ago
what a great lens, I'm really happy with my canon 50 1.4 as well
Frace91 2 years ago