I love the 50 f/1.8S (and the Z6). I never liked the 50 f/1.4 particularly -- sluggish focussing, inaccurate focussing (constantly messing with compensation) and it wasn't very sharp, even stopped down. This gem is a different breed and surprisingly good lens, the best 50 I've ever used. With more S lenses being released -- I just added the 14-30 and plan to get the 85 -- I'll probably move to the Z series completely, though still hanging on to one DSLR body now. Thanks for your thoughts.
Raymond Parker sounds like a great collection of lenses you’ll have! I think it’s likely I’ll change over to the Z system completely too at some point, but the d500 is hanging on for now! I know the 50 1.4 (I’ve got the older version, with the aperture ring) is slow, inconsistent and soft, but it was also the first non-kit lens i ever bought (18years ago), so I’ve just got a ridiculous soft spot for it! Thank you for your comment!
It's by far the best of their new Z lenses, uttlerly spectacular, Zeiss Otus good, and yet also the cheapest (can be found for £330). It's light, portable, and affordable, which the 1.2 won't be, and I don't know that with new sensors 1.2 will be as important, but wheather you should wait for that in a few months is a tougher call.
Agree The 50 1.8 S Lens was the first I got with my Z7 ..Killer sharp right to the corners ...also now got the 14-30 f4 and 85 f1.8 ..Will be ordering the 70-200 f2.8 and for Milky way the 20 f1.8
I feel like after doing some fairly extensive research that for 5 bills the Z50mm is probably the best option for my Z6, but the 50mm f1.8g is more than half the price and what keeps me leaning to the g lens is I can't stand the thought of taking off the FTZ adapter just to use one Z lens. That means I have to get a bag or container or something to house the adapter, or I could just leave it attached to whichever f lens I'm using prior, but then I need something to house that so I may as well disconnect the two. Dust could get in there and speaking of dust, and back to my original fuss, I've never taken the ftz adapter off. It's probably a good idea to take it off periodically but so far I've just cleaned that seal with some air. It just brings out every little pet peeve and I feel like Woody Allen stressed out over something so quizzical. The comparisons of lenses that I feel compare to the Z50mm are all higher priced, so I really don't know and I've been fussing over this decision for a few weeks now. For the first time in 15 years I'm actually need to watch my spending closely so it should be a no brainer except when it comes to camera gear I don't think about cost as much as being certain so as to avoid buying something twice. Resale value comes into play as well. Since I take exceptional care of my gear, I could spend upwards for something classic that will if anything, rise in value. For this reason I'm considering the Zeiss Distagon 35mm Zf2 as it should at least retain its value, and while it may not be a 50mm, it does have a extremely short focusing distance and may be the only lens that I can sleep at night purchasing.
buy that zeiss 35mm distagon you will not regret it it’s one of the best lenses I’ve ever used on my D700 and D500 , I bought it 3 years ago for 550€ in mint condition , sometimes the prices are up to 800€ .... only one downside , weight and green fringing wide open in the out of focus area
Do you know, this is one of the most complete and considered replies I’ve ever had to one of my videos - it’s taken me a while to digest and think about responses... so... a) thank you for your comment. b) I know what you mean about the ftz adaptor - the lens I keep on my z6 a lot is the 28-70 kit - it works well, gives nice clean images, it’s a bit slow, but it stays on the body most of the time - I then leave the adaptor on my 70-200, and it becomes a faff to change it off - BUT - the native z lenses just work so damn well with the camera. c) that distagon lens looks amazing - for me and what I shoot, I wouldn’t go back to a MF lens - I grew up with MF, and still use it occasionally now, but I wouldn’t want it full time, but if it works for you, that looks like a great option! Thank you so much for watching, and thank you for your comment!
I recently got a barely used (NIB return) 50 1.8 S at B&H. Works great but the AF motor is audibly louder than that of my 20-70 f4 S and my 35mm 1.8 s. While the AF motor definitely has an audible wine to it, as I was trying to figure it out I noticed that the aperture "flutters" as focus changes contributing to the noise. It's most obvious if you manual focus the lens slowly. It flutters every so often. If you focus a tad bit faster it flutters even more. It's as if there some sort of crosstalk between the AF motor and the aperture motor. I don't think this is normal, but have you seen this in your copy? I'd hate to RMA a perfectly good lens if this is some sort of quirk that the lens exhibits (though my gut tells me it's a defect of this specific lens and may even be why it was originally returned). Thanks in advance.
Hey there, I'm so sorry to hear about the noise! I don't have mine to hand any more, because I hired it, rather than bought it, but it was virtually silent when I was using it - definitely didn't notice any fluttering either - sounds like it might be a defect. Good luck in sorting it!
Oh my! I was thinking about it. Keep my old Nikon 50mm f1.4 or go to the new f1.8S? As the old f1.4 work pretty good on my Z6 (say it, the autofocus is slower than the S version), I've kept it to fit also my D500. Maybe I'll go with the 35mm f1.8s instead :) Many many thanks for this brillant review :)
Michael Kuszla so my Nikon 50 1.4 is the really old version (with the aperture ring and no focus motor) so it doesn’t autofocus at all with the z6, but if I had your version I wouldn’t even think about it - it’s a great lens, but yours is greater...
Little Tipple I see! I got the same problem with my pretty old 28mm f2.8D. I keep it because I love these colors, but I don’t use it on the D500, and on the Z6, it stays cool, but with the lack of AF + the size of the adapter, I loose all the benefits of this tiny lens.
Michael Kuszla absolutely - that’s my issues... I may go with the sigma 85 1.4. Which is a beast, and with the adapter will be enormous, but at least I know it’s a great lens!
I have it and also the 85 1.8 S. The Z lenses are a huge advantage to the F mount ones, independent of model and price: no chromatic abberation, no distraction, no distortion edge to edge sharp also wide open, least lens flare ever. This is also at the 24-70 2.8 S like so, Tony has a very interesting comparison of the 24-70 2.8 S versus competitors ruclips.net/video/_i3_6Us-5f0/видео.html - I had shooting with a model last weekend and the 85 1.8 S nailed it. If we get with firmware upgrade 2.2 a better low light AF as well as a reliable face and eye detection AF (at least like X-T3, better a7 III or a7R IV) Nikon is back on track and we have the best camera system ever.
@@LittleTipple , will do so asap, never have been there yet. Any suggestion at which season/month/week is best? Meaning: best sunrise/sunset plus least count of tourist (specially such as other photographers - kidding 😂) - Btw: commented to lens and Z system as reply to Michael Kuszla comment below.
I love the 50 f/1.8S (and the Z6). I never liked the 50 f/1.4 particularly -- sluggish focussing, inaccurate focussing (constantly messing with compensation) and it wasn't very sharp, even stopped down. This gem is a different breed and surprisingly good lens, the best 50 I've ever used. With more S lenses being released -- I just added the 14-30 and plan to get the 85 -- I'll probably move to the Z series completely, though still hanging on to one DSLR body now. Thanks for your thoughts.
Raymond Parker sounds like a great collection of lenses you’ll have! I think it’s likely I’ll change over to the Z system completely too at some point, but the d500 is hanging on for now! I know the 50 1.4 (I’ve got the older version, with the aperture ring) is slow, inconsistent and soft, but it was also the first non-kit lens i ever bought (18years ago), so I’ve just got a ridiculous soft spot for it! Thank you for your comment!
Awesome videos mate! Will be watching a lot more of your stuff 👍
Awesome, thank you!
It's by far the best of their new Z lenses, uttlerly spectacular, Zeiss Otus good, and yet also the cheapest (can be found for £330). It's light, portable, and affordable, which the 1.2 won't be, and I don't know that with new sensors 1.2 will be as important, but wheather you should wait for that in a few months is a tougher call.
Agree The 50 1.8 S Lens was the first I got with my Z7 ..Killer sharp right to the corners ...also now got the 14-30 f4 and 85 f1.8 ..Will be ordering the 70-200 f2.8 and for Milky way the 20 f1.8
I am yet to decide which one I love more, the lens or the scotch. I have tasted one, need to check out the lens.
I feel like after doing some fairly extensive research that for 5 bills the Z50mm is probably the best option for my Z6, but the 50mm f1.8g is more than half the price and what keeps me leaning to the g lens is I can't stand the thought of taking off the FTZ adapter just to use one Z lens. That means I have to get a bag or container or something to house the adapter, or I could just leave it attached to whichever f lens I'm using prior, but then I need something to house that so I may as well disconnect the two. Dust could get in there and speaking of dust, and back to my original fuss, I've never taken the ftz adapter off. It's probably a good idea to take it off periodically but so far I've just cleaned that seal with some air. It just brings out every little pet peeve and I feel like Woody Allen stressed out over something so quizzical. The comparisons of lenses that I feel compare to the Z50mm are all higher priced, so I really don't know and I've been fussing over this decision for a few weeks now. For the first time in 15 years I'm actually need to watch my spending closely so it should be a no brainer except when it comes to camera gear I don't think about cost as much as being certain so as to avoid buying something twice. Resale value comes into play as well. Since I take exceptional care of my gear, I could spend upwards for something classic that will if anything, rise in value. For this reason I'm considering the Zeiss Distagon 35mm Zf2 as it should at least retain its value, and while it may not be a 50mm, it does have a extremely short focusing distance and may be the only lens that I can sleep at night purchasing.
buy that zeiss 35mm distagon you will not regret it it’s one of the best lenses I’ve ever used on my D700 and D500 , I bought it 3 years ago for 550€ in mint condition , sometimes the prices are up to 800€ .... only one downside , weight and green fringing wide open in the out of focus area
Do you know, this is one of the most complete and considered replies I’ve ever had to one of my videos - it’s taken me a while to digest and think about responses... so...
a) thank you for your comment.
b) I know what you mean about the ftz adaptor - the lens I keep on my z6 a lot is the 28-70 kit - it works well, gives nice clean images, it’s a bit slow, but it stays on the body most of the time - I then leave the adaptor on my 70-200, and it becomes a faff to change it off - BUT - the native z lenses just work so damn well with the camera.
c) that distagon lens looks amazing - for me and what I shoot, I wouldn’t go back to a MF lens - I grew up with MF, and still use it occasionally now, but I wouldn’t want it full time, but if it works for you, that looks like a great option!
Thank you so much for watching, and thank you for your comment!
I recently got a barely used (NIB return) 50 1.8 S at B&H. Works great but the AF motor is audibly louder than that of my 20-70 f4 S and my 35mm 1.8 s. While the AF motor definitely has an audible wine to it, as I was trying to figure it out I noticed that the aperture "flutters" as focus changes contributing to the noise. It's most obvious if you manual focus the lens slowly. It flutters every so often. If you focus a tad bit faster it flutters even more. It's as if there some sort of crosstalk between the AF motor and the aperture motor. I don't think this is normal, but have you seen this in your copy? I'd hate to RMA a perfectly good lens if this is some sort of quirk that the lens exhibits (though my gut tells me it's a defect of this specific lens and may even be why it was originally returned).
Thanks in advance.
Hey there, I'm so sorry to hear about the noise! I don't have mine to hand any more, because I hired it, rather than bought it, but it was virtually silent when I was using it - definitely didn't notice any fluttering either - sounds like it might be a defect. Good luck in sorting it!
Oh my! I was thinking about it. Keep my old Nikon 50mm f1.4 or go to the new f1.8S?
As the old f1.4 work pretty good on my Z6 (say it, the autofocus is slower than the S version), I've kept it to fit also my D500. Maybe I'll go with the 35mm f1.8s instead :)
Many many thanks for this brillant review :)
Michael Kuszla so my Nikon 50 1.4 is the really old version (with the aperture ring and no focus motor) so it doesn’t autofocus at all with the z6, but if I had your version I wouldn’t even think about it - it’s a great lens, but yours is greater...
Little Tipple I see! I got the same problem with my pretty old 28mm f2.8D. I keep it because I love these colors, but I don’t use it on the D500, and on the Z6, it stays cool, but with the lack of AF + the size of the adapter, I loose all the benefits of this tiny lens.
Michael Kuszla absolutely - that’s my issues... I may go with the sigma 85 1.4. Which is a beast, and with the adapter will be enormous, but at least I know it’s a great lens!
I have it and also the 85 1.8 S. The Z lenses are a huge advantage to the F mount ones, independent of model and price: no chromatic abberation, no distraction, no distortion edge to edge sharp also wide open, least lens flare ever. This is also at the 24-70 2.8 S like so, Tony has a very interesting comparison of the 24-70 2.8 S versus competitors ruclips.net/video/_i3_6Us-5f0/видео.html - I had shooting with a model last weekend and the 85 1.8 S nailed it. If we get with firmware upgrade 2.2 a better low light AF as well as a reliable face and eye detection AF (at least like X-T3, better a7 III or a7R IV) Nikon is back on track and we have the best camera system ever.
PS: check specially the info starting at about one minute three secods ruclips.net/video/_i3_6Us-5f0/видео.html
50mm f1.8S Z is best for Z bodies, 50mm F1.8G is great for both F and Z with FTZ, the 1.8G is sharper than the 1.4G as well.
Now I am somehow keen on a vacation on Islay and a sip of Single Malt, I have no clue why this is like so 😇. - Slàinte mhath! 🥃
Roland Rick Photography you’ve got to go - absolutely incredible place! And a single malt is always a good idea!
@@LittleTipple , will do so asap, never have been there yet. Any suggestion at which season/month/week is best? Meaning: best sunrise/sunset plus least count of tourist (specially such as other photographers - kidding 😂) - Btw: commented to lens and Z system as reply to Michael Kuszla comment below.
Pretty happy with mine. Nice images: I’d like to visit Islay myself.
It’s amazing - you definitely should! And that’s good to know - it’s still on the list!
A video that could have been interesting and watchable, ruined by the distracting, and often over-loud music. Sorry.