How does the Nikon 50mm 1.4 Z Perform for Basketball

[@leod1671]

Jules, great video and awesome shots of the girls’ basketball game. That lens seems to be a winner, not only it is less expensive that the 1.8S, it is pretty sharp too. You stopped down to 1.6 in a few of the shots, I imagine that if you stopped down to 1.8 the sharpness would improve closer to the original 1.8S. So, for less money you have the advantage of 1.4 plus sharpness close to the 1.8S, would this be a true statement? Anyway, again, enjoyed our content and thank you.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@leod1671 It may be true Leo, but since I don’t have the 1.8, I can’t know for sure. But, from what I understand the 1.8 is extremely sharp. So I would think it’s sharper than the 1.4.

[@kirgrushko]

Hi Jules, did you need to use manual focus when shooting basketball at all? If not, then believe it’s possible to disable automatically switching to manual focus when you turn the focus ring while in autofocus mode. I think it’s one of the custom settings… That way you won’t change your focus by accident.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you I'll look into it.

[@CP23798]

I've been wondering how the z fifties compare to the f ones. I know the z ones are sharper and have some other optical improvements, but I'm wondering if those improvements would show up in medium-sized prints. Have you had a chance to print images taken with your new fifty, and, if so, what are your impressions in regard to the results? It looks like the new f/1.4 is working quite well, and it definitely proves its worth in this context in which you can successfully crop a high-resolution file. What I've seen of the new f/1.4 online is that it's a pretty good lens, somewhere between the old f-mount 50mm f/1.8g and the new f/1.8s but maybe with a touch of what some people call "character."

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

I have not had any of my images from that lens printed, but i'm very pleased when view at 100% on my 24 inch monitor. It is definitely sharper than my 50 1.4 Ais lens. In the near future I intend to do a comparison video with the 50 Z 1.4 , the Ais and the Canon 50 1.4 new FD and maybe I'll even include the 55mm 2.8 micro Nikkor which is very sharp. In a previous test a few years ago I found the Canon to be the sharpest 50 1.4 I have. Thanks for watching.