Nikon Lenses Compared - Real World Character and Sharpness. Is my £1600 lens better than my £300 one

I've owned dozens of Nikon (and other) lenses and for 2022 I have whittled this down to 7. Here I compare each for character and sharpness - is my £1600 lens better than a £300 lens??

[@tonyhayes9827]

The performance of the 50mm F1.4 is amazingly good for a lens almost universally canned for having no character. It's very close to the 58 but the background blur is better on the 58 I think. The top of the fence on the left side of the image and the tree poking out above it are busier on the 50 than the 58. I own the 50mm and have always loved it's character wide open even though its not supposed to have any

[@glennkphotog]

Great video. In these days of autofocus tests with people jumping in and out of frames, you brought up a great, and often forgotten point: autofocus in not infallible. Your comment about using manual focus and taking a breath, and watching the focus peaking highlights move up and down the eyelash, was a spot on example. Thank you! 👍

[@CreativePixelPhotos]

Thanks for sharing!

[@peterlund4501]

Nice test ! Sharpness is important but sometimes I like the less sharper lenses with different contrast. Last year I testet a lot of Leica L-mount primes. They are very sharp and nice lenses. But then I bought a 90 mm R Leica lens. And although this lens is very old it renders so nice and I love the look. The other thing I found out while testing is, that for me it’s very important how the lens reacts if backlit. I love how different lenses behave if they see the sun and how they flare. If you add a flash pointed at the back of the mannequin then you would get some of the situation that you could encounter on a wedding. So thanxs for the testing, sharing and explaining. Kind regards Peter

[@baronsilverton6504]

HI Allen - I have had many 50mm over the years and recently I did get rid of my 50mm 1.4G and kept my 58mm 1.4G. I did so because I have fully switched over to the Z system and I also have the 50mm 1.8 S lens which is the sharpest AF 1.8 50mm made for under $2500 competing head to head with Zeiss glass. I also have the 50mm 1.2 S lens for Z mount which is a marvel of a lens and stunning in so many ways I cannot list them all here. Both of the S line lenses are very well controlled and are very sharp. This is precisely the reason that I decided to keep the 58mm 1.4. This lens is NOT known for being sharp - to the contrary Nikon themselves talk about this lens having been designed for character and not for sharpness as opposed to their other 1.4 G series lenses - this one was unique in that way. I find that it has more of a painterly feel to it and so I kept it to have a lens that stands as unique against the technically superior S line lenses that I also have. When it comes to the 50mm 1.4 G vs. the 58mm 1.4 G - they both suffer from CA - but I thought that the 50mm was often worse, and I think that the bokeh on the 58mm is more pleasing. I also find that between the two the lack of sharpness in the 58 comes off more artistically than the lack of sharpness in the 50 which just looks 'out of focus' sometimes (both these lenses are relatively soft - and when compared to S line lenses they are extremely soft). The difference is the softness of the 58 is more artistic. I also recently bought the 40mm f/2 Z mount lens. It is very small, and extremely light. It costs $299 so it is also a great value. I love this lens. It is not as tack sharp as the 50mm S line options, but it is still quite sharp - center sharpness is excellent - it falls off to the edges more than the S line lenses but for portraiture this is largely irrelevant and the fall off is not so extreme as to ruin a shot. The lens does achieve good subject separation from normal shooting distances at f/2, and I am finding that I prefer the 40mm length to the 50mm length - I even think that I like it more than 35mm. To me, for everything it offers, and the extremely attractive price, the 40mm f/2 for Z is a no-brainer. I am even thinking of starting to use it for my pro wedding work over the 35mm 1.8 S - it is almost as fast - f/2 being only a third of a stop slower than 1.8 - but it is much smaller and lighter and in many ways more fun to use. Give it a try - I'd love to hear what you thought about it. All the best :)

[@CreativePixelPhotos]

Thanks and I would love the 40 F2 but here in UK there's literally no stock. I also see that as a prime contender for most used lens at a wedding - let's face it most wedding shots are (for me anyway) documentary and a small unobtrusive lens like this would make "mingling". There's a place for my 58 1.4g of course but I look forward to thye 40mm lens arriving soon - please:-)

[@baronsilverton6504]

@@CreativePixelPhotos I'll be interested to hear your thoughts when you get it (40mm f/2 for Z mount) 🙂

[@terrywbreedlove]

I love my 55mm Micro F2.8 very sharp lens. I am usually stopped down to F4 or F8. So I don’t really want or need a faster piece of glass.

[@l2avemotion]

I've watched around half a dozen of your videos. Your voice and the way you talk reminds me of James May of Top Gear/The Grand Tour/Food Tribe. You have some kind of charisma that keeps the viewers listening to what you're saying. About 50mm lenses, I own a manual focus Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4 SL F-mount which I bought roughly ten years ago for its creamy bokeh. Not sure if you've tried it before. But as I've aged, manual focusing is getting more difficult. Lately I've discovered there are Z-mount adapters that can "autofocus" any lens you put on it. Seems like an answer to a problem I'm having. I'm thinking about buying a Z5 and either a Megadap MTZ11 or Techart TZM-01 adapter. I'd be interested on what you have to say about these adapters.

[@briantafelmeyer7337]

Keep the 50 1.4. Trade the 58 1.4 for a 105 1.4 . I’ve been looking at the 58 on eBay and this has convinced me to pass. Thanks for the effort

[@jaimediaz9687]

You should try the new nikkor z 40mm f2.0. It has the character you are looking, at a great price and it is very compact. It is not 1.4 but it has that pop.

[@CreativePixelPhotos]

Ha - if I could find anyone with stock I would - here in UK no one has any