Nikkor AF-S 58mm f1.4G Test
Over the span of summer, I've been wanting to secure a space for the Nikon in my kit by replacing my 50 1.8G for a "super 50mm" lens. I've been comparing the 58, the sony A7+ZA55 combo and the Sigma 50ART as candidates. Although the 50ART and the ZA55 rate many times higher than the 58 almost everything, I still went for the 58 for the way it renders life and from images I've shot with it (these are the first ones), it's plenty sharp for me. There are clearly no such lenses in the dSLR world that has autofocus and the rendering quality of the ZM C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 (despite its field curvature problem) aside from the 58.
The way it brings the subject into the frame and the way it makes the background go wild in such interesting yet smooth yet undistracting way (so many ways) is perhaps the one reason why this lens exist and for those who truly understand its purpose can create images of the unique (all of this with the usual 2000$ Nikon lens goodies of Nanocoating and optical magical colors etc...)
Now to use this lens, you absolutely need an AF system that needs to keep up with it. Since the lens has the strong design intentions of Haruo Sato (well respected lens designer at Nikon), most of the emphasis has been put on balancing correction (aberations, glow) with rendering (colors, bokeh, etc) and has resulted in a very short depth of field focus zone that needs to be nailed wide open. I was fortunate to have the D750 to calibrate the lens with (it took a week or two to get it perfectly right to an absurd number).
If you are new to 50mm lens, by all means go for the 50 1.8g or go for anything else than this pricey one. You buy the 58 because you have tried all and you require the lens to accomplish something specific in which not many lens company has had the guts to make in this day and age of high technology, in this case bokeh rendering.
Nikkor AF-S 58mm f1.4G Test
Over the span of summer, I've been wanting to secure a space for the Nikon in my kit by replacing my 50 1.8G for a "super 50mm" lens. I've been comparing the 58, the sony A7+ZA55 combo and the Sigma 50ART as candidates. Although the 50ART and the ZA55 rate many times higher than the 58 almost everything, I still went for the 58 for the way it renders life and from images I've shot with it (these are the first ones), it's plenty sharp for me. There are clearly no such lenses in the dSLR world that has autofocus and the rendering quality of the ZM C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 (despite its field curvature problem) aside from the 58.
The way it brings the subject into the frame and the way it makes the background go wild in such interesting yet smooth yet undistracting way (so many ways) is perhaps the one reason why this lens exist and for those who truly understand its purpose can create images of the unique (all of this with the usual 2000$ Nikon lens goodies of Nanocoating and optical magical colors etc...)
Now to use this lens, you absolutely need an AF system that needs to keep up with it. Since the lens has the strong design intentions of Haruo Sato (well respected lens designer at Nikon), most of the emphasis has been put on balancing correction (aberations, glow) with rendering (colors, bokeh, etc) and has resulted in a very short depth of field focus zone that needs to be nailed wide open. I was fortunate to have the D750 to calibrate the lens with (it took a week or two to get it perfectly right to an absurd number).
If you are new to 50mm lens, by all means go for the 50 1.8g or go for anything else than this pricey one. You buy the 58 because you have tried all and you require the lens to accomplish something specific in which not many lens company has had the guts to make in this day and age of high technology, in this case bokeh rendering.