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Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S
alaAverage 4.3

17 reviews

May, 2024

alaTest has collected and analyzed 17 reviews of Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S. The average rating for this product is 4.3/5, compared to an average rating of 4.4/5 for other products in the same category for all reviews.

On average, users rate this product 85/100.

Review analysis

(Based on 17 reviews)

User Reviews  

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Showing 1 - 10 of 17 Show Reviews: in English

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

The lens is very fast. If you want a shallow depth of field this is the best lens you can find. I read a mixed bag of reviews here and the people seem to either love it or hate it. The ones that hate it all complain that it is soft - clearly they don't...

very fast very sharp and very shallow DOF

Manual focus and unforgiving. You need a camera with a good viewfinder... would highly recommend you have a split screen in your view finder for best results.

Jan, 2009

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

This is a truly amazing lens when used properly. At wide apertures, focus is absolutely critical due to the very shallow depth of field. I have made beautiful photographs with this lens. The images have a rich, full, almost "3D" quality which is really...

Sharp, superb image quality and bokeh, superb build quality

No AF-S or AF version available... yet

Sep, 2008

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

I bought it second hand, convinced by it s fair price. The first test revealed that the Nikkor 50mm f 1,4 AI-S I already owned was better wide opened. The Nikkor AI-S 50mm f 1,2 is quite soft at 1,2....due to the coma and the spherical aberration that...

Built quality and still the optical performance.

Optical quality wide opened.

Jan, 2007

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

If you want sharpness, great contrast & color and straight lines in your photos, this ain't it!! I've got both the 1.2 and the 1.8 AIS (1981-1985 version). The 1.8 is truly unbelievable. The 1.8 will blow you off your feet regarding it's performance....

If I shot at night this lens would probably be OK. In fact probably crucial.

Soft...much too soft!

Sep, 2006

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

Not a good fast lens. f1.2 and f1.4 are very poor. Internal flare is terrible. Ghosting is terrible. Not the low light tool you'd expect. Should evaluate other lenses.

Build quality. Nice bokeh. Good paper weight.

Not sharp wide open at any aperature. Never catches up to performance of a 50 f1.8, 55 f1.2, or 55 Micro. Expensive for used lens.

May, 2006

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

After using this lens I understood why people would pay $500 for a f/1.2 MF Nikkor rather than $100 for a f/1.8 AF Nikkor! The contrast and sharpness are absolutely fantastic. The bokeh is great as well. I used Fuji 200 Superia and Fuji 100 Pro Plus...

Performs best at f/2.8 to f/8. Depth of field restricted to 3" at f/1.2, so focussing has to be precise. Shoot subjects at a distance of 5 to 15' for best results. Avoid shooting at infinity.

Tendency to flare when shooting into the light source. Field curvature, but this is common to all ultra fast 50 mm lenses. Expensive, but you get what you pay for!

Feb, 2006

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

I only used this lense a short while, but I liked it very much. It's a fat and heavy little bugger and larger than the 50mm f/1.4 AF version. There was nothing in performance that would keep me from buying or using the lense again. I just like the...

speed

manual focus, weight

Dec, 2005

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

This lens looks wonderful, is beautifully made and performs wonderfully well under almost all conditions. Its speed is a real bonus, bright viewfinder image and useful in poor light and for selective focus. It amazes me that some users say that this...

Fast, sharp, colour balance, excellent construction, nice looking.

Heavy? Very expensive new.

Jun, 2005

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

Actually, I have its' predecessor, the 55mm Nikkor f/1.2 AI/S. I use it on my N90s and (especially) my Fuji S1 Pro dSLR with fantastic results, scooping up night racing shots with the minimum 320 ISO of the S1 Pro and f/1.2 aperture with no blue...

You can capture shots otherwise unobtainable with other lenses

Exposes any focal plane misalignment... No AF-d model available!!

Dec, 2004

Consumer review (photographyreview.com)

Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S

 

I am sure the reason why people get this lens is not because it is the most 'sanely' expensive normal nikkor, if som they would have gone for the noct nikkor. The reason is to snatch a picture, a usable picture under low light conditions where a slower...

speed. the pictures i got from this lens is almost always soft given i only used it only when i have to, under low light condition. i got a nikon series e 50mm 1.8 for the day, the 1.2 lens is used exclusively with fuji cu1600 or press 800 for night...

significant curvature of field, and barrel distortion makes it unsuitable for straight line work. coma and ghosting can sometime be very obvious in low light shots esp when there is a point source in a picture dominated by dark areas.

Aug, 2003
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