Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Ai-s : Specifications and Opinions

Reviews

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The following opinions have been automatically translated with Google Translate.

Davide Lenardon

sent on 25 Maggio 2025

Pros: Microcontrast, colour, f/2.8 sharpness, very bright, bokeh, construction

Cons: Manual focus only, sharpness up to f/2, chromatic aberrations evident at f/1.4, suffers from backlight

Opinion: This vintage lens has a very high, almost cinematic image quality. The colors are beautiful, dreamy... The sharpness from f/2.8 is really very high and the bokeh is very pleasant (always from f/2.8). At f/1.4 and f/2 I don't recommend it because it's not very sharp and has chromatic aberrations, at f/1.4, quite evident... To be used only in emergencies. Manual focus is a disadvantage for me but there are also those who prefer to change it directly from the ring... When there is backlight, the quality drops and the image becomes practically opaque. In my opinion from f/8 the sharpness starts to deteriorate. The construction is very solid and is pleasant to use, still being light but very solid. In general, therefore, it has really beautiful colors and a very pleasant bokeh... sharpness, when focused correctly, top.

Il Santo

sent on 22 Maggio 2021

Pros: Metal and glass - Optical quality (stopped a bit)

Cons: Don't have it.

Opinion: What I can do with it: 50mm is my passion. I own three and I use all three. Nikkor Ai 50mm1.4, Nikkor Afd 50mm1.8 and Olympus OM 50mm1.4. The Nikkor 50mm1.4 has good optical performance if stopped a little. At the end of the opening the vignetting becomes evident, has a discreet coma and the contrast drops a lot. Between f.2 and f.4 it improves suddenly and at f.5.6 reaches its maximum. It is a pleasure to use it, especially on mirrorless and especially in B/N. Built as a tank, as they used to be built, it does not clutter the bag for excursions where lightness becomes fundamental. It always returns well-balanced images such as colors and contrast and great tonal passages in B/N. It has a very pleasant blurry and the sharpness is as satisfying as the feeling of use. Bought on the baya at a price that screamed buy me, in conditions as new. I still have to whip him well but the warnings of the first shots promise well. Happy to own it even more than to use it.

Gian Carlo F

sent on 04 Marzo 2021

Pros: beautiful, like all AI-AIS, crisp, beautiful blurry, compact and light

Cons: what more could be expected?

Opinion: Optics just taken. I'm using it on Sony A7rII A nice 50mm very bright, manual focus hard to fault. Certainly an ART (which I had and appreciated very much, the best optics I have ever had) does better, especially at t.a. but this behaves very well and at 1.4 it is still very usable, let's consider then that it weighs 1/2 kg less and clutters half..... Its strength, at least for me, in addition to the mechanical and optical quality, is the charm it exerts, as well as all the Nikkors of the golden age ..... that I always regret a lot. For me they are real "creatures"

Massimogreco

sent on 23 Marzo 2020

Pros: Light, small, blurred by fear, iron and glass, opening, minimum distance

Cons: Nothing

Opinion: Taken for my Nikon FE2, the lens is great for portraits with a fantastic pdc also due to the very small minimum distance. To the touch gives excellent sensations thanks to the materials used. 50mm higher than version 1.8 ais and version 1.8 D, the latter newer but with a lot of plastic and a lower yield. Very recommended.

Natino

sent on 22 Febbraio 2020

Pros: Old-fashioned optics, sturdy, beautiful. Solid. Great from f/2 up

Cons: A f/1.4 I find it inuable !

Opinion: What about... Had. Sold. Bought back. Resold. Personal opinion: Unfortunately at TA I find it too soft and with a bokeh a little kneaded and nervous. almost swirly. From f/2 up it gets great. But then it would be worth taking the 50/1.8. Unfortunately I was not excited about digital (I used it on Fuji XH1 and various other fuji bodies). I'm going to take it back to try it on Sony A7 III. But if I were to cast my vote for my own experience (unless my specimen was defective) it would not exceed 7. Both the first and second lenses tested. I will update the review as soon as I find it and try it on A7.

Giulianophoto

sent on 29 Agosto 2018

Pros: Quality, construction of other times, blurred, price.

Cons: Nothing

Opinion: I'm using it on D800 and on XT2 and I find it fantastic with a construction of other times... at F/2 is already ultra sharp even on dense modern sensors with shadows very open, fully usable even TA correcting some aberrations in post. Thanks to the focus peak of the XT2 focusing is easy, while on the D800 is a bit ' harder to get it at 1.4. For the price to which it is located is a great purchase, especially for the mirrorless world which facilitates so much on manual focus. Too bad the presence of only 7 blades in the diaphragm, but the blur is excellent the same.

Delio.bartolucci.boyle

sent on 17 Febbraio 2018

Pros: price reliability robustness

Cons: I would like to understand it

Opinion: found at 100 or 150 euros I do not remember. impeccable lens, I'm fine at TA and I use it often in digital. Recently I'm starting to shoot in film but I expect even better results. I would like to try more noble lenses to understand the difference but for my use and for my budget with this lens I'm fine for normal, I think I will take the same series in 35 so as to have the complete kit since I also 135. rn

Big Travel Photography

sent on 13 Ottobre 2016

Pros: fatastico blurry, brightness, strength, used vehicle price, sharpness, everything

Cons: Nobody

Opinion: I found this lens used for a paltry sum. I wanted to sell it and rifermi a little money, but once you put on the car I fell in love. I use it on 3200. A TA is fantastic, closing some amazing stop. I think it has a lot of advantage over technological grandchildren. Focus manually can be a little difficult when you are at TA, but once you get used is a beauty! I can take night-razor-sharp pictures even though my 3200 does not allow me to turn up the ISO as I would like.

Pietrodel90

sent on 11 Agosto 2016

Pros: Softness, pronounced blurred, sharpness, brightness, quality of materials, vintage flavor

Cons: None worth mentioning if you think that is an ob not modern

Opinion: I shall be profane and do not understand! (How Toto said) but I like a lot this goal. I purchased it from an old photographer for the price of 60 E and although it has manual focus, no stabilized, it is old, heavy and all you can think about when we talk about an old thing, this ob able to give emotions amazing - like his grandfather's old bike that has its years, but always manages to assert themselves on the field. I use this lens on a Nikon D5000 and all the photos that gives me always surprise me, are dense, fuzzy, full of brightness and detail. Then aesthetically I really like his vintage flavor and the jerkiness of metallo.rnSe rings you want to make a gift of which you'll never regret it and always will smile to remember, this ob is what you need.

Pier88

sent on 15 Maggio 2016

Pros: Vintage, grand opening, flawless construction, color, sharpness.

Cons: Apart from the defects regarding my copy (I explain in comments), no.

Opinion: This lens has given me my father and it was a pleasant surprise, f / 2.8 is a blade, very very sharp. impeccable construction as we do not see anymore. Unfortunately my specimen has been widely used and perhaps also abused, the rear lens has several scratches, so if use more diaphragms closed of f / 2.8 and the photo appears dull with very washed-out. If I can find a new specimen by little, I think I will replace it, is really a view that satisfaction.

Fabrizio N

sent on 06 Aprile 2016

Pros: Infinite softness, soft colors and very warm, vintage feel.

Cons: Whereas we talk about a lens of about 30 years, I think no one

Opinion: I bought this lens for the price of about 130 Euros and, although its use is only sporadic, I believe that I will keep for life for soft and vintage flavor that gives to my photos. My usage is based on the experiences with nikon d80, d90 and d700, and I would be curious to know how it acts on new sensors. As for me, if you find a lower price, it is an experience ...