On Wed, 04 Jun 2003 01:10:20 GMT, Manh Le <manhlhle@austin.rr.com> wrote:

>The concensus in this newsgroup, reviews at other web site, and my own

>unpleasant experiences with the Nikkor 50/1.4 lens seem to be well

>aligned, especially at 1.4

>

>I did shoot a roll of film at 1.4 and have promised myself never to do

>it again. However, I do enjoy the brightness of the 50/1.4 lens but

>apart from this I can't find any other advantages over the 50/1.8.

>

>Is there any other photographical application that the 50/1.4 have

>advantages over the 50/1.8?

Lenses vary from sample to sample, and differences are

generally greatest at the widest stops (and with the more

complex designs, like zooms, "floating-element" WAs, etc.).

The 50mm f1.4 Nikkor (many samples tried) appears to have

good consistency - and to show good resolution over most

of the frame at f1.4, but low contrast. By f2, the

resolution and contrast over most of the frame are

excellent, and the lens is quite sharp short the far

edges (not terrible there, but at f2 the f1.8 50mm Nikkors

beat it, but with lower overall image contrast). By

f4, the differences other than in linear distortion

between the 1.4 and 1.8 lenses are pretty much gone, and

both are excellent. Choose the 1.4 for brighter viewing

image and "snappier" image-quality over most of the frame

at the widest stops except for f1.4; choose the f1.8 for

lower linear distortion and more even center-to-corner

sharpness at f2-2.8... Both are good choices, but the 1.8

gives "more bang for the buck"...;-)