On Tue, 3 Jun 2003 12:40:19 -0500, Fountainhead <HRoark@schannen.com> wrote:

>I currently use the Nikkor 28-105 F3.5-4.5 D on my N65 as my basic lens,

>and I'm fairly happy with it. I'm not a particularly serious shooter.

>I've recently begun working in a home darkroom (B/W) and have become

>more concious of the sharpness (or sometimes lack of) of my photos. I'm

>considering Nikon's 50mm F1.4 D, not only for the speed (for indoors),

>but hopefully to enable me to get some sharper photos, even where speed

>is not an issue. Is this reasonable to ask of this particular 50mm lens?

>If I take one shot with each lens at the same apeture/shutter speed,

>will I notice any additional sharpness from the prime lens over the 28-

>105 (at 50mm)? Or will the difference be negligable?

Depends on what you shoot (how far away) and at what f-stop.

A good sample of the 28-105 would be hard to tell from the

50mm f1.4 or f1.8 AF (which perform similarly from about

f2.8-4, contrary to the impression others may have given,

and the f1.4 can look better at f2, if the far edges are

not considered, though I prefer not to use it at f1.4...)

around f8-16, but at f4 or wider, the difference would

likely be easy to see. The f1.8 is a bargain lens, though,

and well worth the low price for its excellent sharpness

and low linear distortion. See for more:

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html.