Hi--

>>I have used Nikkor f1.2 50mm, 55mm, and 58mm lenses. The old 55mm design
>>was not bad, but definitely not wonderful. Edges and corners were not
>>up to Nikon normal. The 50mm is really excellent wide-open, but over
>>a fairly limited focus range (mid-close distances), with relatively
>>poor edge/corner performance near infinity focus compared with the slower
>>50mm's. The 58mm f1.2 aspheric that I tried was a disappointment, and I
>>lean toward the theory that the sample was defective. Performance at
>>apertures wider than f5.6 (where it was superb) was noticeably poorer
>>than with any other Nikkor normal that I have tried.

>Perhaps I better focus on 1.4 lenses, either 35 or 85mm, for a good
>compromise of speed and quality.
>Thanks for your reply,
> leover@knoware.nl (Leo Verwoerd)

You're welcome! If your distances where f1.2-2 are most used are about 4-15 feet, the 50mm f1.2 offers the best quality. The 50mm f1.4 also is good,
with better contrast over most of the frame at f2 than all but the 50 f1.2
(though the edges and corners may not be as good at f2 as the slower
normals or the 85mm's). The 35 and 85 f1.4's produce good images at f1.4,
though the contrast is not the highest, and the 35 edges and corners suffer at some distances. The 58mm f1.2 should produce the best results (but
the one sample I tried didn't - but I would try this one, if you can afford
it [and have a return agreement]).
David Ruether