Nikon 50mm f1.4 vs f1.8

[jetrim]

Looking to buy one of these, and my question is...
Both lenses get great reviews
Both lenses have the same pro's and con's listed
The 1.4 is approx. triple the price
For anyone who may have tried both, is it really 3 times better?

[another view]

The advantage of the 1.4 lens is that it's 2/3 stop faster. If you shoot in low light, this is huge - could easily be the difference between getting a shot or not (as long as you focused perfectly...). It really isn't a better lens, and if you read test results (I rarely worry about this) you might see a slight advantage to the f1.8. Some people say the f1.8 version isn't very well built but I've never heard of someone wearing one out. If you did, you could just buy another one for another hundred bucks and still be a hundred ahead.

Bottom line - if 2/3 of a stop is important, then get the f1.4. Otherwise, save the money and get the f1.8.

[Kajuah]

The 1.4 is great for controlling flare and glare coming from the sun or difficult working situations, it's also better sealed against the weather. I think Nikon G series are completely sealed against the elements, or nearly. I don't know where you come from about price, though, because from where I look the 1.8 is around the exact same price as the 1.4 ...it's the 1.2 that's the 1200 $ one, and 3 times the price of the others.

I've tried the 50 1.4, and I love it.

I've also experience in using the 55 1.8 super takumar, the 50 1.8 takumar (takumars are for pentax in that case) and the 50 1.4 nikkor theres really not much difference to look through the Viewfinder, but upon taking the pic some out perform the others in certain situations.

Here's a link to a website that compares the 1.8 to the 1.4 from nikkor:
http://photo.net/equipment/canon/ef50/

From the previews you can also see the 1.4 is very much more sharp than the 1.8

http://www.smartpict.com/lenstest/Ni...m_14_VS_18.php

[another view]

I think Nikon G series are completely sealed against the elements

Actually "G" just means there is no aperture ring (controlled by the sub command dial on the body). Some of the first G lenses were low-end zooms so they became associated with "cheap" but that's not the case - many of their top end lenses are now G lenses. However none of the 50mm primes are as of yet G lenses; they all have aperture rings.

I'm not sure where you are in the world, but in the USA the f1.8 has usually been around $100 and the f1.4 around $300.

[photophorous]

The reasons to get the 1.4 are better bokeh, ability to use shallower depth of field for effect, and/or ability to shoot in lower light. If those things don't matter to you, then save your money. The f/1.8 is plenty sharp, plenty fast for most things, and the bokeh isn't bad.

If you come from a film background and you like to use very shallow DOF, you might rather get the 1.4. Crop sensor cameras have a little more DOF at a given f/stop and equivalent focal length over what you may be used to with film. For example the 50mm on a crop sensor is effectively 75mm on film. Focusing at 5 ft, you get .2 ft of DOF at f/1.8 and .16ft at f/1.4. If you were shooting 75mm on a 35mm film camera at f/1.8 you'd only have .14 ft DOF. I like to really blur out the background sometimes, so for me the f/1.4 might be worth it just for that reason.

Kajuah,

Are you sure you have that right about the flare? Typically this is opposite of what you said, for two reasons. First, faster lenses have more complicated design, requiring more lens elements, which gives you more internal flare and ghosting, resulting in lower contrast. Second, the front element is bigger and less shielded, meaning it is more susceptible to stray sunlight if not using a lens hood.

Also, the link you provided was for Canon lenses.

Paul

[jetrim]

Thanks for the informative responses and especially to Kajuah for the links that illustrate what you all have said. Looks like I'll spring for the 1.4 as I frequently shoot in low light, and prefer a more shallow DOF in many instances. My main complaint about my current 28-80 f3.5 tamaron is the lack of sharpness even in bright light.