The 35/1.8 DX has considerably less CA than the 35/2 FX or other 35mm lenses, in fact, the DX lens has very little CA. At lest that's my experience with it, after having tested a few when I bought my D300s some years ago. I sold that lens, so I can't have a new look at it, but I fin't it strange that you see a lot of CA when your lens is used on the V1. The FT1 does not add CA, that comes from the lens. Perhaps there is something wrong with your lens in this regard.
Yes, maybe my copy is a lemon. I don't know. I've not seen many people complaining about this lens. So maybe I've got a bad copy.
The thing which I definitely hated in the 35/1.8 DX lens was that EXTREMELY noisy and slow AF motor. IQ wise it was fine, and CA wise it was definitely the best of the three alternatives I looked at back in 2009 when I bought it. The lens received a lot of praise on the DX forum, and I would not go that far, but in my opinion it was a good lens on the D300s, though I used the 50/1.4 more and in my opinion that lens is a totally different class.
Wide aperture and FT1 is a different thing. The FT1 isn't really optimal for fast lenses, in fact, Nikon warns for the bokeh degradation.
"The tops and bottoms may be missing from circular bokeh shapes created at wide apertures using lenses with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 or f/1.2."
So, I am affraid there is no free lunch, if you feel you need nice bokeh and the best possible results then you have to buy the lenses made for the camera. The FT1 in my opinion is only a good solution if you only occasionally use a lens. For regular use, I think I'd go for the 32/1.2.
I'd use the lens only occasionally. So, I won't buy the 32/1.2. Bokeh is not that important, as I'd like to use this lens for concerts.
In that case the 50/1.4 is a good choice, though you must be aware of a few more things. The bokeh isn't really something to worry about since in most situations you will not see the negative effects of the FT1 on it. I mean, the background must really be special to see the effects Nikon is warning for and using the lens wide open, or wider than f/3.5 which is the widest you can get with the 30-110, is really not an issue. It is a great lens in my opinion, even on the V1 with the FT1. But...
Last night I did a quick test with it and that confirmed my previous experience. While there is nothing wrong with the detail, even at f/1.4, one thing which isn't that optimal, and that is the focus hunting I get in low light, low contrast situation. The EVF/LCD is of course brighter than it is with the 30-110, but I have the feeling that there is also less hunting with the lens. I don't know why that is, using the 50/1.4 on the D800 in the same situation does not result in hunting at all, but OK, that is a totally different camera. Never the less, I think you have to be aware of this, especially if you are planning to use it on concerts. I am not sure it really have an advantage over the 30-110 there, since even though the 50 is much faster, the VR of the 30-110 compensates for the lens speed loss very well and being a zoom it offers more flexibility concerning composition and focal length. Also the ability to select more than one AF area is a big plus for the 30-110, as well as the size. The 50/1.4G isn't really a cheap lens in my opinion and personally I would not buy it for the Nikon 1, especially if it is only for occasional use and not also used on a DX/FX body as well.
Another alternative may be the Russian chipped adapter for manual lenses. You lose AF, but you can use the AF assist dot and the arrows and it does not degrade the bokeh because it is just a circular tube, so nothing is blocking the light before it enters the camera body, unlike in the case of FT1. I have no idea why Nikon designed so stupidly. If it at least had an AF motor inside it then I'd understand the need for space, but as it is, they should have designed with more care.
BTW, my 50/1.4G works fine with the FT1, much better than the 35/1.8DX. It has also faster and quieter AF motor and it feels as it runs smoother also. My lens works nicely on both the D800 and the V1, and it also worked well on the D300s.
Glad to hear. The samples posted by Eric look fine to me, which confirms your findings.
My issue with the FT1 is the shape of it. It makes very uncomfortable to hold, so I prefer not to use it unless I use tripod. Stopping down the lens improves it of course, like every other lens, it performs better stopped down, but there is really nothing wrong in using it wide open. Of course, one major reason in using fast lenses is to get narrower DOF, so if you stop down to f-numbers which are equal to the 30-110 f-numbers at 50mm then it kind of invalidates the purpose of using the FT1 and the 50/1.4.
Exactly. That was the purpose of this thread.
My advice is to take the camera to a shop which has the 50/1.4G and try it out.
Ah ! You're a lucky man. Here, you can't do that...
I could help you out in Toulouse and Paris area, but not in Marseille. Have you tried Fnac and Darty?
Good luck.
