ktk8
New member
I picked this up a few days ago to have a lighter fast prime to play with. (I love my 60mm micro, but it's quite a bit heavier!) I was being a distinct penny pincher and the price of this ($122) versus the f/1.8G ($252) was significant. (note: prices are in Australian dollars)
Likes: Cheap, delightfully sharp, lightweight.
Dislikes: It only comes with a front lens cap, no rear one.
I can't speak for the technical side, but I find this lens fun to use. The AF on my D7000 is faster than with my 18-105 kit zoom, or my 60mm micro. It isn't quiet, but that hasn't bothered me yet. The manual aperture ring is not smooth, but as I lock it to f/22 for my camera, this is not an issue for me. The focus ring moves smoothly when the camera is set to manual focus, and stops hard at infinity and at the 0.45 minimum.
Please excuse the following photos; I picked them to show an aspect of the lens and they aren't the best.
The bokeh in this... it is not as smooth as my 60mm micro. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I guess 'jittery' would be right. The background is light foliage; light can come through it and it shows up as the circular blurs; I think if I use it for this kind of picture, I will be choosing a denser background to avoid those circles.
This isn't the sharpest image I've gotten, but subject was moving and uncooperative. However, the ability to do photos like this, with the shallow DoF is something I love. Being able to do this with such a small, light lens is exactly what I wanted.
This was indoors, with flash. I was sitting, kid was grabbing at my legs. My 60mm is too long for such moments; the 50mm can manage, but I probably will look for something wider when I can.
All images are direct from the camera, no PP done.
For anyone wanting to explore what can be done with a f/1.8 lens compared to their kit zoom, this should be on their shortlist. It is cheap, light, versatile and can produce great images. It is easy to use for someone like me with very mediocre skills but I can't image reaching the 'limit' of what I can do with it even if I get much better.
Likes: Cheap, delightfully sharp, lightweight.
Dislikes: It only comes with a front lens cap, no rear one.
I can't speak for the technical side, but I find this lens fun to use. The AF on my D7000 is faster than with my 18-105 kit zoom, or my 60mm micro. It isn't quiet, but that hasn't bothered me yet. The manual aperture ring is not smooth, but as I lock it to f/22 for my camera, this is not an issue for me. The focus ring moves smoothly when the camera is set to manual focus, and stops hard at infinity and at the 0.45 minimum.
Please excuse the following photos; I picked them to show an aspect of the lens and they aren't the best.
The bokeh in this... it is not as smooth as my 60mm micro. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I guess 'jittery' would be right. The background is light foliage; light can come through it and it shows up as the circular blurs; I think if I use it for this kind of picture, I will be choosing a denser background to avoid those circles.
This isn't the sharpest image I've gotten, but subject was moving and uncooperative. However, the ability to do photos like this, with the shallow DoF is something I love. Being able to do this with such a small, light lens is exactly what I wanted.
This was indoors, with flash. I was sitting, kid was grabbing at my legs. My 60mm is too long for such moments; the 50mm can manage, but I probably will look for something wider when I can.
All images are direct from the camera, no PP done.
For anyone wanting to explore what can be done with a f/1.8 lens compared to their kit zoom, this should be on their shortlist. It is cheap, light, versatile and can produce great images. It is easy to use for someone like me with very mediocre skills but I can't image reaching the 'limit' of what I can do with it even if I get much better.
