Which 50mm for D-200

I have the Nikon D-200 with a Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC lens. I am looking to buy a 50mm lens. B&H has the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D Autofocus Lens for $279.95 and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D Autofocus Lens for $109.95. Or theres the Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG lens for $269.00. Any advice on which lens would be best for my D-200.

Thanks in advance,

-M-

The Sigma 50mm f/2.8 is a macro lens, and rather slow for a 50mm at that. Buy it if you want the macro feature, but if you plan to do a significant amount of low light work, skip to the Nikon 50mm lenses. I personally have a manual focus version of the 50mm f/1.8 which I use on occasion; the f/1.4 lens would be nice, but I don't use a 50mm prime enough to justify spending that much. The extra half-stop can be useful at times, but unless you frequently encounter situations that would stress even the 50mm f/1.8, I'd save your money and get the less expensive (and only slightly slower) version of the two.

I'd say unless you want to do macros, skip the Sigma.
If you intend to do regular type shooting and some portraits, either the f1.4 or the f1.8 version but if I remember from photozone.de both versions are very sharp. I'd say f1.8 version if this is an occassional lens for stuff but a f1.4 lens if you intend to use this heavily for work/portrait use or what not.
Good luck

What do you want the 50mm lens for?

I carry one, f1.8, just as a light weight backup, occasionally for the wider aperture and it is sharp. Most of the time I now use a zoom so I can fill a frame. In the past this would have been a main lens for much of my shooting but zooms are now better than they were.

I've used the AF 50mm 1.8, 1.4, MF 1.2, MF 2.0 and the MF 45mm 2.8. Additionally, I've used the 55mm f/2.8 AIS and 35mm f/1.4 AIS. The best results with a D-200 were, for me, the two AF lenses and there was no detectable difference between the 1.4 and the 1.8. The 1.4 does need a lens hood where the 1.8 is recessed enough so that one is really not required. This makes the 1.8 an incredible value. I was really hoping that the 45mm would do better and it does with film. For some reason, this lens doesn't behave that well on my D-200 (better at close distances, but infinity is just soft). Interestingly, the 50mm 1.2 AIS and 35mm 1.4 AIS perform VERY well on the D-200. Maybe not quite as sharp at the edges as the two AF lenses, but certainly a better build quality and silky smooth manual focussing which I very much appreciate. I actually did test all of these lenses shortly after getting my D-200 and was somewhat surprised at how well the AF lenses did. As always, these were my personal results and your mileage may vary based on sample variation, etc.

Hi Chris,

How do these 50mm lenses perform with very high contrast between say a dark coat and a white blouse? Are there any purple fringes.

Also how easy is it to see that the 50mm 1.2 AIS and 35mm 1.4 AIS are in focus. Do you get focus confirmation or is it sinply easy to manually focus as with an R9 Lecia?

Asher

Hi Asher,

Have not seen any problems with CA or purple fringes with the AF 50's. Both the 35 1.4 and 50 1.2 did show some at a stop or two down, but interestingly, the wide open performance was quite good although there was some sharpness loss at the edges. I have been extremely pleased with the focus confirmation function on the D-200 although I only use it in low light ...brighter conditions work well for most of my MF lenses on the D-200 simply using the focussing screen. I think the focus confirmation is helpful psychologically because you aren't always sure with today's viewfinders ...they simply aren't the equal of the older MF bodies.

The lenses that are most prone to CA or purple fringe issues (based on my copies) are the good old Nikkor wide angle primes (20mm - 28mm) and even the 20mm AF. This is unfortunate because I believe their film performance is quite good and they are lighter and more enjoyable to use than my 17-35mm f/2.8. BTW, this zoom is great with the D-200 and clearly superior to the primes w/digital ...I just don't enjoy carrying it with me all the time.

I love the Leica M cameras (own the MP and a classic M6 and a variety of lenses). I've had the opportunity to use the R9 and it was not an easy camera for me to focus or use. Frankly, maybe because of my glasses, the F3HP is still the easiest camera for me to focus. This body with the 50mm 1.2 is a joy to use and I still do even in this digital age!

I would get the Nikon AF 1.8. It's cheap, lightweight, sharp and a nice little add on to have in the bag. I used it for many years for low light/hand held conditions. It was good with film and is good with digital as well. I replaced it recently with the Nikon AF 1.4 but only because my daughter started to borrow it so consistently, that I had to do something about it. )
The difference between the two lenses is minute.
Angela