Nikkor Ai-S 50mm f/1.8 - Review / Lab Test Report |
Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (APS-C)
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Review by Klaus Schroiff, published May 2006
Special thanks to Dirk von der Ehe for providing this lens!
Introduction
The Nikkor Ai-S 50mm f/1.8 is the first manual focus Nikkor lens tested locally.
A zillion of these lenses can be found for extremely low prices over at eBay and
its genes are closely related to the current AF 50mm f/1.8 D so I thought it
would be interesting to check it out.
On APS-C DSLRs such as the D200 the field-of-view of the Nikkor is equivalent to 75mm
on classic full frame SLRs so the standard lens is transformed to a moderate tele
lens within this scope.
Typical for most Ai lenses from the good 'ol times the build quality is excellent.
The rather small rubberized focus ring operates very smooth and exceptionally well
damped. You should specify the lens data using the Non-CPU Lens Data option in the shooting
menu of the D200 so the aperture is correctly displayed in the viewfinder as well
as in the EXIF data of your files. In this case you may even take advantage of
the color metering system. Please note that this is not possible neither on the D50
nor on the D70.
Specifications |
Equiv. focal length | 75 mm (full format equivalent) |
Equiv. aperture | f/2.7 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
Optical construction | 6 elements in 5 groups |
Number of aperture blades | 7 |
min. focus distance | 0.6 m |
Dimensions | 28 x 64 mm |
Weight | 220 g |
Filter size | 52 mm (non-rotating) |
Hood | Nikon HS-11, HR-4 (optional) |
Other features | - |
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