On a m4/3 camera, the effective 35mm field of view is 100mm, or a medium portrait/telephoto length. On an APS-C camera, the field of view in 35mm terms is 75mm, or a short portrait/telphoto length. Miscellaneous: 7 straight-bladed aperture stopping down to f/22, 52mm filter thread, metal mount. Compared to the already weightless NEX-7 (12.3 ounces/350 grams) it mounts to in this review, it feels like nothing is there!Ĭlose Focus: Marked at two feet/.6 meters, and you can’t get any closer than that. Specificationsįull Title: Nikon 50mm 1:1.8 Series-E (lacks the Nikkor designation)ĭimensions: 1.3 inches/33mm long, 2.5 inches/62.5mm in diameter, with a feather-weight of 5.5 ounces/155 grams. For others, if image quality is the only thing that matters, the 50mm f/1.8 E might disappoint in a few categories. For me, it is a lens I will be keeping even if I get a “better” 50mm due to this shootability. The “shootability” is through the roof, as it adds little length and virtually no weight to any camera. This compact size and lightweight (a characteristic shared by all of the Series-E lenses) is really the sole selling point for this lens. The 50mm f/1.8 E is the smallest and lightest 50mm lens ever made by Nikon, and would be the smallest and lightest Nikon lens period were it not for the dinky and slower 45mm f/2.8P which nowadays is more of a collectors lens than a great Nikon optic. So much so, it is weightless when mounted on the NEX-7 (really, any camera at all). Surely the above picture gives it away, this thing is TINY. So…where does the 50mm f/1.8 E come in then? It’s not the fastest production lens, even from Nikon standards (that would be the 50mm f/1.2 AI-s), it isn’t built like an AI-s Nikkor, and it isn’t a benchmark for other 50mm’s to stand up against (supposedly that lens is the Leica 50mm Summicron). That lens in particular is getting a lot of attention not only for its speed, but for its cost and performance compared to the Noctilux (will be priced around $5000 now).
For instance, the new SLR-Magic 50mm T0.95 Cine lens, reviewed back in February by Steve Huff, is one of the fastest 50mm lenses getting ready to be produced–faster than even the $11,000 Leica Noctilux (T-stops are faster than F-stops, that’s a concept to write about in and of itself…). For a lens to separate itself from the crowd, it has to have something special. When all the other camera companies and third-party manufacturers’ fast 50’s are taken into account, the sheer amount of choice is daunting.
They are lenses meant to appeal to all markets of photographers, from casual to pro choices from one manufacturer are numerous enough (Nikon alone has at least seven manual focus 50’s, and at least 5 autofocus 50’s). “Fast 50’s” are a category of lens all by their own that needs little explanation. For a detailed comparison of all of Nikon’s Series-E lenses, click here!