Rob's Photography Blog: Nikon AF-S 50mm F1.8G: After A Week

It has been one week since I received my Nikon AF-S 50mm F1.8G, and so far I am very satisfied with the results that I have obtained. When I decided to upgrade to the new G model from the AF-D model that I have been using I was looking for a lens that was sharp wide open. Nikon delivered just that with the new 50mm F1.8G. This week I'm looking to do some head to head tests between the two lenses to compare the similarities and differences.

I haven't done any major comparisons yet, but the first glaring difference between the two is one that I mentioned already, sharpness wide open. The 50mm F1.8G is sharp wide open, while the AF-D requires being stopped down to at least F2.8 before there is any resemblance of sharpness. Contrast wide open is also better with the G than the D, but not by much, and i think that comes down to using a hood with the G vs not with the D. I'm not going to rush out and buy a hood for the D just to find out though.

For my up coming full comparison I'm looking to test sharpness at different apertures, bokeh, contrast, chromatic aberrations and distortion (brick wall test anyone?) In the mean time, here are a few more samples.

Sample #1 @ F1.8