A few shots with the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AI-S
I was writing this story about the Nikon F3 and realised that pretty much all the photos I used were shot with the 50/1.2 AIS. So…here’s a mini review of this little gem.
The specs
This is the fastest F-mount lens Nikon made, along with the 58/1.2. It is also one of the fastest 50s you can buy for a very modest amount of money used (got mine for under £300). The lens is very compact for such a fast lens and is really really well made. The focus is super smooth. The finish great. It focuses down to 0.5m, which is great for tight portraits. Nikon’s specs page is here. I’ve used the lens on the FM2, F3, F100 and F5 and it balances really nicely.
The opinion
I’ve shot tons of photos with this lens and the overall experience can be split into two modes.
Wide open, there is a bit of glow, a softness across the frame but there is still a lot of detail. The look is great for portraits, especially at night where you’ll have a bit of grain from faster film, a lot of contrast from the lighting and even a little camera shake/subject movement due to the lower shutter speeds.
