Guidance needed for 50mm F1.8

[vnwt88]

Hi all,

first i will like to thank all for all the help and advice u guys have given me;

i read the some comments on the 50mm f1.8 which i have encountered too:-

'' Quote
1. It would be disappointing if one purchased this thinking that it could be used for excellent low-light photography when shot wide open at f/1.8
2. At f/1.8, there is significant softness in the image even if it is focused properly
3. At f/1.8, the Depth of field is so narrow, that it requires significant effort to make sure you are properly focused. Otherwise you will have 2 sources of "softness", one from the out-of-focus regions, and the other being the inherent softness that's present for apertures greater than f/4
4. To shoot with optimal sharpness, it needs to be stopped down to f/4 (at f/2.8 the image is still very good, however Unquote ''





i have encountered the above and will like to ask when will f/1.8 be used?

and how i can fully explore the potential of this lens esp in low light ?

also most of my pictures are soft or out of focus when i shoot in P mode.




thanks again


victor

[tribal.snake]

To reply...
1. i think many have done low-light photography with this lens and are ok with it. of course there are other better ones.
2. dun understand what u mean by softness? maybe post a pic.
3. if u consider 1.8 dof narrow, wait till u try the 1.4 or 1.2. and i think u mean bokeh and not softness. these are 2 different things.
4. all lens stopped down to f4 -f8 will be sharp. u want sharper at f/2? try the CV or zeiss lenses.

the 1.8 isn't the best lowlight lens, but at its price the performance is exceptionally good. would suggest either getting a tripod or a flash if doing lowlight.
if just shooting 1.8 at lowlight, u not gonna get much la, unless u bump the iso. also, try shooting in A or better yet, shoot in manual.
P mode at nite, imo, sucks in lowlight.

post a pic and bros here can discuss further la.

[Fotophilic]

I have used both China and Japan version of this lens. AI and AIS ones not yet. I do agree (in general) with what u have found and observed.

i have encountered the above and will like to ask when will f/1.8 be used?

It all depends on how much depth u wanted. I suggest u sit down, mount ur camera with the lens on a tripod, and start taking pictures of objects at diff F-stops. Get use to the distance and DOF. Some ppl like to shoot wide open and the effect can be a bit "dreamy" (i.e. soft). When u know the capability of ur equipment, u'll know better when u should use them.

and how i can fully explore the potential of this lens esp in low light ?

Sometimes i do shoot wide open at 1.8 in low light. I did that because i rather get pics that are a bit soft than to get pics that are blur from handshakes and subject motion. I don't really understand ur question perhaps, but i think if u wanna explore the low light potential, nothing beats trying it out urself in low light (or indoor). One way is to take pics of kids running here and there.

also most of my pictures are soft or out of focus when i shoot in P mode.

What camera are u using? Is it due to the front and back focusing of the lens (i.e. the focus point is a bit forward or backwards)? To test it out, u try shooting on newspapers with lots of words. Focus on one word (or alphabet) and take picture. See if the word (or alphabet) is in focus. If it focused a bit in front or back of that word, ur lens may have some focussing problem. Models like D300 can AF fine tune the lens. Others, maybe u can try to manual override by focusing it urself.

U pics may be soft purely because it is wide open. Sharpness is very subjective. So maybe u try at diff F-stops and see if it will be sharper.

Hope this helps.

[vnwt88]

hi all,

thanks for the prompt advice;

i am using a D90;

i will try to post some pic;

what program should i use to downsize the photos b4 posting ( will exif be retained ) or should i post full size ?

also may i ask whether the in camera processing function like red eye reduction, straightening etc is avail in the nikon viewer? mine is not;

thanks again for time and patience....

[vnwt88]

also which viewer will tell me what mode ( P, A, S or M )the photo was taken in?

thanks again

[blue_quartz]

Originally Posted by vnwt88 i will try to post some pic; what program should i use to downsize the photos b4 posting ( will exif be retained ) or should i post full size ? also may i ask whether the in camera processing function like red eye reduction, straightening etc is avail in the nikon viewer? mine is not;

You can try using IrfanView, a freeware, to resize the jpegs while preserving the exif data as well. You'll need to install the exif plug-in separately though - more information on the website.

[vnwt88]

Originally Posted by blue_quartz You can try using IrfanView, a freeware, to resize the jpegs while preserving the exif data as well. You'll need to install the exif plug-in separately though - more information on the website.

thanks a lot for your help;

what should the re-size image size be for posting ? thanks

[tltan]

i think the "softness" is bearable.

try taking the camera to bright area and shoot at f1.8. if its sharp, its ur handshake in low light.......

I have the 1.8 and like to go f1.8...nothing sharpening in post process cant manage

[zac08]

I do quite a bit of street shooting at night...





And here are some of the examples I take... wide open, soft?

[luntut]

Originally Posted by zac08 I do quite a bit of street shooting at night... And here are some of the examples I take... wide open, soft?

can i ask, at what ISO are you shooting at?

[slooow]

Originally Posted by vnwt88 1. It would be disappointing if one purchased this thinking that it could be used for excellent low-light photography when shot wide open at f/1.8 2. At f/1.8, there is significant softness in the image even if it is focused properly 3. At f/1.8, the Depth of field is so narrow, that it requires significant effort to make sure you are properly focused. Otherwise you will have 2 sources of "softness", one from the out-of-focus regions, and the other being the inherent softness that's present for apertures greater than f/4 4. To shoot with optimal sharpness, it needs to be stopped down to f/4 (at f/2.8 the image is still very good, however'' a]i have encountered the above and will like to ask when will f/1.8 be used? b]and how i can fully explore the potential of this lens esp in low light ? c]also most of my pictures are soft or out of focus when i shoot in P mode.

1. not true... it is still "excellent low-light photography when shot wide open at f/1.8
"... at least you get the quality for the price you pay.

2. true. this lens is soft at f/1.8. i would say sweet-spot is f/2.8.... infact, anything above f/2.0 is acceptable to me but sweet-spot remains at f/2.8

3. DOP is indeed narrow at f1/8, may be a source for error in AF contributing to softness or OOF. however if you use your camera and lense well, this will not pose any problems.

4. like i said, f/2.0 onwards is acceptable to me. f/2.8 is best aka sweetspot to most.

a] f1.8 is used mostly when ultimately d e s p e r a t e [hehe]

b] do 100s of test shots... practice practice practice

c] can refer to b]. or... test of front/back focusing issues... may be the lense or camera sensor alignment

[blue_quartz]

Originally Posted by vnwt88 thanks a lot for your help; what should the re-size image size be for posting ? thanks

(OT) Can try 1024x768...

[zac08]

Originally Posted by luntut can i ask, at what iso are you shooting at?

iso 800

[vnwt88]

thanks for all the advice again;

i have tried mounting on tripod and conclude that a very very high percentage of my
NO TRIPOD blur shots is due to hand shake;

will practise and practise again....


the shallow dept of field is also very challenging for me to get it right; sometimes only portion of the face is in focus only...


so my problem now is that in low light, i try to shoot at f1.8 but becos of the shallow DOF, focus is off; if i shoot at bigger Fs, shutter is slow and picture blur cos of handshake;

will try harder again

thanks again for all the advice given...

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by vnwt88 thanks for all the advice again; i have tried mounting on tripod and conclude that a very very high percentage of my NO TRIPOD blur shots is due to hand shake; will practise and practise again.... the shallow dept of field is also very challenging for me to get it right; sometimes only portion of the face is in focus only... so my problem now is that in low light, i try to shoot at f1.8 but becos of the shallow DOF, focus is off; if i shoot at bigger Fs, shutter is slow and picture blur cos of handshake; will try harder again thanks again for all the advice given...

Remember, bigger f stop is referring BIGGER HOLE, so the number is smaller..... eg f1.4 is big f stop (aperture), f5.6 is small f stop (aperture)

[tltan]

an example of a shot I made recently with this wonderful lens. Wonder when I will pull the plug and get the 1.4G! hhe.


D300, ISO1600, 50mm, f1.8, 1/30

One more shot to show how I love this lens, the bokeh and the lowlight handholdability...if there is such a word. =)

D70s, ISO200, 50mm, f1.8, 1/6 (check out the shutter speed)

Shoot more. More often then not, its user fault. =) remember to try to abide by 1/focal length unless you got external support. Otherwise, hit as close as possible by sacrificing a little bit of noise by up-ping your ISO. =p

Regards,
tltan

[tltan]

Originally Posted by catchlights Remember, bigger f stop is referring BIGGER HOLE, so the number is smaller..... eg f1.4 is big f stop (aperture), f5.6 is small f stop (aperture)

I think he meant bigger F number.

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by catchlights Remember, bigger f stop is referring BIGGER HOLE, so the number is smaller..... eg f1.4 is big f stop (aperture), f5.6 is small f stop (aperture)

I thought f-stop is inverse of aperture. The term f-stop should be referring to the number. So bigger f-stop or f-number = smaller aperture. No?

[Weili80]

Originally Posted by lsisaxon I thought f-stop is inverse of aperture. The term f-stop should be referring to the number. So bigger f-stop or f-number = smaller aperture. No?

If I am not wrong, f-number is the ratio of the focal length/aperture size. Assuming that the focal length is fixed (as in this case 50mm), the bigger the f-number, the smaller the aperture size and the smaller the f-number, the bigger the aperture size. For example, when a camera is set to f1.8, it has a bigger aperture compared to when set to f2.8.

[samtcy]

Is this lens able to auto focus using D40 body?