Dear Bryan,
you wrote:
>I do lan on purchasing the 50mm 1.4 D
Well, itīs a real pleasure to shoot with this lens in dim light conditions
as I did many times whilst photographing jazz concerts and sessions. Even
when I had to use extremely fast films (up to ISO 6400) because of the lack
of light the finder was bright enough to focus manually if this was
necessary. The AF worked very fine too because the lens is fast enough. When
using the lens stopped down to f/4 or f/5.6 under daylight conditions it
produces incredible sharp and contrasty pictures. So optically there is
nothing to worry about. In this respect the AF-D 1.4/50 is a professional
grade tool.
But the build quality is another story... Iīve made very bad experiences.
Thatīs why I traded in that lens and bought a Tokina 2.6-2.8/28-70 AF-D Pro
II instead (by the way: a very very fine lens!). A few weeks ago I started a
thread about this problem on the list but many listers didnīt made bad
experiences like I did. My sample of the 1.4/50 was very wobbly and shows a
clearly visible gap between the lens barrel and the focus ring. Even my
Sigma 1.8/28 AF-D asph. II is of a better build quality than the Nikkor was.
Donīt get me wrong, surely not every AF-D Nikkor is of a bad mechanical
quality but I guess the sample variation is much bigger than among the MF
Nikkors. All my MF Nikkors are build like a tank and are operating as
smoothly as I like it. So if you decide to purchase the AF-D Nikkor check it
very carefully before spending your money. Shake it, turn the rings, listen
to the noise when operating in AF mode and compare it with the manual
1.4/50. My recommendation: if you really need or want the AF- /3D Matrix
options you have to buy the AF-D version. If you like more the feeling of a
high quality lens and itīs solid operation in you hands get the MF Nikkor.
Hope this helps
Kay
--------------------------------------
Kay-Christian Heine
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
--------------------------------------
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--------------------------------------
