Nikon Nikkor AF 50 mm f/1.8D review - Ghosting, flares and transmission

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Nikon Nikkor AF 50 mm f/1.8D

20 January 2010

Arkadiusz Olech

9. Ghosting, flares and transmission

Super coatings, so touted by Nikon, are not so great after all. When we start working against bright light we might get without any problem such effects as in the picture below, which was taken on the Nikon D200 and by f/1.8. Perhaps such a performance is not totally bad but the Canon 1.8/50 for instance fared a bit better here.

Nikon Nikkor AF 50 mm f/1.8D - Ghosting, flares and transmission

When we work on full frame the effects are very much alike. Fortunately on stopping down we see a much better situation and by f/8.0 the artifacts stop being so bothersome which might be noticed in one of the sample photos presented below.

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Luckily the transmission graph looks very good for an instrument from this price segment. In the middle of the visible spectrum the lens loses just 2% of light deserving a lot of praise. The situation is worse for the blue and red part of the spectrum where the losses increase to over 10%. The overall picture in this category remains positive because you can hardly demand more for this price point.