Nikon AI-S 50mm f/1.2

Nikon 50mm

This is one of the few manual focus Nikkor's still being made, although it can be hard to find as they don't do huge production runs obviously but with a little patience you can find it new if that's what you're after. If not, there are plenty of them floating about looking for a new home. There have only been a few lenses released by Nikon over the years with an aperture this large. It is this huge light gathering ability which is the main draw here. The other big benefit is the beautiful out of focus blur, or bokeh, that can be achieved but does it deliver?

As with almost every Nikon manual focus lens I've ever used, the build quality is simply beautiful. It is made exceptionally well with a manual focus ring that is buttery smooth, something you rarely get with modern AF(S) lenses. It seems a little off this time talking about the normal aspects usually discussed when deciding if you like a lens. Sharpness - well the AI-S 50mm f/1.2 has good sharpness once you get to about f/4. Larger apertures than that, it is sharp enough. I say it that way simply because its of secondary concern. What this lens does have at ultra large aperture settings such as f/1.2 and f/1.4 is a dreamy quality which may sound like a criticism, but it in fact gives you a lovely image when used in the right circumstances. We obviously use our camera and lens combinations to tell a story of the way we want an image to be remembered, which is sometimes an accurate representation and other times not. Sometimes we want a razor sharp image to bring out every ounce of detail, or we'll use another lens that lets us get very close to the subject, other times we want a large aperture portrait lens to have the person sharp(ish) and everything else blurred to minimize distractions. This then is not your typical 50mm lens, the AI-S 50mm f/1.2 is likely bought in large part for its large aperture so shooting at f/4 and smaller is not the primary concern. When used opened up, you will get a very unique shot but you need to know before buying it what you are getting and what you are not. 

Surprisingly, the AI-S 50mm f/1.2 has fairly respectable resistance to flare. It certainly is not immune, but it's not plagued by it either which is an accomplishment considering it's age and very large aperture. CA performance is more of a mixed bag, I've certainly seen worse but chromatic aberrations are easily induced when shooting with a larger aperture setting. I have noticed that this lens does not hold up well at the smaller apertures, so you really want to stay at about f/11 or larger for good performance, but that's hardly a handicap as I doubt anybody will be overly concerned with the AI-S 50mm f/1.2 performance at f/16 and smaller. 

I should mention that I haven't used this lens on a full frame camera as I'd already switched to digital by the time I bought it and therefor cannot comment on it's behavior under FX use. I love having this lens, it really is a unique offering and gives an image unlike anything else I have. I cannot claim it is a lens I use very often, but for those times there is a scene that suits it, there is nothing else I have that could replicate it's abilities. I thought when buying it I'd use the 50mm f/1.2 mostly for shooting people, and I do sometimes use it for that. Looking back however, I've most often used it in reality when I'm feeling creative with still-life's to add some fun. For the average photographer, an indulgence to be sure, but one I'm happy to take part in.