I took my AF Nikkor 50mm /1.8D out for a walk with my Nikon Z6. I've been on a bit of a vintage kick lately, taking each of my 50mm lenses out for a walk in the same area of the park during the same time of day to get an idea for how each lens renders the same scene differently. While the experience of shooting my other three vintage 50's on my Nikon Z6 was fresh in my mind, I thought I'd go back to my most-used lens to see how it compares to the other two. Good sharpness, good contrast, and a 7-bladed aperture which gives better stopped-down rendering than any of my other vintage lenses' 6 blade designs. It feels noticeably more modern in the hand. Manual focus is light, the other lenses feel like the ring is moving something heavy and substantial, the Nikon D lens feels like it's not connected to much of anything. The one thing I don't like about this lens is how it gives a half circle or crescent moon shape around bright out-of-focus spots, which can give backgrounds a nervous, busy look. The Pentax SMC 50mm/2 renders similarly, while the Canon FD and Helios 77 both have a soap-bubble ring around the entire bright spot. I prefer either the full soap bubble, or none at all. Overall, I think the Canon FD and Helios 77 will be the vintage lenses I use most often when I know I will be shooting mostly wide open, and the Nikon lens will be what I use when I will be shooting stopped down. _________________________________________ http://kyleclements.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmiUd20adk

Photography's rules AREN'T a checklist to mark off; think of those rules as a bucket of tools to use when needed, where you can reach in and pull out two or three, and ignore the rest. Every "rule" is an enabling technique to try out when you get stuck, not something that must be used every time. _ http://kyleclements.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cos76YedHeA