Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 - Short Review

Shot wide open at f/1.2 on Sony NEX-7 camera

In my opinion this is Nikon's king of DOF! This optic marvel has such a narrow depth of field and makes an amazingly soft transition to the creamiest bokeh, that it's hard NOT to make a beautiful picture.

This is Nikons fastest Manual lens. With an f-stop of 1.2 it will throw lots of light on your sensor. On a bright day you can use a variable ND filter to allow you to open the iris to maximum, if desired.

According to experts this is Nikon's sharpest 50mm lens, and it is still in production. When shot at f/2 it outperforms most 50mm lenses.

I use this lens regularly on my APS-C mirror-less camera. With a FoV of 75mm I sometimes use it for portraits. With a close focus distance of a little more than a foot and a half you can surely fill the frame with a face. See my post on the Nikon 15mm f/3.5 for a sample portrait shot with this fast lens.

You can imagine the beautiful shots that you can create with this lens when shooting High-Def video. This is no common 50mm lens. This is on my list of must have video prime lenses.

Nikon's Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 with original Nikon rubber hood on a Sony NEX-7 APS-C mirror-less camera