One of those old gems: the Nikkor 50 f1.2 - there is no equivalent in the current offering.
The box of the specific snap on hood:
The old Nikkor AIS lenses are manual focus lenses which can easily be used on the Nikon semi-pro and pro camera's (D200, D2X(s), D2h(s)). I am using a number of those lenses on my D200. There is an option in the menus to define the type of lens you are using (you have to set the focal length and the maximum aperture) - that option can be assigned to the function button on the camera - this is what I have done to make lens switching very easy. When this is done, you can use the aperture ring on the lens and the camera will detect the selected aperture and display it on the camera display. The camera will be able to measure and to expose correctly in aperture priority mode. Full manual mode is of course available as well.
Those lenses are then working very well and give a good old times feeling (using focus and aperture rings on the lens).
The biggest advantage is that those old lenses are relatively cheap and that you can find super fast, pro quality glass at a reasonable price. A number of very fast lenses were available in AIS version and have not been converted to AF.
This specific lens is the reasonably priced entry ticket into the superfast lens club.
This lens is NOT the so called "NOCT", the 58mm 1.2, usually recognized as the best one in the category.
Here is a picture of the 50mm "family" including the 1.4 AF-D, the 50 1.2 AIS and the 1.8 AF-D.
It allows to take pictures in very low light (the extra stop really helps for night photography), on the other hand,
the aperture results in extremely shallow DOF, making focusing a challenge.
You need to be extremely accurate to focus and stop breathing when you take a picture.
Don't forget that ANY movement perpendicularly to your subject will ruin the picture.
If you do portrait photography for instance,
even as little as 5mm movement of the camera when you press the shutter button will bring your picture out of focus
where you don't want it to be.
But if you learn to use that lens, you'll be very happy with the creative possibilities it offers.
Picture quality is excellent from f2.8 and above and very good even fully open.
The lens is definitely a bit softer fully open and also exhbits a bit of ghosting but nothing to be much worried about.
A recent update: the performance on the D3 is amazingly good and better than on the D200 for instance. Even fully open, it is a joy to use and relatively easy to focus. And picture are just sharp. I might have to investigate why I have that experience, taking into account that the depth of field is even thinner on the D3.
Pros
Cons
A few examples:
A kind of self-portrait (the blurred thing in the background) to show how difficult it is to focus properly.
