Nikon 50mm 1.4 G for redrock

Jennifer Rogers · January 11, 2009

I have the new Nikon 50mm 1.4 G, which is excellent for my D90, but now I have decided to save up for the Redrocks 35mm adapter and am wondering how useful it will be. Unlike the Nikon 1.4 D, this lens does not have a f ring. I would like to use the redrocks adapter first for a Canon hv30 and someday for a HVX200 or whatever the equivalent is when my budget reaches that point. If I have done my research correctly, it seems that the lens will be good in terms of being prime, fast, and smooth with focusing, but I will not be able to control my DOF. The lens will have to remain wide open so no fancy shallow depth of field shots. Is this right or am I missing something?

David Auner aac · January 11, 2009

Hi Jennifer,

the aperture of the lens is primariliy used for controlling exposure. But when you change the aperture so does the DOF. And as long as the lens is wide open, DOF is the shallowest. It will be quite shallow at 1.4, maybe too shallow to pull focus effectively. Unless you have a decent follow focus and a very good 1st AC. I think you're best off getting a second 50mm, maybe get the cheaper 1.8 in the manual focus version. That lens can be found around 70 Euro around my part of the world. Shouldn't be much more wherever you live.

Regards, Dave

PS: There may be some way of changing the aperture manually on that lens, but that might require some flimsy jury rigging...

timHealy · January 11, 2009

I don't think there is anyway to control the aperture on Nikon's G series lenses. The lens gets its info from the slr camera body.

I think G series lenses are stuck in the closed position without the body. So you'll have to light to a 16 or 22 to try and use it. Maybe I have that backwards and it is stuck in the open position, but I thought it was the former.

Either way, I would avoid using it and get a lens with a manually controlled iris.

best

Tim

Kristian Schumacher · January 11, 2009

Hi Jennifer!

I have actually done a little of this with a Sigma lens for Nikon on my K-3, and it was quite a hassle. As Tim says, the aperture will be closed down to the smallest aperture, not wide open if you just stick the lens on as it is. I cut little plastic wedges that I jammed into the lever mechanism on the lens that controls the aperture. I cut different size pieces for different apertures, but to change the aperture you´ll need to remove the lens from the camera and fiddle a bit. Not very practical, but it let me use both a sigma 10-20 and a nikon 300/2.8 which was quite cool.

Good luck,

Kristian

Jennifer Rogers · January 12, 2009

Thanks Dave, Tim, and Kristian. This is all useful information. I think I will invest in other lenses. Also, Dave, your part of the world is very near to my part of the world. I live in Prague and will be making a trip to Vienna soon. Could you recommend a good camera shop, one with new and used equipment? Thanks.