We've long held the opinion that the 50mm f/1.4G, while not bad, just isn't quite as good as the other fast Nikkor primes (the 35 mm and 85 mm are especially amazing). So when this lens was announced, we were excited and naturally assumed that it would be a killer replacement for that lens. While it can certainly take the place of the 50 f/1.4, it doesn't better that lens by the landslide that we had originally hoped for. That being said, it does have some really nice traits that make the price difference worthwhile.

The construction of this lens pays homage to the Noct Nikkor 50mm f/1.2, meaning that it is designed to excel at low-light photography. What does this mean to you? It means even lighting across the frame, and naturally beautiful highlights, even when shooting wide open. The other BIG standout about this lens is the bokeh (the look of the out-of-focus points behind your subject). It is amazing, and will allow you to really draw attention to the important parts of a photo (especially the eyes in a portrait) while smoothly fading the rest of the photo into a creamy blur. Truly, this lens has some of the best bokeh we've seen.

Okay, so it's not the "50 killer" that we were thinking it might be. But there's no doubt that it's better overall. The bokeh really seals the deal if you're a portrait photographer, and the increased image quality in low-light is an improvement over the standard 50 so you can capture events like weddings in all their glory.