Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC - A Review

 

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/7.1 1/200 ISO500

Most users of the net don't like to much read anymore, at least not a blog posting like this one. So, I share my opinion about the nice Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC right away. It is my personal viewpoint, like it or not.

• This is the lens for you if you are looking for a faster nifty-fifty walk-around lens and also take shots of tiny objects occasionally. I think this applies to many photographers who like to visit towns, museums, at day or night time. The images above and below are examples which are not that easy with other lenses.
• If you just want a lens for small flowers or insects, a longer lens like the Nikkor 70-180 f/2.8 is the better choice. Unless you need true macro magnification, it is easier to use a long lens and it will provide nicer backgrounds. Moreover, it doubles for many, many other purposes, like portraits, landscapes, closer wildlife as in the zoo, and more. I am going to show you examples below.
• If you are looking for a true macro lens and are serious with macros, the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 MC is the better choice. It is the better lens with more sharpness and better Bokeh. And you can stay further away from shy bugs.
• If you just want an excellent 50mm lens, get the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 S. That is not a macro lens, and you might have to crop for many tiny objects. In reality, the Bokeh is not much nicer at f/2.8 or f/4, and the lens is only a bit sharper. But you have the option to go to f/1.8 which makes a difference. See the the examples below.
• If you just want a cheap nifty-fifty, the 40mm f/2 is available. It is way sharp enough for anything, and indeed sharp across the frame at f/4. It is not a macro lens, however.

Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/5 1/200 ISO1400

I was luring for such a lens for a long time. The 50mm MC combines features which make it special for me.

• It has a lightweight and compact format which makes it ideal to carry with me or have it on the camera for walks and hikes.
• The lens is a true macro lens allowing a 1:1 magnification. I like taking macros every now and then. There are so many details to show along the way.
• It is a reasonably fast lens to allow night and low light shooting if the DOF is sufficient or objects need to be isolated.
• It provides excellent sharpness at f/5.6 to f/11 which are the basic apertures for street work.
• AF is fast enough unless too much action is taking place.
• Although it is not a cheap lens, you do not have to break the bank to buy it.

There are better alternatives ticking some of these marks, but not all. In this review, I try to compare the lens to the alternatives as far as I can. I also want to convince myself that the lens satisfies my needs.

Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/8 1/160 ISO100

These are the minor problems I found so far.

• The lens hood is not very effective. In some situations, you can get low contrast if you are not careful and the sun shines onto the front element. There is a third party lens hood by JJC which might improve this situation. Also, clean your front lens. On the other hand, I have good pictures with the sun directly in the image. See the image above where the front element was in the shadow, but the sun is almost in the frame.
• The macro mechanism extrudes the inner elements a bit when you focus closely. This keeps the lens small in the bag, but requires special care when turning off the camera. The lens will retract when you turn the camera off. Wait until it is fully retracted before applying force with the lens cap.
• The manual focus needs more turning than on other lenses. That is a good thing if you want to focus precisely in macros. But it can be annoying.
• There are lenses with a nicer Bokeh. The background looks sometimes a bit busy, especially in the transition zones. Moreover, the lens will be at f/3 in portrait distances, and f/1.8 simply looks better. But I am yet to see a macro lens with a really beautiful Bokeh. See below for comparison shots.

Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/11 1/50 ISO250

Let's have a look at the alternatives.

• The Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens is also a 50mm lens, and it is well know for its quality. But it is not a macro lens at all. Moreover, it is a lot heavier and longer. You can get it for the same price, however. Its f/1.8 aperture means that you can get slightly smoother backgrounds for portraits.
• The Nikkor Z 105mm f/2.8 MC lens is also a true macro lens, and it is one of the sharpest lenses you can get. But it is very much bulkier, and it costs a lot more. The longer focal length mean that you do not have to get that close to bugs, and that you can get a smoother background too.
• The Nikkor 40mm f/2 lens is also a light and compact lens. But it is not a macro lens, and its image quality is not on the same level. It is much cheaper, however, and way good enough if you do not make macros.
• As silly as it sounds, for micro shots I prefer a longer focal length. Even the Nikkor Z 70-180 f/2.8 can deliver better results. But it is huge in comparison.

I skipped third party lenses because they are either expensive, or not on the level of the Nikkor lenses. I tried some, but found them lacking too much.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC with JJC Hood

Let's compare with the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S and with other lenses.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8 1/320 ISO100 (cropped to 70mm)

Above, you see a flower taken with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, and cropped to match the image below from the 50mm MC lens. The differences in sharpness are all due to blowing wind, different shutter speeds, or a different focus point. But I would not call the Bokeh better or worse in one of these pictures. In other pictures, the f/1.8 has a tiny advantage.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/3.5 1/200 ISO100

Note that you can get a lot closer with a true macro lens like this one. The picture at the start of this posting and the following one are not very close. But they are out of reach for a normal lens for an uncropped image.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/5.6 1/125 ISO100

You can get much closer. The question is if you want to without focus stacking.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f8 1/200 ISO1000

In general, macro photography is a very special subject. If you do not have experience and good light, you should restrict yourself to micro shots. For this, a longer focal length is good enough. I get better results with my zoom than with any macro lens.

Nikkor Z 70-180 f/2.8 @ 135mm f/2.8 ISO220 1/200

The result of the 105 MC is almost that good, and the 50 MC is only a bit worse. The reason is that the macro lenses become f/3-4 lenses close up while the zoom lets in just as much light. The Nikkor Z 70-180 f/2.8 is a remarkable lens for landscape and also for details.

Note, that the flower is not completely sharp. It has a lot of sharp details, but also blurriness in the petals. To get more, you need to focus stack or to stop down. Here is the result of the 50mm MC at f/8.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.0 MC @ f/8 ISO1600 1/200

Yes, it has more sharpness on the flower, but loses much of the beauty due to the busy background. For a handheld shot, I took a higher ISO and a safe shutter speed.

I did some more pictures to compare the background smoothness or quality of Bokeh, and found no difference to the 50mm f/1.8 S. Below is a screenshot  comparing the looks.

100% screenshot of the 50mm f/1.8 and the 50mm f/2.8 MC

However, it cannot be denied that f/1.8 on the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S has a much nicer background than the widest aperture you get on the Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC.

Comparison of f/2.8 MC and f/1.8 S wide open

Again, the best version comes out of a longer lens.

Nikkor Z 70-180mm @ 155m f/2.8 1/160 ISO250

Of course, I also compared the sharpness. In theory, the S-line 50mm f/1.8 should be sharper. But I found not enough difference in real life to justify a verdict of the MC version. Technique and focus point seem to matter more than the lens.

100% screenshot of the 50mm f/1.8 and the 50mm f/2.8 MC

If we compare these lenses, we need to consider other qualities of a professional lens, like chromatic aberrations, flaring, ghosting and chroma issues. I strongly believe that the 50mm f/1.8 S lens is better in each of these aspects. But the difference might be marginal in real life. And I found no obvious problem with the 50mm f/.8 MC.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/3 1/200 ISO160

I can only assure you that portraits at 50mm or shots of people are easily possible with the lens and look good. I do not want to post pictures of people without their permission here.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/2.8 1/200 ISO250

At night, the f/2.8 aperture is welcome to avoid drastic ISO numbers and still use a fast shutter speed. The rendering of this lens is superb and without obvious fault. I would use it anytime without hesitation. For astro photography, the 50mm focal length isn't optimal anyway. So, I did not test that.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/3 1/200 ISO200

This ends my short review. I think the lens can be recommended without hesitation. It is not a cheap lens, but reasonably priced for what it delivers. The main use case should be a carry-around lens with light weight and small size, featuring as a nifty-fifty and the option to pick small objects along the way.

Nikkor Z 50mm f/2.8 MC @ f/5.6 1/50 ISO110