Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 D versus Nikkor
45mm f/2.8 P

Today the weather was very beautiful in vienna, so I decided to change my plan and do some testshooting instead of sitting stupid in front of my monitor ;-)

Not like photographing something for fun this kind of photography requires real concentration from the photographer. You have to know first what you want to do, make a plan and be sure at all the time that you dont fly of on a tangent. That sounds easy, but it isnt. If you forget in your notes about the smallest piece you wont have any chance at the end to find out with which setting the just now considerd pictures was made. For example: The Exif Data shows you clearly which lens you have used, but it cant tell you which filter was in front of the lens, and also the distance adjustment will not be specified after the event.

Therefor one of the most importend rules during every lens testing should be to write everything down during and after every single change was made.

For this test I placed my tripod at the window from my living room and poited the 50mm lens to the hill on the other side from our small valley. The trees in front are just 20 meters away and the distance to the houses must be around 500 meters I´ll guess. The Hoya R72 Filter was mounted in front of the Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 and after the white balance was seted again, I started with the test. What I forgot to tell you guys is, that the exposure metering from the Fuji S3 Pro UVIR isnt that accurate. Not same as the "normal" S3 Pro where you can go and shoot, you have to check every single Picture with this camera first. An Exposure Compensation (usually around -1,5 EV) has to be made in advance to avoid bad surprises. This procedure is necessary with every lens and it dosent matter if there is a IR filter in front or not!

Both lens deliver great results in normal photography, but what about there ability to record infrared light? The answer to this question we will get very soon. Lets start with the "Standard" Nikkor, the AF 50mm f/1.8.

The first question I always ask myself is: Which distance setting and which aperture will deliver the best output with this lens? In daylight photography there are some keyfacts, like... step down the aperture for about 2 to maximum 3 stops and you will get the best results.... not same in Infrared. Many lens must be set to the maximum aperture (highest number-f/22.0) to get some acceptable results. But even with those settings many lens will deliver ugly hot spots in the middle from the recorded picture.

So lets see together which aperture works well with this 50mm lens in combination with the Hoya R72 filter. Everything underaperture 4.0 is worthless in IR so lets start with this aperture.

Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 at f/4.0 with 1/500sec and the Hoya R72 filter:

Now the same picture with aperture f/5.6 and 1/250sec exposure time:

Next must be f/8.0 and 1/125sec:

Now we come to the aperture f/11.0 with 1/60sec exposure time:

And the next one with f/16.0 and 1/30sec:

and at least.... f/22.0 with 1/15sec exposure time:

Naturally the difference between this six pictures can´t be that big. But lets take a closer look. The sharpest ones are the ones made with aperture f/8.0 and f/11.0, right? There is no difference visible to the eye, do you agree with me? Only the contrast from the picture with f/11.0 is slightly better. So from the first test the winner is...... aperture f/11.0!!!

to be continued soon....