Whoa! Nikon has actually updated one of its plain old ordinary short-normal prime lenses!
Cool.
We approve. We're just a touch worried, though. The press materials all yawp about how this lens is supposed to "commemorate" 75 years of Nikkor optics and 45 million lenses produced. (Leica has made us permanently antsy about the word "commemorative.") So is this the beginning of a sensible, progressive, orderly updating of all of Nikon's primes for digital FX, or a one-off special-occasion bone tossed off to us nattery little complainers who can't get with Zoom Nation? It's got to be the former, right? Nikon, Nikon, say it's so.
The lens has eight elements in seven groups, silent-wave focusing, focuses to .45m, weighs 290g, takes 58mm filters, and will ship with a lens hood.
Cool. Now keep going, Nikon.
_____________________
Mike
The lens is AF-S. That much is clear, no matter what the website says.
As for the nano-coatings, I'm pretty sure it will have them, but we will have to wait and see.
Best,
Adam
Posted by: mcananeya | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 05:20 AM
According to the Nikon Imaging Japan website it DOES have the Silent Wave Motor (thus the "AF-S" bit) , but I can't find anything about the nano-crystal coating, so maybe it doesn't have that feature.
A bit annoying, since I just recently purchased its predecessor (which is actually a lot of fun on a D700). If the new version is a whole heck of a lot better I am going to throw a tantrum.
Posted by: Kent | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 05:34 AM
It's a proper silent wave motor with full time manual override; you can tell by the switch on the side. Lousy micromotors get A-M only. Proper silent wave motors get M/A-M or A/M-M.
Posted by: Ming Thein | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 05:52 AM
Thanks gents. I changed the post to remove the bit about the mistake on the Nikon website. Someone's responsible for that website, after all, and probably just made an understandable error under considerable work stress. No use making an enemy of that individual, whoever he or she may be.
Mike J.
Posted by: Mike J. | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 05:59 AM
Looking at the tightness of the depth of field indicators, it makes you wonder why they bothered with a focus ring. Hopefully more to come ... not everybody wants lenses that start at f/4 or weigh about a kilogram.
Posted by: Stephen Best | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 06:31 AM
It figures that they've start updating the primes now that I've put my D40 on eBay. The price seems to have gone up quite a bit from the old version, but probably it's worth it.
Posted by: David Long | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 06:51 AM
The lack of aperture ring is already annoying, because the lens cannot be used on older cameras (F3, F90X).
The DOF scale is a joke, isn't it? Why doesn't Nikon engrave a good DOF scale on their lenses, starting from f1.4 with EVERY aperture on it? Do a few marks of paint really cost that much?
I'll keep my 50/1.2AIS.
Posted by: Bruno Trematore | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 07:16 AM
I must admit that after reading the specifications, the lens looks more interesting.
I hope that a few primes more come.
Posted by: Bruno Trematore | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 07:25 AM
I doubt that they will update ALL their primes. Firstly, this is not an updated lens, but a newly designed lens. And even Nikon can't splash out enough R&D money to do that to all of their primes, in one go, can they? (Not with the cycle times of Coolpix and DSLR updates, anyway.) Secondly, put an SWM motor in a 50mm 1.8D, and that lens will lose most of what makes it attractive: size, weight, price.
Posted by: Bernd | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 08:33 AM
The rumor mill was all over the 85/1.4 being updated as well, so perhaps we still have that to look forward to.
If this 50 doesn't have the nano-coatings, we can always upgrade to the Sigma; unfortunately it costs more than twice as much.
Posted by: David Dyer-Bennet | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 08:37 AM
I have to say this leaves me depressed. I've been waiting for a lens like this for the last year, and hoping it would come out in time for fall, my principle photography season. But it will be just barely too late, available in December, exactly the time of year my picture-taking plummets and the weather in New York turns to misery.
Posted by: Eric Ford | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 10:01 AM
I was hoping they'd reissue the Noct-Nikkor to compete with the Canon 50mm f/1.2L.
The next lenses they need to come up with are a 35mm f/1.4 and a 20, 24 or 28mm f/1.4.
Posted by: Fazal Majid | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 11:31 AM
What was wrong with the old one? (Except for poor bokeh.)
Posted by: Eolake Stobblehouse | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 03:13 PM
Can't say I'm wildly thrilled. The only reason this lens needs AFS is so it will work on certain Nikons that require it, ie D40's(D60 ?). I don't use AF all the time more like half the time. One can only hope that other performance features have been improved. I also wonder if Nikon will 'update' the other short primes. Lord knows the wide primes could use it.
Posted by: Dennis Allshouse | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 03:34 PM
$440 sounds good, especially after Pentax have announced their 55mm f/1.4 at $800.
Posted by: Miserere | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 04:42 PM
At first sight that's good news for D40, D40X, and D60 owners, and not before time. (they won't autofocus except with AF-S lenses)
And 1.4. That's wonderful. Or it would be if it were not (at 290g) more than half the weight of a D40, etc. A D60 including battery is 522g.
And the price is not so wonderful. So for all those small camera users out there, Nikon, please make an AF-S 1.8. and we will forego the extra stop and have a tiny carry around instead.
Posted by: David Bennett | Monday, 22 September 2008 at 05:24 PM