Scary 50mm f/1.8g Portrait

[ccting]

Just bought Brand New Nikon 50mm f/1.8G prime lens.. and the output looks scary..

No post production except exposure



Other scary photo : http://digital-photography-school.co...-lens-test.jpg

1/200s, iso 100, flash, f/1.8

Do you think these images are scary?

I find the f/1.8 lens hard to use, autofocus very fast but inaccurate..

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by ccting

Just bought Brand New Nikon 50mm f/1.8G prime lens.. and the output looks scary..

No post production except exposure



Other scary photo : http://digital-photography-school.co...-lens-test.jpg

1/200s, iso 100, flash, f/1.8

Do you think these images are scary?

I find the f/1.8 lens hard to use, autofocus very fast but inaccurate..

The eyes are too soft.

You'll find there's so many people make the same mistake as you on here... buy a fast lens and immediately shoot with it wide open (I did something similar).

Your DOF at 1.8 is VERY thin, and not easy to master doing portraits like this.

Scary? No

Focus inaccurate? I'd say there's nothing wrong with the lens, more your understanding of DOF and how to use a 1.8 correctly.

Personally I always find it better to step up a stop or 2 to increase your DOF and get everything in focus that needs to be.

[RLucas]

Did you do anything to this in post? I ask because there is a lot of contrast in this, and it looks like you tried to push it even more. To the point where the hot spot down the left side of the face is going gray. This will make it appear softer too. Looks like the focus point fell in the very front of the hair line, as there is nothing else remotely in focus.
To get the same exposure, you could have dropped the shutter back to 1/125, and stopped down to f/2.8 or 3.5 to get a little more leeway on the dof. Ideally you could have pushed the ISO to 400 as well, and stopped down to f/4. That is where these lenses start to shine as far as sharpness goes.
Also, you may want to think about using a reflector or some fill flash on the far side to pull the shadows up a bit to get rid of some of that stark contrast. That will help get rid of some of those hot spots that do weird things when you try to adjust the contrast in post.

[Peach]

1.8 gives you a very, very, very, very narrow window of focus.


Snowmen by JustPeachee, on Flickr

That is taken at 1.8. The snowmen on my PJs are only about an inch, if that, big. That's the type of window you get with 1.8, insanely narrow.

The 50mm is great, even though mine won't autofocus on my camera, and even though I struggle with other things, when I DO get it right, the results are very impressive. So definitely take the advice of the posters above and stop down some more.

Remember:
Small number = SMALL depth of field.
Big number = BIGGER depth of field.

It's more complex than that, but that's how I remember it so I don't subconsciously flip to a big aperture thinking "Oh that's going to let in tons of light, just what I need!" lol

[scootermcq]

Probably one of the sharpest lenses Nikon produces. This was shot at f7.1 (on a 1.4, but the results are the same at f4.5 and up) 100% crop to illustrate sharpness

[TNH]

Why do you think they're scary? The light is a bit too bright on the side, but not so much that it makes the picture 'scary'.

[ccting]

Originally Posted by RLucas

Did you do anything to this in post?.

Exposure = -2. I use the same lighting with reduced power level (3 stops reduced) for my kid lens.... It is still over exposed..too much

[ccting]

Originally Posted by ajax_andy

Your DOF at 1.8 is VERY thin, and not easy to master doing portraits like this.

.

I know f/1.8 is very thin, but i have a thought that, using f/3.5 on this lens is a waste.. (weird thinking..)

[ccting]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

Probably one of the sharpest lenses Nikon produces. This was shot at f7.1 (on a 1.4, but the results are the same at f4.5 and up) 100% crop to illustrate sharpness
]

If I have to use f-number more than f/5.6, I think buying this lens is a waste.. why not just stick to my "kid" lens?

[ccting]

Originally Posted by TNH

Why do you think they're scary? The light is a bit too bright on the side, but not so much that it makes the picture 'scary'.

Not the picture scary, but the light sensitivity of f/1.8 is too scary where I have totally lost control of my lighting settings..