The "Little Guy" Ends Up on Top!

You've heard it before..."size doesn't matter"...but probably not in the context of photography. Have you ever looked at a photographer's camera lens and made judgements about how good or bad their picture is going to turn out? I'll admit it...until I became educated about the technical aspects of an SLR lens I thought that larger was better.

Well, over the last year or so one of our favorite lenses (that we've used religiously) has been the Nikkor 50mm 1.4G. I've been telling anyone who will listen to me that this tiny little guy is one of the best lenses I've ever seen. The sharpness, color replication, and depth of field out of this lens is simply amazing, and believe it or not it is one of the more reasonably priced lenses out there! So when I found out that our little work horse won the Top Lens in the autofocus category in the Professional Photographer 2009 Hot One Awards I felt like it was a win for all the little guys out there! This lens, which is about the size of a tennis ball may get some strange looks sitting on a large camera like our D700, but trust me it belongs there.

Here is the write up about this beautiful lens:

Our judges have consistently awarded Nikon for innovation and craftsmanship in the Lenses category, and this year’s no different. When used with an FX-format DSLR, the newly engineered AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G prime lens virtually replicates the visual perspective of the human eye. This compact lens comes with Nikon Silent Wave Motor technology and the ability to focus as close as 1.5 feet. The lens’s innovative optical formula works with Nikon Super Integrated Coatings to help correct sagittal coma flare and coma aberration. The rounded diaphragm opening and nine-blade aperture make out-of-focus background elements appear significantly more natural.

- M&L