Nikon SLR Cameras

Which lense would better achieve depth of field as well as bokeh?

rbd1235
rbd1235

I have the nikon 1 j1, I know it has a relatively small sensor, I'm 100% aware of that, but I can't seem to decide what to buy it's a battle between the "Nikon 1 Nikkor 10mm f/2.8 Fixed Lens" & "Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D Zoom Lens" however, there's a major change in price for the second lens, PLUS I'd need to buy an adapter for my j1 to even be able to use the lens. Which one should I get?

Added (1). Oh well actually, I meant to say shallow DOF, I have a feature on my camera where I can focus the lens, and on top of that I read a couple of reviews and turns out the 50mm has a manual focus ring, and also a aperture ring it's real neat in my opinion.

Jens
Jens

What do you mean by "better" depth of field - lots of stuff being sharp? The term for that would be "deep" depth of field. What you mean by bokeh would be shallow depth of field. The term bokeh itself refers to the optical pleasantness of the out of focus (blurred) areas.

That being said, the 50mm/1.8D wouldn't autofocus on your camera even with an adapter. That reason alone already basically kills it in my opinion. Consider the 50mm/1.8G instead, this one might autofocus with an adapter (but don't rely on me alone, verify again)

Also, both are VERY different lenses used for very different purposes. The 10mm one would be a wide standard view lens, the 50mm one a medium telephoto lens. What do you intend to use them for?

Regarding depth of field, this depends on three things: Focal length, aperture and subject distance.
The focal length is fixed for both lenses (no zooming), and due to its much longer focal length the 50mm one will have shallower depth of field. This can be partially compensated for by using a smaller aperture (bigger f-number), but it won't ever achieve as deep depth of field as the 10mm one, as the 10mm one simply can stop down the aperture as well and thus keep ahead of the 50mm one in terms of deep depth of field. On the other hand, the 10mm one won't ever achieve as shallow depth of field as the 50mm one.

Edit:
The aperture ring is only useful if you use an extension tube for macro uses, otherwise the aperture has to be controlled from the camera. Manual focus with a shallow depth of field lens as this is a pain. Believe me, you'd regret buying it.

rick
rick

The 50mm wide open is your best choice out of those two. If you want a really nice bokeh, the 50mm f1.4 is going to be better and the 85mm f1.4 even better but those cost a fair amount of money.