Overview
The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is a consumer-grade portrait lens for enthusiasts and seasonal pros that need quality optics of a fixed portrait lens at an affordable price point. Its large aperture of f/1.8 is great for low-light photography and the shallow depth of field helps isolate subjects from the background, beautifully rendering the background highlights, also known as bokeh. The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G replaces the older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D lens that had been in production since 1994. Compared to the AF-D version that has 6 optical elements in 6 groups, the new 85mm f/1.8G has a very different optical design with 9 optical elements in 9 groups. You would think with so much glass inside the new 85mm f/1.8G would weigh more than its predecessor, but in reality it actually weighs 30 grams less. The lens is designed to work on both DX (cropped-sensor) and FX (full-frame) cameras from Nikon. On DX sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 128mm lens, which is a good range for portraiture, but may be a little too long for most other types of photography.
Just like the old Nikon 85mm f/1.8D, the front lens element of the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G does not extend or rotate during autofocus operations, which makes the lens more durable and also makes it easy to use circular filters and filter holders. In addition to the above-mentioned optical improvements, the lens incorporates silent wave motor (AF-S), which not only provides near silent focus operation, but also allows the lens to be fully used on entry-level DSLRs such as Nikon D3100 and Nikon D5100 (the older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D cannot autofocus on entry-level DSLRs without a focus motor). In addition, the AF-S motor gives the ability to use autofocus with a manual focus override, which you cannot do on any of the AF-D prime lenses. Just like the older AF-D cousin, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G also has Super Integrated Coating, which helps reduce lens flare and ghosting. And unlike the 85mm f/1.8D, which had a 9-blade diaphragm, the 85mm f/1.8G has a 7-blade diaphragm. This might sounds like a downgrade, but it is actually not – the 7-blade diaphragm used on modern Nikkor lenses is rounded, while the old ones are straight. This means that bokeh on a 7-blade rounded diaphragm lens could actually look as good or better than on a 9-blade straight diaphragm. The heptagon-shaped bokeh that is produced by the older lenses is generally not visible at large apertures and is only noticeable when stopped down to f/2.8 or more, as seen in the bokeh comparisons below.
In this review, I will provide a thorough analysis of the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens, along with image samples and comparisons against the professional Nikon 85mm f/1.4G and the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G.
1) Lens Specifications
Main Features:
- Internal Nikon Silent Wave Motor (SWM) powered Focus (IF) system provides fast, accurate and quiet AF and helps produce sharp and clear images at all apertures.
- M/A focus mode switch enables quick changes between manual and autofocus operation if needed.
- Nikon Super Integrated Coating (SIC) enhances light transmission efficiency and offers superior color consistency and reduced flare.
Technical Specifications:
- Mount Type: Nikon F-Bayonet
- Focal Length: 85mm
- Maximum Aperture: f/1.8
- Minimum Aperture: f/16
- Format: FX/35mm, DX
- Maximum Angle of View (DX-format): 18°50′
- Maximum Angle of View (FX-format): 28°30′
- Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 0.12x
- Lens Elements: 9
- Lens Groups: 9
- Compatible Format(s): FX, DX, FX in DX Crop Mode, 35mm Film
- Diaphragm Blades: 7 (rounded)
- Distance Information: Yes
- Super Integrated Coating: Yes
- Autofocus: Yes
- AF-S (Silent Wave Motor): Yes
- Internal Focusing: Yes
- Minimum Focus Distance: 2.62 ft./0.8 m
- Focus Mode: Auto, Manual
- G-type: Yes
- Filter Size: 67mm
- Accepts Filter Type: Screw-on
- Dimensions (Approx.): 3.1×2.9 in. (Diameter x Length) / 80x73mm (Diameter x Length)
- Weight (Approx.): 12.4 oz. (350g)
- Supplied Accessories: LC-6 Snap-on Front Lens Cap, HB-62 Bayonet Lens Hood, LF-4 Rear Lens Cap, CL-1015 Semi-soft Lens Case
2) Lens Handling and Build
Similar to the recently introduced Nikon prime lenses, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G has a solid build, with a plastic exterior and a metal mount. The changes in optical and barrel design increased the size of the lens, which as can be seen below, is a little smaller and less bulky than the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G (Left: Nikon 85mm f/1.4G, Right: Nikon 85mm f/1.8G):
And here is with lens hoods attached to both lenses:
The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G also has a rubber gasket on the lens mount, which provides good sealing against dust making its way into the camera. The rubber gasket definitely helps not only in reducing sensor dust, but also in reducing the amount of dust that could potentially end up inside the lens. As I explained in my “what to do with dust inside lenses” article, it is quite normal for lenses to suck air in and out when focusing or zooming in/out. The filter thread is also bigger – it is now 67mm, versus the 62mm thread on the 85mm AF-D. This is not good news if you already own the older 85mm f/1.8D lens and bought specialized filters – larger 67mm filters would have to be purchased separately. Because the front element is round and is recessed inside the lens (which is good for shooting against the sun), it can be difficult to clean the outer area of the lens element that is close to the lens barrel. Because of this, I would recommend to get a good 67mm clear/protective filter such as B+W 67mm MRC clear filter and leave it on the lens at all times. Not only will it help protect the front element of the lens and reduce dust, but it will also make it much easier to clean the lens when needed.
Despite the bigger size and bulkier lens barrel, as I have already mentioned, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is actually 30 grams lighter than its predecessor and almost twice lighter than the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G! It balances really well with any DX camera and it feels just right in terms of size, weight and focal length on professional DSLRs like Nikon D3s as well.
I have received several inquiries from our readers about weather sealing on cheaper Nikon prime lenses. The short answer is “No”, these lenses are not weather sealed. While I have been using my Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens in hot/cold/dry/wet weather conditions and have not had any issues, Nikon lenses without gold rings are not designed to withstand tough weather as professional lenses. That’s why Nikon does not specifically mention weather sealing in their marketing materials on these lenses. Another good news is that the rear element of the lens does not move in and out when focusing, so you do not have to worry about changing the lens focus to infinity when changing lenses (like on the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G).
As for the focus ring, it is conveniently located on the front of the barrel, making it easy to manually focus with a thumb and index fingers while shooting images or video. The lens comes with the “HB-62″ lens hood, which snaps on the front of the lens and sits tight without wobbling like some other Nikon lens hoods. The M/A and M switch on the side of the lens allows autofocus with manual focus override and full manual focus operation. The latest Nikon DSLRs like Nikon D5100 immediately recognize the focus position and provide notifications on the information (“I” button) screen.
3) Autofocus Performance and Accuracy
I found autofocus performance and accuracy of the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G to be very similar to the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G. While AF is rather slow to begin with when compared to the older Nikon 85mm f/1.4D), it is definitely more accurate, as I have reported in my Nikon 85mm f/1.4G review. The Nikon 85mm f/1.4G seems to be a tad faster when rapidly changing focus from one subject to another, although the difference is not substantial, both in indoor and outdoor environments. Unfortunately, we are not in the same situation as the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, which significantly outperforms its 50mm f/1.4G counterpart in AF performance.
I tested the AF acuracy of my lens sample with the LensAlign lens calibration tool and it turned out to be a little off, as seen from the sample crop from the LensAlign test:
I personally get annoyed any time a lens has front/back focus issues like this. I do not understand why manufacturers cannot do more thorough QA tests before their products are shipped to retailers. We, as consumers, should be receiving properly calibrated lenses and cameras and not having to deal with testing our gear using focus charts. Unfortunately, these kinds of QA issues happen with all manufacturers, including Nikon. In my experience, however, third party manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron typically have more QA issues (although they both have gotten much better lately).
As with any other lens, be careful when shooting at very large apertures in low light situations. If you cannot consistently get accurate focus in daylight, your lens sample probably has a front/back focusing issue.
4) Lens sharpness, contrast and color rendition
As I reveal in my sharpness tests in the subsequent pages of this review, the performance of the 85mm f/1.8G is excellent throughout the aperture range. You can see many examples of lens sharpness taken in a controlled environment in the next page, along with comparisons against other lenses.
5) Bokeh
Bokeh is a very important characteristic of portrait lenses. In this case, we are dealing with three cream machines, especially the 85mm f/1.4G and the 105mm f/2.8G, which are some of the most sought after lenses just because of the way they beautifully render bokeh.
Here is the full image from which I made the below bokeh crops:
Here is a bokeh comparison between Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, Nikon 85mm f/1.4G and Nikon 105mm f/2.8G at maximum aperture:
All three look good and creamy, but the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G stands out with very smooth and less defined bokeh due to its maximum aperture of f/1.4. Let’s see what happens to bokeh when all lenses are stopped down to f/2.8 (still max aperture for the 105mm f/2.8G):
Interestingly, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G seems to have a slightly smaller diaphragm opening than the 85mm f/1.8G at f/2.8, which results in smaller background highlights. In this case, I actually prefer the bokeh of the 85mm f/1.8G. Overall though, the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G certainly looks the best here due to much less defined and smoother background blur.
While the 85mm f/1.8G has a 7-blade diaphragm (compared to a 9-blade diaphragm on the 85mm f/1.4G), you would not be able to see any difference between the two at large apertures. This is because the new diaphragms on all modern Nikkor lenses are rounded, which only shows defined edges when stopped down to f/4-5.6 and smaller.
If you are crazy about bokeh, this lens certainly has a lot of potential:
Overall, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G renders great-looking bokeh that is very comparable to the one on the professional Nikon 85mm f/1.4G.
6) Vignetting
Most prime lenses heavily vignette when shot wide open and the same is true for the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, so no surprises here. The good news is that as you stop down to f/2.0, vignetting decreases significantly. At f/2.8 vignetting is almost invisible and by f/4.0 onwards it is completely gone. Take a look at lens vignetting at different apertures:
This type of behavior is expected from large aperture lenses, especially when they are mounted on full frame cameras. The Nikon 85mm f/1.4G also vignettes significantly at large apertures, despite its high price tag. The older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D vignettes more – dark corners are visible even at f/2.8 and f/4.
If you use Lightroom 4 or Photoshop Camera RAW, vignetting is not an issue for this lens, because the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens profile is already included in the latest update.
7) Ghosting and Flare
Ghosting and flare are controlled quite well, depending on where the bright source of light is positioned in the frame. It does not do as well as the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G though, because the latter has better lens design and Nano-coating to further reduce ghosting and flare. Here is an image with the sun positioned inside the frame:
8) Distortion
The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G has a slight amount of barrel distortion, which is not very noticeable. The older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D had no noticeable distortion in comparison. As I have already pointed out, Adobe already has a built-in lens profile in the Lens Corrections module, so you can easily take care of the problem with a single click.
9) Chromatic Aberration
Lateral chromatic aberration is controlled well, even in high-contrast situations. Longitudinal chromatic aberration / LoCA (which is the effect of color fringing in front of and behind the focused area), on the other hand, can be quite visible at very large apertures, which is expected for a fast prime lens. Here is an extreme example of LoCA with some axial purple fringing:
Unfortunately, unlike lateral chromatic aberration, LoCA cannot be easily removed in post-processing.
Let’s now move on to the good stuff – Sharpness tests. Select the next page below.
Sharpness Test
10) Sharpness Test
Some technical junk:
- White Balance: Auto, changed to “Custom”: 4400 Temp, +15 Tint in Lightroom
- ISO: 200
- EXIF information is preserved in the images
- Lens was mounted on Nikon D700 Camera and Gitzo tripod
- Focusing was performed through Live-View Contrast Detect
- Mirror Lock-Up mode with Exposure Delay set to “On” and remote cable release to completely eliminate camera shake
- Long exposure NR: Off
- Image Format: RAW
- Lightroom settings: Default settings
- Lightroom export: sRGB JPEG Quality 80
- Testing was performed at f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6 and f/8.0 apertures
- Nothing was moved during testing
11) Sharpness Test – Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Center Frame
The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G has excellent center sharpness, as can be seen below. Wide open at f/1.8, the image starts out a tad softer and gradually improves when stopped down to f/2.8:
At f/4 the lens seems to reach its peak performance:
And stopping down further does not improve its sharpness:
I am not including smaller apertures, because stopping down the lens beyond f/8 reduces image quality due to diffraction.
12) Sharpness Test – Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Corner Frame
The performance of the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G at largest apertures is surprisingly good. Wide open and at f/2.0, the lens yields slightly softer, but acceptably good results. There is a modest amount of vignetting present at the largest apertures, which is why the first couple of images are significantly darker:
By f/2.8, the extreme corners look very good and the peak performance is once again around the f/4 mark:
Similar to the center, stopping down the lens to f/5.6 and smaller does not increase sharpness:
Overall, the sharpness results are very impressive for this lens, but the above crops are meaningless without a comparison against other lenses. Let’s move on to see how the lens fares against the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G.
Lens Comparisons
Compared to Nikon 85mm f/1.4G
Let’s see how the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G compares to the much heavier and bulkier (and much more expensive) Nikon 85mm f/1.4G lens.
13) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 85mm f/1.4G Center Frame
First, let’s see how both do wide open (Left: Nikon 85mm f/1.8G @ f/1.8, Right: Nikon 85mm f/1.4G @ f/1.4):
At maximum aperture, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G seems to be a little sharper than the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G, which is incredible. Let’s see what happens when the f/1.4G is stopped down to f/1.8:
Now both seem to be about the same. Here is both stopped down to f/2.0:
I cannot see any difference between the two. Let’s see what happens when we stop down to f/2.8:
Again, both seem to be on par. Stopped down to f/4:
Same story here. And finally f/5.6 with f/8:
To be honest, I cannot really see any difference between both lenses from f/1.8 onwards in the center.
14) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 85mm f/1.4G Corner Frame
Let’s see how the lenses compare in the corners. Again, here is a comparison with both wide open (Left: Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, Right: Nikon 85mm f/1.4G):
Again, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G clearly does better wide open than the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G, even in the extreme corners. Both show pronounced vignetting, which seems to be about the same. Let’s stop the f/1.4G down to f/1.8:
Even stopped down to f/1.8, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G still cannot match the 85mm f1/1.8G sharpness-wise. Let’s stop it down further to f/2.0:
Again, same story – the f/1.8G is clearly sharper. Stopped down to f/2.8:
Now both are about the same. Stopping down further more does not seem to change anything:
15) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 85mm f/1.4G on Nikon D800
One request that I have been getting is to compare both lenses on the super high resolution Nikon D800 sensor. Because the sensor has such a high resolution, it can show much more details and hence resolution capabilities of lenses. Let’s see how both lenses fare on the D800 wide open:
As you can see, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G still seems sharper than the 85mm f/1.4G. But now we can see why – the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G has more visible chromatic aberration wide open. If it wasn’t for CA, the 85mm f/1.4G would have looked as good or better – the resolving power is very good on a high resolution sensor of Nikon D800. What about sharpness performance when both are stopped down to f/2.8:
The 85mm f/1.4G seems to be a tad sharper, now that it has a lot less chromatic aberration issues, but it’s not completely gone. Still, the resolving power of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G seems to be a little better than on its younger and much cheaper sibling. Let’s stop both down to f/4:
Now the difference is pretty much gone, although I still prefer the 85mm f/1.8G performance here due to less CA.
Finally, stopped down to f/5.6 or smaller, both lenses seem to perform about the same.
The corners have a slightly different fate though – the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G shows better performance and resolution overall.
15) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 85mm f/1.4G Conclusion
As you can see from the above comparisons, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G shows slightly better performance wide open than the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G. While the 85mm f/1.4G needs to be stopped down to f/1.8 in the center to match the performance, the corners on the f/1.4G do not look as good until f/2.8. So sharpness-wise, the situation with this lens is very similar to that of the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G – it performs better than its much more expensive f/1.4G brother. Vignetting-wise, both seem to have about the same amount of it throughout the frame, completely disappearing at around the f/4 mark. Where the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G shines is at distortion – it has no visible distortion, while the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G definitely has some. Also, when shooting against the sun, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G performs better with less ghosts and flares, most likely because of its Nano-coated glass elements and more complex lens design. Bokeh-wise, both have their leads at different apertures, although the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G can render bigger and smoother bokeh wide open at the same distance, thanks to its larger aperture. AF speed and accuracy is about the same on both lenses. Lastly, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G shows less signs of chromatic aberration, especially of the longitudinal (LoCA) type.
Overall, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G proves to be a superb alternative to the 85mm f/1.4G. While the latter is more than three times more expensive, it is surely not three times better from a technical standpoint.
Let’s move on to a comparison to the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G macro.
Compared to Nikon 105mm f/2.8G Macro
I was not planning to compare the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G to the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G due to differences in focal lengths, but some of our readers asked us to do it. While the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G is a macro lens, it is a very popular lens among portrait photographers, because it renders beautiful bokeh and has exceptionally sharp optics. Please bear in mind that the below comparison is not an apples to apples comparison, because of difference in both focal length and maximum aperture.
16) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 105mm f/2.8G Center Frame
Let’s see what happens when we compare both lenses wide open (Left: Nikon 85mm f/1.8G @ f/1.8, Right: Nikon 105mm f/2.8G @ f/2.8):
Surprisingly, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G seems to slightly outperform the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G wide open. Here is both stopped down to f/2.8:
The difference at f/2.8 is pretty obvious – the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is clearly much sharper! Let’s see what happens when we stop down to f/4.0:
Again, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is sharper. Now down to f/5.6:
Nothing has changed, the 85mm f/1.8G is still sharper.
Even when stopped down to f/8, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G shows more resolving power.
17) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 105mm f/2.8G Corner Frame
Let’s now see what happens in the corners with both wide open (Left: Nikon 85m f/1.8G, Right: Nikon 105mm f/2.8G):
The Nikon 105mm f/2.8G seems to do worse than the 85mm f/1.8G in the corners (but still a little better than the 85mm f/1.4G). The difference is visible, which is partly the fault of chromatic aberration of the macro lens. Let’s see how both compare at f/2.8:
This time, the difference is huge – the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G improves much better at f/2.8 than the 105mm f/2.8. Let’s stop both down to f/4:
Again, the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G cannot quite match the 85mm f/1.8G in terms of sharpness. How about f/5.6:
Now the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G looks even better, but still not sharper than the 85mm f/1.8G, mostly thanks to chromatic aberrations.
Stopping down to f/8 does not seem to change anything in the corners.
18) Nikon 85mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 105mm f/2.8G Conclusion
It is clear from this comparison that the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G shows better sharpness/resolution performance than the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G macro lens, both in the center and in the corners. It outperforms the 105mm f/2.8G wide open and stopped down to f/2.8 produces much sharper results with more contrast. Where the Nikon 105mm seems to be a little better is when rendering bokeh – at maximum aperture the 105mm f/2.8G produces more pleasing background blur, with almost undefined shapes. Different lens design and longer focal length definitely make their contribution here. The 105mm is worse at dealing with ghosting and flare though, despite the fact that it also has Nano-coated glass. It also seems to show a lot more chromatic aberration, especially at the extreme corners. The one big advantage of the 105mm f/2.8G lens over the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G and f/1.4G, without the obvious 1:1 macro capability, is that it has Vibration Reduction (VR), which can be quite helpful in low-light situations.
Summary and Image Samples
19) Summary
Similar to the excellent Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G seems to be an excellent performer that competes with its much more expensive, bulkier and heavier brother, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G. While it does not have the same complex optical design of the 85mm f/1.4G, it very closely rivals it in terms of colors and bokeh. It shows exceptional resolution and contrast performance at all apertures, especially wide open. This can be clearly seen in sharpness comparisons to the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G VR macro lens, which cannot match the performance of the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens at all apertures, from center of the frame to the extreme corners even when stopped down to f/5.6 and smaller. It has a couple of weaknesses such as distortion, ghosting and flare and some heavy LoCA, but those issues are present in pretty much all fast prime lenses and most of them can be fixed during post-processing. Adobe has already built a lens profile for the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, so if you are using the latest version of Lightroom, you should be able to correct most optical issues by clicking “Enable Profile Corrections” and “Remove Chromatic Aberration” within the “Lens Corrections” module.
I have been shooting with the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens for over a month and I have been enjoying it a lot. It is a light and compact portrait lens that balances really well on any modern Nikon DSLR. It produces beautiful images with plenty of sharpness, contrast and colors – exactly what portrait photographers look for in portrait lenses. Its AF performance is impressive and the lens delivers accurate results when mounted on both top of the line DLSRs like Nikon D800 and on entry-level DSLRs like Nikon D5100. And best of all – with its low price of $499, this lens is a steal, especially when compared to the not-much-better Nikon 85mm f/1.4G! Clearly it is the better choice price/performance wise for many photographers, except those who really need f/1.4 aperture and know how to use it to the fullest.
20) Where to buy and availability
B&H is currently selling the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens for $499.95 (as of 04/19/2012).
21) More image samples
All Images Copyright © Nasim Mansurov, All Rights Reserved. Copying or reproduction is not permitted without written permission from the author.
About Nasim Mansurov
Oh Nasim, another great and insightful review! Thank you for adding the 105 to your review too – I wouldn’t have predicted that outcome! Must admit you put me back on the fence about selling my 1.4g and picking up this + the new 28mm. :)
Kim, thank you for your feedback! The 85mm f/1.4G is still a great lens, but obviously not 3 times better (considering its price)…
Thanks for a detailed and thorough review of this lens. It has made up my mind to got for this rather than the 1.4G. I live in South Africa where photographic equipment is signifiacntly more expensive than the USA – e.g my D800 cost the equivalent of $4200 in this country. I have a question though – on the D800 if I take portraits at f4 to f5.6 at 105mm with the 24-120 F4, the 105mm 2.8 micro or the 70-200 f2.8 it is often impossible to tell which shot was taken with which lens (Apple Macbbok Pro monitor) – I never pixel peep so simply viewing the shot and printing them it is only through the EXIF that I can tell which lens was used in these real life situations. Is this just me – should they be far more obvious?
Hello, Alun!
Nasim is away for a while, so I will do my best to answer your question.
At optimal apertures, especially if you don’t tend to pixel peep, most high quality lenses (like the mentioned 24-120 F4 VR) are very sharp, and so the difference is minor. What does make the difference is aperture range as well as focal length – that is on what you should base your choice of lens, as well as build quality (if that is important to you) and other features.
It’s not just about sharpness, and in the end, it’s not about sharpness at all!
Great review again. Baby Due.
May I ask would you buy this one or the 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor. Some say its is a better overall performer and not much different in Sharpness. I have the 100 2.8, 50 1.4 afs and 70-200 2.8. We are looking for a great lense for our baby whom is due 20th December. Do hope you have time in your busy schedule for a quick steer. Thanks in advance
WOW – sounds good!
Thanks!
Mike
You are most welcome Mike!
Thank you very much for this post as I was waiting for it. It really meets my expectations and have already ordered mine.
You’re most welcome Fernando!
Hello Nasim,
Great review. Since my wife wont let me spend money on too costly 85 mm f/1.4g, i guess i am looking forward to buy 85 mm f/1.8g:-)
I like your review style, its thorough and u include different aspects and explain why u chose those aspects to compare as well.
Can u reduce ghose/flare with the help of polarising filter? Also, it would help, if this lens could be used for landscape photography.
Overall, great review for an amateur photographer like me.
thanks a lot
yogesh
Yogesh, thank you for your feedback! No, a polarizing filter cannot reduce ghosting and flare – in fact, it can add more ghosting and flare to your images, especially if you use a low-quality filter.
Very good article as always, Nasim!
Yeah, Nikon are doing a great job with these new 1.8 lenses.
But I can think of one more advantage of 105mm 2.8 over 85mm 1.8 – you can use teleconverters with it.
So add 2x teleconverter on 105mm and you have an amazing 210mm micro lens.
I have tested myself – there is no lose of quality/sharpness using the teleconverter.
Btw, have you heard something if Nikon are going to renew their 200mm micro lens?
Stefan, you are right, I forgot to write about teleconverters :) I wouldn’t say there is “no” loss of quality, because there always is some loss when using longer teleconverters. But the new TC-20E III does work pretty well for sure!
yes, I was talking about the TC-20E III. I tested it here to check if the images will come softer when use it, but they looked as sharp as without it.
Of course I agree with you that extra glass can add some softness, but the new teleconverter is really good.
Oh, and I have not heard of any news regarding updating the 200mm micro :(
>I personally get annoyed any time a lens has front/back focus issues like this. I do not understand why
>manufacturers cannot do more thorough QA tests before their products are shipped to retailers. We, as >consumers, should be receiving properly calibrated lenses and cameras and not having to deal with
>testing our gear using focus charts.
Nasim, you of all people should know better than that. Manufacturers DO ensure quality and calibrate for front/back focus issues to the lowest common denominator. The same lens can function differently when paired with different bodies (even of the same model). Think of it like trying a a single medium size t-shirt — results will wary with different people who wear medium size clothes when in theory it should fit them all equally. While this is obviously an exaggeration and “bad batches” of lenses do leave the factory/or get damaged during transport, it is important to remember that:
* Mechanical parts that are assembled to form a lens, lens mount, and sensor are going to vary a bit with every lens and every camera.
* This variation will cause every copy of a lens, and every copy of a camera body, to have slightly different characteristics.
* A lens may be fine on one camera and not another. A camera may do fine with one lens and not another.
I personally have a 70-200mm lens that’s spot on one body and has a slight front focus on another (no other lens on that particular body have issues, so the body is not the problem).
Cheers.
Mark, I am aware of the fact that each manufacturer, including Nikon, has a very intensive QA process. I also know that they do calibrate for front and back focus issues. However, here is what I know and think:
1) The reason why lenses front/back focus is because of either a) AF calibration issues on the lens AF motor itself or b) the physical location of the phase detect sensor. Focus issues can originate from either problem and the worst situation is when both need to be heavily adjusted.
2) All lenses have their QA norms and are typically adjusted on a calibrated system. If a lens has AF issues, it is taken off the production and re-calibrated. There is a certain threshold or range to this process though. If it is within the “norm”, which I believe is too large of a range, then the lens is released from the QA process as “acceptable”. Higher-end/pro lenses have a smaller range for acceptable focus performance than consumer-grade lenses. This process is OK for lower-resolution sensors, but when you start dealing with D7000 or D800-like sensors, I believe the acceptable range needs to be tightened a lot more.
3) Camera bodies have a completely different adjustment process than lenses. The AF phase detect sensor is the one that requires adjustment when there is a focus problem. Please note that the distance between the lens mount and the sensor is a constant, which is always accurate down to a millimeter. This is ensured during the manufacturing process. Again, the phase detect sensor also has an acceptable norm, which I believe should be tightened with high resolution sensors. Some camera bodies are released with lower than acceptable norms, which causes front/back focus issues with all lenses. Some Nikon D7000 batches were rather rushed and Nikon had to deal with a bunch of returns and service orders to tackle the problem.
4) It is clear that Nikon needs to tighten its QA process, now that it is making very high resolution camera bodies. This applies both to lenses and camera bodies. In fact, I believe we should never deal with AF issues on the camera, so the process has to be much tighter for camera bodies.
So overall, while this is a much more complex topic, if the QA norms for BOTH lenses and cameras are tightened a lot more, we would not be dealing with the AF issues we have today as much. Manufacturers would have a lot less returns and complaints to deal with.
Finally, ask yourself a question – how do third party manufacturers like Sigma and Tamron adjust their lenses for AF front/back focus issues? They do not manufacture camera bodies, so again, we are dealing with “acceptable” norms for the QA process here.
There’s more to it than just tightening the QA, but I do in part agree with your reasoning.
http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/ is a good read.
P.S. My 70-200 was calibrated by Nikon Canada. Twice. According them them, it’s “perfect” (they use laser guided equipment to adjust lenses) but go tell that to my D300 where I have to dial in +9 while no other lens on that body has an issue.
Sounds to me like you have experienced a QA issue with either your camera or lens. Nikon lenses should work properly with Nikon cameras. Wherever the breakdown is occuring, it’s still a QA issue with Nikon (and the other manufacturers). It seems like if a particular manufacturer could step up their QA processes they may could differetiate themselves from the others. Imagine the comfort of knowing that you can just put a new lens on your camera and have it work like it’s supposed to.
I’m puzzled by the statement in the article that the lens was dead on, yet the lensalign image clearly shows back focusing.
Anthony, no, the lens definitely had a focus issue, as shown in the lens align test. For some reason, I had a sentence that the focus was dead on and yet the next paragraph stated that I was frustrated with AF calibration issues like this. I fixed the article – I apologize for overlooking that. I need to stop writing at 2 AM in the morning…
No problem, it happens to me too, more often than I’d like. I read over what you wrote several times thinking I was missing something.
“The Nikon 105mm f/2.8G seems to do better than the 85mm f/1.4G in the corners – it is only slightly worse, although chromatic aberration is quite visible.”
I think this is a typo, you probably meant the 1.8g here.
Great review, thanks!
Oded, no, that was not a typo – the 105mm f/2.8G did perform a little better than the 85mm f/1.4G in the corners overall.
Hola Nasim,
Thanks for a great review as always.
I would be most grateful if you could repeat the same review using the D800 body, comparing the two 85mm lenses at the full 36meg resolution, no downsampling please as the images will be used at full resolution.
If you have a D800e, it would be superb to see the results compared with this body also.
Regards
Michael
Michael, done! The review has been updated with D800 comparisons. Don’t have the D800E though…
Nasim,
Thats service for you, you must be reading my mind.
Your comment:
The corners have a slightly different fate though – the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G shows better performance and resolution overall.
I am amazed and delighted that you were able to say this about the 1.8G, hope thats not a typo error and you meant 1.4G? I must have one now.
I look forward to more comparisons with various lenses on the D800.
FWIW I was about to auction my Nikon 200mm f4 Macro, latest model, when my D800 arrived.
After shooting a variety of images from f4 to f11, I have decided to keep it, its amazingly sharp for an oldish lens.
Regards
Michael
Michael, no, that was not a typo – the 85mm f/1.8G does perform better in the corners than the 85mm f/1.4G. The biggest issue of the 85mm f/1.4G lens design is its heavy CA levels at largest apertures. CA is visible in the center and gets progressively worse in the corners, which negatively affects the resolution capability of the lens.
Hi Nasim,
Thanks for the wonderful review and especially for comparing it with the 105mm micro. Primarily for portraits work, the 85mm 1.8G seems to be sharper, much cheaper and much lighter than the 105mm. I hope with the kenko extension tubes, the 85mm will be able to give passable macro shots too. Even before your comparison I was inclined towards 85mm but now I have no doubts.
Thanks.
You are most welcome Amit!
“I personally get annoyed any time a lens has front/back focus issues like this. I do not understand why manufacturers cannot do more thorough QA tests before their products are shipped to retailers.”
I compltely agree with you Nasim. When I purchased my D90 a couple of years back, its 18-105 kit lens had severe back focussing issue. At that point I didn’t know about any test charts and whenever I asked regarding the focus issue, I always got a reply that perhaps my technique was not right and that the kit lenses are crappy anyway. Then I purchased 35mm 1.8G and it was very good. So I decided that I will shoot mostly with 35mm and will use 18-105 only at f8 or f11 since I got soft images at wider apertures.
Last year I saw a few online focus charts and verified that my camera was back-focussing. I also came to know that in high end DSLR models, you could make an adjustment for the font/back focus issue of the lens. Since D90 doesn’t have this feature, I took my camera and lens to the Nikon India service center and they fixed this issue. The repair-person at Nikon told me that the amount of adjustment required was 60. I was shocked.
I know that I suffered for about a year primarily because of my ignorance but I feel that Nikon is also partly responsible for the bad quality control.
“…verified that my camera was back-focussing”
My lens was back-focusing not the camera.
Unless you had a bad copy, which can certainly happen but the probability of that is extremely low thanks to Nikon’s solid QA process, in most cases it’s just the pairing issue. Adjusting it to work on your particular D90 may have messed it up for other D90 bodies. Read my comment above and then search the net for detailed explanations of why it happens.
Yes Mark, I do understand this. This is why I tested my camera with my 35mm 1.8 lens too, which was working fine. I borrowed another lens from my friend and that was focusing reasonably well on my camera. Even with pairing issues, usually the amount of adjustment required is within +-10 but In my case it was 60, which was surprising.
Anyway, since I didn’t consider myself good in testing lenses, I took the body and the other lenses also to the Nikon service center and asked them to fix the issue even if that meant adjusting both the lens and the body. They did however confirmed that the issue was with the lens only.
Thanks for your comments.
Hello Nasim, any insights or comparison with the older 85mm f/1.8D?
Great review! Thanks!
Pads, I really wanted to do it, but B&H was out of stock on the 85mm f/1.8D. I am hoping to do the comparison in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by then I will be able to get a hold of the 85mm f/1.8D.
that’s great to hear, Nasim! Thanks! I am still holding on to the 1.8D version, still very reliable. One of the comparisons I’m looking for is focus speed. If 1.8G is any faster, I’m pretty much into the switch :)
Pads, all comparisons of 1.8D to 1.8D that I read on the Web say that the older version is noticeably faster. In fact, some users complain that the G version is too slow for dynamic, continuous focusing. BTW, the sample shots suggest to me that Nasim didn’t use the lens to shoot any action, which would explain his lack of evaluation of the AF speed.
Nasim, I sold off my 85 1.4D “the cream machine” recently and ordered this 85 1.8G lens (although it is on back order now, as a lot of things from Nikon I guess) as I’ve been hearing good things about it.
Question, in your review you say AF is slower than 85 1.4D, how much slower? Is it as slow as on my 50 1.4G.
Also, how is AF performance in low light, is it the same or slower?
David, yes, the old screw-type lenses definitely do acquire focus quicker. However, their accuracy is pretty bad, especially in low light situations. I sold my 85mm AF-D and bought the 85mm f/1.4G, but that was way before the 85mm f/1.8G announcement.
Thanx Nasim, I feel good about my decision to sell the 85mm 1.4D
I have a screw-type 85mm 1.8D and it is dead accurate on my D7000, even in very poor light. No kidding!
AF performance is similar to the 50mm f/1.4G, but AF accuracy is definitely better than on the old 85mm f/1.4D.
Thank you for taking the time to write and shoot another great review on Nikon lenses. I am really psyched as I have an 85mm 1.8G arriving on Friday. On the downside my D800 is off having it’s AF system calibrated, and I will have to wait until I can start having some fun again.
I am really looking forward to the just announced 28mm 1.8G starts shipping as well.
Thanks again,
Jay
Jay, you are most welcome! I suspect the 28mm f/1.8G will be a hot seller and will be out of stock everywhere for months. Its MTF chart is very impressive!
Is there a typical timeline from announcement to when they actually start shipping a new product in the US?
I am also glad to see the Nano Coating on this wide lens. I wish Nikon would just spread it all over every one of their lenses.
Hi, Nasim! Thanks a lot for a long awaited review.
It seems like this is the first thorough analysis of this lens in the Net, so congrats! Great job (as usual) and right on time :)
I’ve been considering a purchase of a 85 1.4D for quite a long time (for me this one was an obvious choice among its “brothers” – 85 1.8D and 85 1.4G). But now this new “guy” emerged and messed it all up. It would be great to see comparison shots from 85 1.8G vs 85 1.4D similar to those on the previous page. My main concern is how well 1.8G performs against 1.4D in terms of sharpness at large apertures (1.8-4.0), AF speed and accuracy. Thanks again for your commitment and contribution to the community. Take care!
Oh, and by the way, there is a typo in the very end of the first sentence of the Summary section ;)
I too would be interested in your opinions of 85 1.8G vs 85 1.4D.
Thanks
Andrew
Kamil, thanks for pointing out the typo – I fixed it.
As for the 85mm f/1.8G vs 85mm f/1.4D comparison, I felt that there is no need to do it, because I already have a comparison between the 85mm f/1.4G and the 85mm f/1.4D (see the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G review). In summary, the AF-S version is sharper and more accurate in terms of AF. And if the 85mm f/1.4G is better than the 85mm f/1.4D, then the 85mm f/1.8G is certainly better as well, especially in the corners.
Hi Nasim,
Thank you very much for the great review, I really appreciate all of the time you put into it.
I wanted to let you know that on the last page of your review ‘Summery and Image samples’ you said
“Nikon 85mm f/1.8G seems to be an excellent performer that competes with its much more expensive, bulkier and heavier brother, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G”
I am pretty sure you meant to say 85 f1.4G.
Thanks again,
James
James, thank you for letting me know – the typo has been fixed!
Nasim, Thank you for the excellent review.
I always wanted 85mm prime and found 1.4G to be a little too expensive as a hobbyist. Now 85mm 1.8G has become a very strong possibility in its stead.
Once again thanks for the review
John, you are most welcome, I am glad you liked the review!
Thanks for a prompt reply, Nasim. Most likely, I will end up with a 1.8G mounted on my Nikon. Unless I fail to convince my wife that the magic number 1.4 is not so important as she thinks of it :)
P. S. Хотя, конечно, я сомневаюсь, что 1.8G сможет так красиво рисовать и “закручивать боке”, как 1.4D. Я прав? Все-таки старые линзы они как-то душевнее и пластичнее что ли, или я заблуждаюсь?
Hi Nasim,
Really love your website. Its like a photography school for me. Your reviews and Tips are very helpful.
Just wanted to check with you if there is an issue with the AF speed in 85mm/1.8g-AF-s. I would be needing it primarily for low light work like weddings, so would it suffice?
Regards,
Jasveen
Nazim,
Many thanks for the wonderful review. Yum..yum….it is great that we now have a few inexpensive choices to choose from…28mm, 50mm, 85 mm in f1.8G..I would probably pick 28 and 85 and forget 50 mm, although 50mm is a lot cheaper than 28 and 85. It would have been fantastic if they had included some VR in these lenses; it would come handy in low-light situations. Of course, one could shoot in continuous mode with a hope of getting at least one good picture.
I have one observation in your comparison of 85mm f1.8G vs f1.4G in the case of point 13. I find the pictures on the right-hand side (f1.4G) a little darker than the left-hand side (1.8G). Am I just imagining or is my observation correct?
thanks
BTW, this is a slightly different topic…
DxO Mark verdict of Nikon D800 vs Canon 5D Mark III….
Nikon D800 wins hands down….please see this link
http://nikonrumors.com/2012/04/19/dxomark-verdict-nikon-d800-95-canon-5d-mark-iii-81.aspx/#more-38344
Nasim, I have little knowledge on FX vs DX but I think DX is 1.5 times of FX focal length. Based on this and as per the math, the result of 85 mm 1.8f on FX is almost equal to 50 mm f1.8g on DX like D5100. In Summary, my question is, I’ve D5100 with 50 MM f1.8G and is there considerable difference in clarity,Bokeh if I mount the 85mm 1.8G on my DX format camera?
Hi Nasim,
Great and very thorough review. Though I use a Canon camera and lenses, I still find this site very valuable. Any chance there will be some Canon reviews in the future, especially now that there are several contributors? There was a Canon review a little while back, so I’m hopeful. :) (I haven’t been able to find a site like yours dedicated to Canon.)
This is exactly the type of review that makes your site one of the very few that I even bother reading for any information and opinions on camera gear. Thanks so much.
I’d be severely tempted to get this lens if I weren’t already supremely pleased with my Sigma 85 f/1.4, which I bought last year when I sold my AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8. Not sure exactly why, but although it was nice on film I hated that lens on digital bodies, and I’m quite happy with the Sigma.
You do have me a bit interested in the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR lens now, though, so I can’t say the review had no impact on my desire to acquire more glass!
Great review. Thanks for sharing! According to this review, the lens is very sharp!
I don’t really like the open wide aperture on the D model, it’s not sharp on 1.8 and have a lot of CA. How does the new one handle with it?
You wrote about great bokeh. Does it better than the old D model?
Well it looks like we have now another “Trinity” from Nikon! This time 28/50/85 f1.8!
50 and 85 f1.8 offer great price/performance ratio and i hope the new 28 f1.8 will be very good too!
Great review Nasim!
Thanks for the good review…. Question: i have a d7000 and a 80-200 f/2.8 af-d. For bokeh only, how much better is the 85 f/1.8g than the 80-200?
Do you personally feel the 85 f/1.4d or the 85 1.8g will best compliment the 80-200 for portraits and street photography where i want to have a good, attractive, uncluttered background? I do lots of travelling too, and like travel photography. I also have six year old who I like taking sports photos of.
given all of this, which lensdo you suggest?My hesitancy with the 1.8 is that it isnt that much faster thanthe 80-200, but the 1.4 is two stops faster….with that said, i dont really feel constrained at f/2.8 when it comes to speed……bokeh is more important in analysis. While i like the good build quality of the f/1.4d i dont want to pay $500 more for it merely for slightly better bokeh, if any better at all.
Any suggestions?
Between the 50mm 1.8G and the 85mm 1.8G, which would you say is more versatile for everyday shootings and events such as weddings and dinners?
I think I can answer that for you: the 50mm F/1.8 G. Indoors, it’s not even a question, even the 50 can be a bit too long in tight places. I don’t (yet) shoot weddings but I do shoot events with the 50, and it’s performance is stellar. Also wonderful for portraits on DX. I’m completely floored by the performance of the d7000 plus this $240 lens. I did a whole-day fashion job (Japanese hat design shop) over the weekend. I used the 50 exclusively. Some samples (these are all straight out the camera JPEGs using a slightly modified picture control, resized and cropped a little in Lightroom): https://plus.google.com/photos/108595456808850731771/albums/5670070359565350785/5739432948598170978
My current plan is to buy the d800 by the end of this year, and use it with the 50mm for events. Can do small groups even when space is tight on an FX. And I’ll put the 85mm on my d7000. I know this sounds counter-intuitive at first, but it makes sense I think. 85mm on a DX camera becomes 127mm – pretty good for some candid shots/portraits at events.
I think the 85mm is better for portraits and candid shots in general. For a street photographer, I’d recommend the 85mm, but for weddings or events, I think the 50mm is the way to go.
Thank you for all those reviews and information that you have put up in your site.I find myself visiting your website often.Thanks a ton.
Great review – as always!
I shoot FX now on D4 and have 85mm 1.4 D (non-G, screw?) lens. As I would never really shoot at 1.4, would I be better served if I changed from 85/1,4D to the 85/1.8G? I am interested in quality and saving weight in my ever heavier camera bag!
Thanks in advance,
paul
“I personally get annoyed any time a lens has front/back focus issues like this. I do not understand why manufacturers cannot do more thorough QA tests before their products are shipped to retailers. We, as consumers, should be receiving properly calibrated lenses and cameras and not having to deal with testing our gear using focus charts.”
I could not agree more, thanks for writing this.
—
This is a very fine test – you nailed it, and you got it all, also the flare/ghosting issue, not all other tests saw that.
I think I spend way too much time on your site and to your credit, I’ve just placed an order for this lens with B&H. Thanks for all the insightful reviews and articles. One of the best if not the best is the April fools one. Initially, I was glad I ordered the D800 with turbo mode, then realized it what day it was and had a great laugh.
Thank you for your feedback! I am glad you liked the April fool’s day post – I still get emails from people asking how to turn on the “turbo” mode on the D800 :) LOL!
I placed a pre-order with a major online nationwide retailer for this lens 2 1/2 months ago. Tonight I gave up and was about to cancel the order. Being prudent, I decided to give it one more shot. I went to nikonlinks to see if I missed a review that would jar me back to really wanting this lens since it was first announced. Their are not that many and those that are listed are the boring gobbledygook impersonal review sites. That is, until I came across yours. I have seen your name before but I never visited the site to my embarrassment. To make a long story short, was I ever dumb. What a pleasant website, you have another fan and supporter.
The review is excellent and I’m back onboard with getting the lens. Today is my lucky day, found a review website that I will go to first and most important I clicked on the BH link. They have it in stock! So, through your link I purchased the lens along with the B+W filter you recommend and took advantage of the $50 off lightroom 4. I looked at BH yesterday and it was not in stock and less than 24 hours ready to cancel, I give it one more chance, I click on your review, follow the link to BH, it’s in stock and the rest is history. I apologize for this rambling but I’m very happy and wanted to let you know.
Thank you so much.
Ps I cancelled the other order
Robert, thank you for your valuable feedback and I appreciate your support! I have so many new reviews to post, if only I had more time :)
Have a good weekend!
Hi Nasim,
Thank you for the amazing review – as always great!!
I have the 85mm 1.4G, which I bought just a bit before the 1.8G came out. I also have the 70-200 VRII, which is amazing for portraits and I have the 105mm micro (which I really use only for macro work).
Saying that – do you think I should sell the 85mm 1.4G and take the little brother instead??
I’m not a pro and although the photography is my hobby, I want to optimize my expenses. But not in exchange of quality.
If 85mm 1.8G is a bit sharper and more than 3 times cheaper, would you say i can exchange those two lenses in my arsenal?
From another side – there is a bit difference between 1.4 lens and 2.8 lens. Going to 1.8 will almost melt this difference.
It’s so tough to take the right decision… :-)
Thanks for another great review. I do have a question though, is the 85 1.8g replacing your 85 1.4g that you’ve been so happy with?
Chris
Chris, if I were to buy a new 85mm lens, I definitely would get the 85mm f/1.8G – same as the 50mm f/1.8G. However, selling my f/1.4 copies is not worth it, because I will lose money on them…
I own the 85/1.4D and recently borrowed a friends 85/1.8G. Spent some time comparing them on my D4 and looking at the results in LR4.
My conclusions, which are personal, as “your milage may vary”, as they say, are the following:
1) To my surprise the 1.8G has slight vignetting, which is noted by LR’s lens compensation. The 1.4D has nill.
2) The 1/2 stop difference between 1.4 to 1.8 is virtually imperceptible.
3) Shooting wide open OR both at f2 I could no pick the images maybe 90% of the time. In the remaining 10% I favoured the 1.4D every time, but only by the merest whisker
4) My 1.4D front focused by about 2mm, but I corrected this on the D4. The 1.8G was spot on
5) The 1.8G was 172g lighter than my 1.4D with lens hoods on. This was noticeable on camera, but probably not in carrying a bag.
6) The filter thread on the 1.8G is 67mm whereas the 1.4D is 77mm, which makes it the same as many of my other Nikon lenses
Summary:
If I had neither, then I would buy the 1.8G as it is more cost effective
As I have the 1.4D already, it is not worth to change, – why would you anyway?
These are just my personal thoughts, hope it helps some people. Make your own decision based on your own research and experience. Above all – take lots of good pictures, both of these lenses will help you do that!
I was looking for a comparison in bokeh and sharpness, etc between the 85 1.8G & 85 1.8D. If you get a copy of the original lens for the speed test, are you also going to compare bokeh and sharpness? I have an old screw drive 85 1.8 and was wondering if it was worth upgrading (with the new lens coatings and such)
Will you be doing a lens review for the new 28mm f/1.8G? I’d love to see some images and test results from that lens. Your lens review are top notch.
Duke, I will be receiving the lens this week!
Dear Nasim,
I currently own a Nikon D7000 with the following lenses (all Nikon): a 28mm 2.8 AI-s manual focus lens, a 50mm 1.8 G, a 85mm 1.8 G, and a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G VR ED. I wanted to know what you think would be better: selling the 28mm 2.8 and scraping together some other $ to but the new 28mm 1.8, or just buying a 35mm 1.8. i would REALLY appreciate an answer and a reason
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent review. Thank you very much.
Still have the idea my 85mm PCE wins in the cream cheese department and in sharpness wide open (getting F4-5.6 sharpness at F2.8), even beats the 1.4. It is even pretty comfy to use for portraiture if you consider it is MF.
I’d like to thank you, Nasim for your hard works that you’ve put into reviewing dslrs and lenses which has been very helpful to me. I’m thinking of getting a Nikon D7000 with Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX and 85mm f/1.8G for still photography and shooting videos frequently. Would you recommend these two lenses with D7000 for shooting videos keeping the manual focus ring path in mind? Or would you recommend me some other lens for shooting video. I’ll be taking still photographs 75% of the time while videos for other 25% of the time. And I haven’t tested any of those lenses. Or should I get those lenses with a aperture ring? Well I can live without changing aperture during video. My main concern is how do those focus rings compare with the focus rings of AIS lenses of Nikon and Zeiss (the latter seems unfair to be compared with). I love doing manual focus as much as possible in still photography too. So a manual focus ring with long focus path like in Zeiss would be so nice without the price tag of zeiss. I can’t afford to buy any prime lens at the moment over $500. Excuse my English as it’s my second language besides I’ve never been to a school. If I’ve written anything that you may find offensive or rude in any way then it will be due to my lack of understanding of English language and your culture. I’d like to thank you once again as your website has been a great help to me to understand something more about photography. I’m from Nepal. Will be checking your website ;)
Norman, yes, those two lenses would work great for both stills and video. I would not recommend to try to use autofocus with video, but manual focus should be OK. You might find yourself turning the focus ring quite a bit if the subject moves too close and too far quickly, but that’s expected from a fast lens.
As for aperture ring lenses, they really bring no benefit to shooting video in my opinion. If you want to change aperture, why not stop the video, change aperture and then resume?
Yeah, that’s a good idea. Stop the video, change the aperture and then resume. Thank’s Nasim. I have one more question. Lets say a 50mm lens is attached to Nikon D800 and a 35mm lens to D7000 which should give about the same field of view. Now, how big does the view appears when looking through the D800′s full frame’s viewfinder compared to D7000′s viewfinder? My dad has an old 35mm film slr and the viewfinder is huge and it seems it’s easy to do manual focusing through that 35mm film slr’s viewfinder. Is D800′s viewfinder twice bigger than that of D7000′s when D800 is paired with a 50mm lens while D7000 with a 35mm lens? Is it hard to do manual focusing with the D7000 due to smaller viewfinder than that of D800?
As always, an excellent review. Thank you!
Finally Nikon fills this gaping hole in their lens lineup. If they can get off their butts and add a 70-200 f/4 and a 135 f/2 with a postbellum design, they’ll finally be an alternative to Canon.
Anthony, we still need some fast f/1.2 lenses as well! :)
I was expecting a reply Nasim. But that’s okay. Your reviews are already so much helpful.
Norman, I apologize for a late response – I get so many comments every day, that I cannot physically respond to each one.
Nasim, thanks for the replies and it’s me who should apologize if anyone has to apologize. I should have understood that you get a lot of comments just by seeing comments under your several reviews. So, yes, anyone in your position would find it difficult to respond to each comments and yet you seem to be doing a lot. Thank you so much, Nasim.
Hi Thanks Nasim, After I read your review…I’m going to get this lens in New Zealand (799NZD) with D800…Thanks agian
Hi Nasim,
I currently own a Nikon D90 was thinking on upgrading to a d7000, but I have seen in some of your comments to other that if one is happy with the d90 that it’s probably best to stay with it. My question here is should I wait for an upgrade on the d7000 or go with a full frame upgrade. Perhaps one of the newer ones being released soon. I do a lot of indoor shooting and I’m looking a camera/lens that can handle low light better. I currently have the 35mm 1.8 and a 50mm 1.8d, Will a 85mm help me achieve a better lighting? BTW thanks for an awesome website.
Hi Nasim,
I currently own a Nikon D7000 and has a kit lens of 18-105mm. I’m just new in photography and still learning. I’m planning to buy another prime lens for taking pictures of a baby since my wife will give birth this coming August. If you were in my shoes, will you go for Nikon 85mm f1.8G AF-S or Nikon 50mm f1.4G SIC? There’s only a slight difference when it comes to the price but your professional advice will surely help me on what lens to purchase to serve my needs in taking photos of my baby :) Thanks in advance….
Ritche
Nasim,
Great Picts! Are the women’s pictures digitally brushed?
Nasim, thank you for review. Decided – I`ll get 85mm 1.8G.
Hi Nasim,
I am interested only in Portrait photography, I have a small studio set up at home with elinchrom D2 set. I own a Nikon D90 with 18-105 + 35mm 1.8G and 70-300 4-5.6 D Lens, Do you think buying 85mm 1.8 G for my D90 would be a good option? or should I go for any other lens.
Waiting for your reply
Regards
Deepak
Hello, Nasim! As always very informative and great review. A lot of tests and real world scenario photos.
I got a question: 1.4G or 1.8G? Let`s pretend you don`t need that 2/3 stops :) Why you would really buy for yourself?
Hi Nasim,
Many many thanks for this review. I bought 1.4G before 2 days before that I haven’t went through your reviews rather peeping on your gears. As most of the photographers suggested 1.G I went on blindly. After testing my lens, I was disappointed on the autofocus and the sharpness. After reading your review, I was sleepless thinking it was big mistake. Today morning I rang the shop and explained them that I wanted to change to 1.8G. They generously accepted and replaced my 1.4G. Returning back the excess money :)
I tested my 1.8G today, wow!!!!!!!!
The sharpness is really amazing especially at the corners, I tested on the same location. The autofocus is very efficient, no more front and back rotation..
However, as mentioned in the review the motor is bit noisy than 1.4G. I personally have the feeling that the bokeh is not as good as 1.4G. That may also due to the sharpness from centre to corner.
But I’m satisfied on the change over as its is fast and sharp. I’m going to capture my new born daughter :)
Hello Nasim,
Thanks for the great article,
if you were to pick one between 85 1.4G and 1.8G to use with D800 which one would you choose?
I have D800, a 24-70 2.8 and thinking of replacing my 85 1.8D with one of the above lenses…I will be using it a lot for beauty and headshots….I used 85 1.4G a few times and loved it and preferred it to the look of my 85 1.8D.
To me price is of course a factor but more important than that is the performance and the overall value in the long term.
I really appreciate your reply on this.
Regards,
Hello Nasim,
I recently purchased this lens, overall I am a happy customer. As mentioned in your review it does a good job. I am not expert but here is what I have experienced with 85 1.8G and D90 Body.
Cons: Focus motor of 35mm1.8G is better than 85mm1.8g
I wish it was a VR lens
In cloudy weather this lens tend to focus slow.
Regards
Deepak
Nasim, Great review thanks, although it puts me into a bit of a quandary, I’m not sure whether to opt for the 88mm 1.4 G, the 1.8G or indeed the Sigma 1.4? The cost of the Nikon seems a bit on the high side for my liking, but then as a wedding photographer – portraits are a big deal! :)
Definitely Nikon 85mm 1.4G , No doubt.
Ended up doing some research and opted for an 85mm f1.8D, giving good results for portraits. Not as harsh as the 1.8G, bit of a compromise but picked it up a mint 1.8D for £200!
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn20/PaulB7/_PB27111.jpg
Hello Nasim,
I bought 85mm 1.8G over 1.4G based on your review and some of other reviews on the internet….but I found it not really performing at 1.4G level…as a mainly portrait lens I found it lacks something….I don’t know what it is maybe because it is VERY sharp and I found the portraits (including the ones in your review) with this lens nervous….it is not the case with 1.4G…I don’t know if it makes sense…
anyways know I am thinking of returning it and get a 1.4G for my portrait and beauty shots
Mahan,
Hi….. hopefully Nasim won’t mind if I jump in here, I work as a professional wedding photographer in Devon and so have taken a keen interest in this debate. Although I do own and shoot with some of the best glass out there (24 ~ 70 f2.8, 70 ~ 200 f2.8, 50 mm f1.4G), I found it hard to stump up £1200 for the 85mm f1.4, although haven’t ruled out getting one in the future.
But for now, I’ve just bought the 85mm f1.8D lens and the reason I did that was because the reports of just how sharp the G lens was made me think it might be to harsh for portrait work?
I therefore opted for the older D lens and picked one up mint for £200! I used it for the first time last weekend on just a couple of shots and I’ll try posting the image link below. Now this isn’t a great example of my work, but it does show what the lens gave me. Initial impressions are good and I look forwards to trying it out some more. The camera was a D700.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn20/PaulB7/_PB27113.jpg
Further to my post above, I’ll try posting a link to a full res file which shows nice brokeh. Again this is not a great shot, composition is a bit off, but I was just trying out the lens for the first time on a spare body.
1/1600 sec at f3.5, 250 ISO 85mm f1.8D on a D700
[IMG]http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn20/PaulB7/_PB27111.jpg[/IMG]
Hey Paul, Thanks for your reply and sending the link.
Interestingly, I had a 85 1.8D and just sold it last week and bought the 1.8G….
1.8D was a fine tool but when I borrowed 1.4G from a friend for a few beauty shoots I fell in love with it…I don’t know if it makes sense but it has a certain personality/look/feel…
Yup so I sold my 1.8D it to buy 1.4G but then I saw this article and some others and thought hmm maybe 1.8G is just as good and I can save money without losing quality (or as some suggest the new lens is a better performer even gaining quality), lol…but now I think I was wrong.
Mahan, Hi…… that’s interesting of you to say so. I’ve ended up with the 1.8D because there is a £1000 difference compared to if I had wanted to buy the 1.4G! Of course I’d love a 1.4G and I do get what you mean about the character and feel of a lens. I don’t rule out getting one of those some day?
To make matters worse, there is also the 85mm 1.4D which shouldn’t be overlooked, but I don’t want to be accused of hijacking this particular post by getting too far away from the original subject matter?
Have a great day :) Paul
Hi Nasim,
Back in June when I got the D800, I read your article on the 85 1.8G and based on it, I placed an order at The Camera Store (Calgary) in early July and was put on a waiting list since it was “bo”. I just got a call from them and they said it was in. So I placed the order, should get it by the end of the week. Now that’s about a three month wait, is the situation similar in the States? I will use it instead of my Tamron 90 for now on for portraits… I also find my 300 IS F4 extraordinary for that purpose.
thanks again for great article.
In my experience the best thing to do when buying a new DSLR or lens is to take to a service centre ASAP, in doing this you won’t have to pay for the calibration that it will probably need.
I’d also like to echo Nasim’s complaints as to why a $2200 lens needs further tweaking after purchasing.
I’ll also add that Zeiss and Leica make their fault tolerances public whereas Canikon will not reveal theirs. To me this speaks volumes about how precise their QC/manufacturing process is and quite frankly, it’s not good enough considering the price tags.
Zeiss and Leica price tags make anything else look cheap but for a decent body and lens, surely our $5000 should be able to attain critical focus out of the box in the vast majority of cases rather than the majority need calibrating.
Thanks for making this post Nasim.
Nasim
I would like to thank you for taking time to review this lens. I just bought this lens and i love it, however i found it squeak when focusing. There is a high fitch grinding/squeaking noise which is not present on my 50mm f/1.4g. I tried to exchanged it but found out that the other samples are the same. Any thoughts on this? Thank you..
Glen
Nasim,
Thank you so much for your wonderful, in-depth reviews. I am an amateur photographer and I need a little advice on lenses. The type of photography I concentrate on is portrait (pregnancy, babies, kids, family and boudoir). I have a Nikon D40x and have been using the Nikon 50mm f1.8 G. I do not have any lighting equipment and so far have not used fill flash either. I like the look of natural light and so far have made it work with a tripod and my lens.
But I would like to invest in another lens. Thanks mostly to your reviews I have narrowed it down to the 85mm f/1.8 G and the 24-120mm f/4 VR. And I am open to suggestions too.
I think my dilemma in choosing has to do with not knowing what is best… to have another prime lens or to invest in and learn to use a “zoom” lens. Is it a waste to get a second prime when I do not have a zoom? Do you have any questions that I can ask myself to help me make an informed decision?
Thank you again for your time and for sharing your knowledge.
Lina
Why Nikon avoids building VRII/VRIII into short tele portrait lenses and/or zooms such as 85/1.4, 85/1.8 AF-S, maybe even 24-70?
I think it might be related to maximum aperture, e.g. I haven’t seen a wide prime with VR, but there are plenty of lenses with max aperture of f4+ which have VR.
The VR-less 24-70 is an enigma for me, maybe the complexity is the key.
Do you expect a 85 1.8 AF-S VR in the next few months?
I’m really thinking about a portrait lens, but love my VR-ed lenses. However, I don’t think Nikon will make that portrait lens with VR in the foreseeable future.
Maybe because anything from f2.8 down to f1.4 is considered to be ‘fast glass’ and with a suitable ISO, you can use shutter speeds that don’t need VR?
Is there such as “don’t need”? :)
What would be the obvious disadvantage: price, size? These are not major factors for high-end lenses.
There must be some technical disadvantage.
In your review of the 85mm 1.8 G lens, I was wondering about your explanation of the LoCA fringing (as seen in the photo of the bike wheel) and you said it could not be fixed, well however I copied the photo and threw it in my lightroom 4 and yes although the CA could not be removed by checking the “remove CA”, I then used the purple slider below it to 6 and all the purple CA completely disappeared and it was so easy to remove.. I was just wondering why you say it could not be easily removed mmm..
Hi Nasim,
Its a pleasure to read your reviews… Really helpful for amateurs like me to gain a lot of knowledge…
So far I have not used primes on my D5000. I’ve been using my 18-55 (kit one), 55-200 and a recent upgrade from 55-200 to 55-300. I’m planning to get a prime to explore more in that domain for primarily clicking in low light, kids and portraits.
Like most of amateurs I’m also tied with limited resources to fund my acquisitions :-)… While comparing the two primes I can possibly get my hands on I have zeroed down on 85 1.8G or 50 1.4G. Searched a lot on net to compare these two lenses but not able to find much as most of the comparisons are within the same series (upgrades).
Can you forward me some information if available or suggest over here? Thanks for your time and support…
Regards,
Shobhit
Dear Nasim,
I regularly visit your site. After reading your review about 85mm 1.8 G , I brought the lens and the results are amazing. Its light weight, sharp and specially at f/4. I must say at a price of $500. It is really value for money.
It also helps user to make appropriate distance during portrait shoot. Very happy after this purchase.
With best regards,
Joginder
Dear Nasim,
Same case here with Jogi. Just go the lens 4 days ago.
Now, getting head shots became more comfortable on DX.
cheers!
PJ
Hi,
I have the following dilemma should I buy a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC NIKON (AE)
Or the Nikon 85mm F1.8 G.
Am looking for a lens with aperture ring to be able to do video on the Nikon D600. There are rumours that nikon might fix it with a firmware update.
The main reason I’ve bought the camera was for picture. Am now looking for a 85mm. As much as I would like to buy the nikon 85 F1.4 I can’t afford it now. My option was to get the 85 f1.8g.
When I’ve come across the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AS IF review that made me think that I may achieve two thing. Have a 85mm and aperture for video.
What is you opinion of the lens?
Hi Nasim,
thanks for the review. I bought this lens as I wanted to get into portraiture and also try my hands on some wicked Brenizer method panoramas. So far however I’m a bit surprised by the lens performance and not in a good way. I was hoping you could help me here.
The images coming out are looking a bit soft even in the centre frame. I’m comparing them to the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 which I bought after reading your review here and it has been an excellent buy I must say. I’m using the 85mm wide open as I intended to and the images are not sharp. I have also noted that my hands are not steady on this focal length so that may be a contributing factor. I have taken most of the photos indoors with some outdoors as havent had much time and the results are a bit of letdown.
So tomorrow I intend to put this lens on a trippod and take some photos. I also find it hard to judge the sharpness of the lens as the focal plane is so thin – I dont understand how people judge it wide open.
I’m using a D600 for this lens and would like to check for caliberation issues as well.
Any help will be great.
Thanks
Arpit
Dear Nasim
I have a D5100 and own a 35mm 1.8g , im now contemplating on getting one more prime. Should it be a 85mm 1.8g or a 50mm 1.8 g. Im keen on potraiture something like full length and waist to head type. Plase suggest
Thanks
suresh
Hi Nasim,
Thanks for your great reviews.
Sir, i wanna ask you 2 questions. I use nikon d90. For lenses, i have tamron 17-50mm 2.8, nikon 35mm1.8, and nikon 80-200mm 2.8. I often use my tamron for my shoot.
1. I wanna ask what do you think of changing my nikon 80-200 to 85 f1.8. Actually i love the performance of 80-200, but i think that lens is too heavy for me. And besides that, when i check my photos from my 80-200, i realized i only use this lens at 80-100 fl. Do think its a good deal for changing my 80-200 to 85mm 1.8?
2. And then, i think i wanna sell my nikon 35mm 1.8. I love this lens actually, but this lens is covered by my tamron 17-50. I never shoot at 1.8. I do my shoot just for fun and travelling. My plan is carry less lenses. I dont like have many lenses because i often confused which lenses should i brought for my shoot. If i wanna use only one lense for generall photo, which one should i bring? Tamron 17-50 or nikon 35mm? For information, 70 percent of my shoot was taken by tamron 17-50. Im planning for shooting just with tamron 17-50 and nikon 85. Is that a good idea?
I also wanna apologize for my bad english. I live in southeast asia which english is not pur primary language. I need almost an hour to think, translate, n recheck every words in this comment before I post it. Sorry for my bad english.
Thank you.
hello nasim, nice review, the design of your page is the best. i would just suggest that you give some samples of real life shoots but always the same subject with the same background and the same light and maybe join 100% crops of that to make comparison very objective and more scientist. we could judge the ability and the smoothness of the bokeh. like other good reviews are trying to do i think such as lenstip.com
when it comes to better performances in the corner from the new cheaper 1.8G i’m always a bit sceptical for many reasons: 1st for a portrait lens it doesn’t really matter except if you put your subject on the side. 2nd i tried myself during the mondial salon of photography in paris. but mostly… like for any serious research (i’m college master student -_-) you always have to compare informations you find on the net. when it’s about iso 100% crops on target my first reflex is to watch out the-digital-picture.com immediately. and there, no one can deny that the expensive 1.4G is just digging the graveyard of any other 85mm starting from f/2 on borders and corners. lenstip.com is showing basically the same with graphics but less obvious.
to finish slrgear.com looking also as a good review said the same as you and did a terrible mistake about this 85 1.4G and the image proof they gave.
here are their full size image taken with successively the 1.8G and below the 1.4G
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/zsamples/nikon85f18g/znikon85f18sl085f18_d3x.jpg
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/zsamples/nikon85f14G/znikon85f14sl085f14_d3x.jpg
if you click to zoom on the top of the bottle right in the middle you can obviously see tht the focus is not at the same point!!! the 1.4G is a bit back, and the overall IQ is probably suffering of that in the comparison with the younger 1.8G.
about CA however, you are right, pretty big ones wide open but i guess pretty normal for a 1.4 lens, got the same issue even worse on the sigma version. on the 1.8G i noticed on my personnall test shoots that they are pretty annoying til f/4 while mostly gone if not gone on the more expensive version on real life test.
so at the end it is hard to know which review to read if no one agree on what they see!
i’m just saying to contribute making your review the best and the most accurate possible. i personnally purchased the sigma 85 1.4 HSM very recently to get the 1.4 aperture at a cheaper price, which i returned 4 days later cause of focus not accurate at all and decentered lens/autofocus… and a piece of painting or plastic between lenses :s! but optically exceptionnal. so my choice is going to the 1.4G now since it’s going to be my main lens and probably won’t leave the camera body for a while and also i’m doing half of the shooting outside with bright light and occasionnally why not with the sun in the frame. it’s no brainer the nano coating would be good for what i want.
about this precisely i was wondering if you had to buy again a 85mm if you still would choose the 1.4 instead of the new 1.8? :)
my biggest concern about spending so much money for few more quality is about the build quality and about this i didn’t have enough time to “feel” the lenses and their solidity etc… i know you own this one so if you could tell me more about the construction i’d be grateful! (i mean by that if you can see a significant improvement between the 2 lenses considering the difference of price, like we can see in the L line of canon compared to the cheaper model)
in general a picky pixel peeper like me would recommand to people to test themself both lenses in the same conditions making focus in the border and judge by themself, that’s how you can discover in time if your lens is suffering from construction issues also. all i know is that where i live we have 1 to 2 weeks to change the item and if you’re out of this date it will just go back to the factory and you’ll wait for weeks to have it back and maybe loose confidence in your purchase…
thanks for reviewing products and sharing your experience.
Hi Nasim,
For the last year i have been following your site and I’m very thankful for your great work on the reviews, as well as the simple way that you explain everything.
I am using Nikon SLR’s since i was 15 y.o. and 22 years later i am still a great fan.
I currently own the D800 paired with 24-120 f/4 and the 70/200 f/2.8.
Based on your review i decided to buy the 85 f/1.8 instead of the f/1.4, mostly for portrait photography, which came today.
Once again i want to thank you for your efforts on this fantastic tank of information
Zois
Hi Nasim.
I always regard your reviews so much. All of my gears that bought are due to your reviews. The D7000, 50mm 1.8G, 70-200mm 2.8G, 24-120mm f4G ED VR.
I love to have 85mm 1.8G. But how come this would be beneficial for me as I already have 50mm 1.8G that gives me killer sharp images.
Kindly advise
Irfan for a D7000 the 50 mm will work great since it has about the same angle of view as the 85mm on an fx camera. I would stick with the 50mm unless you upgrade to an fx format camera.
Hope that helps
Best regards, Jason
Thanks Jason, that was helpful.
One more thing, as Im planning to have D800, so how can having 85mm be beneficial than 50mm?
Actualy the calculation of lens’s focal length always difficult for me.
So there are a few things to consider with a portrait lens. The 50mm lens will still give you very sharp pictures on the D800. One of the qualities of a good portrait lens is the ability to isolate a subject. This is a function of apeture and focal length with the resulting nice bokeh. As the apeture increases the depth of field narrows thus isolating the subject. This is componded by a longer focal length lens. For example a 300mm prime lens even at f/9 will still isolate a subject well because of the long focal length where as a 14mm lens will be almost impossible to isolate a subject because everything will be in focus. I believe this as to do with the hyperfocal distance of a certain mm lens.
So back to the 50mm lens, on a cropped sensor it functions as an 85ish mm lens so with a large apeture it gives great bokeh. On a full frame sensor camera the field of view will be larger so you will have to get closer to the person you are taking a portrait of or you will have to do some cropping to get a nice “head” shot. The increase in the field of view, meaning the 50mm lens being wider on a full frame camera will also make it more difficult to isolate the person from the background as easily. That is why on a full frame sensor camera you will want a 85mm-105mm lens for portrait work.
This is my simple understanding, I don’t claim to be a professional photographer and someone may be able to explain it better, but I believe that is the basic theory anyway.
Hope that helps
Best regards,
Jason
So… I have the opportunity to purchase a mint condition, used Nikon 85mm f/1.4D for the same price as the 85mm f/1.8g is being sold for on B&H. I will primarily use the lens for senior portraits and shooting indoor high school sports (basketball and volleyball). Would you recommend the used f/1.4D over a new f/1.8G? I’d appreciate hearing your opinion…
By the way, if you’re ever in need of an assistant, I live locally in the South Metro area…
Read more: http://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-85mm-f1-4g#ixzz2Lbq20LDE
Hai Nasim, very like your review about this lens, and its just makes me sure that I couldn’t help to having this lens, I want this lens very bad since the first launching issue, but its so hard to get them on my country, if there is any its without official distributor guarantee, I dont want to take a risk. Btw I am from Indonesia, and your website its the most I read for my photography enrichment since I bought my D5100 last year. thanks a lot Nasim for all of your & your team writing.
I had a question in regard to the Nikon 85 1.8G. I recently bought the 85 1.8G so this lens is still fairly new to me. I shoot with a Nikon D800 so that is the primary body I use the 85mm with just about 100% of the time.
I noticed that when shooting with the 85 1.8G on the D800 (haven’t used it on another body) there is a significant amount of chromatic aberration. I know there is suppose to be some chromatic aberration visible, but, when does it become an issue, such as if the lens is defective?
I am asking because I have seen a considerable amount of chromatic aberration with this lens, more so than any other lens (including my 50 1.4G), and that worries me.
Thanks
all 85mm’s are knowed to show such things wide open, especially in very contrasty situations. maybe you could post a link where we could see that. i have the 1.4G on a d800 and it’s easily removable in post processing. the lack of contrast and sharpness when the color is removed can remains sometimes hardly recover-able.
Nasim,
Thank you for the in-depth review of Nikon 85mm f/1.8G as it gives me a better comparison with the f/1.4 before I buy it.
Tis lens is fantastic but a hire for 400 Euro/10 years only, due RoHS, which means no lead solder is used and tin whiskers grow will occur, rendering the electronics of the lens useless
This lens is fantastic, but a 400 Euro hire for 10 years only, due RoHS: which means no lead solder is used and tin whiskers grow will occur, rendering the electronics of the lens useless
Hello! I have a question: It is ok to use this lense on my D5100?
Yes you can!
You can use any Nikon lenses on your camera. FX and DX Nikon lenses all share the same mount
There is however an exception, some older lenses use the old screw driven focus motor and the auto focusing wont work on your camera, however as it uses the same mount as I mentioned above, you can use older lenses but you would have to manually focus by hand instead of automatic focusing
I’ve been researching this 85 mm lense for awhile now and was wondering how it would perform in a low light dance recital situation. I’m shooting with a d7000 and an old 28-70 sigma 2.8 (10 yrs old) that has serious focus issues, and its just a little too short. I also have the 35 mm 1.8 that focuses fine, so I don’t believe it’s the camera. One of the the few negatives I’ve seen with the 85 is slower focusing. Do you think this lens would be a good performer for this low light situation?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Nasim,
Congratulations, you have been doing a great job with your reviews.
I have a D5100 with a 35mm 1.8G, a 40mm 2.8G and a 60mm 2.8G. I love bokeh and my photos are mostly portraits of my family. I like the creamy bokeh the 60 does and the the isolation and dof that I get with the 35 with f1.8, so I’m thinking to sell my 60mm and get a 50mm 1.8g or a 85mm 1.8G. My main target is achieve portraiture with the best possible bokeh at the range of price of the 85mm 1.8G. By what I’ve been reading I will get what I want with the 85mm but I fear that it will be too tight on my DX. My main doubts is if the results in terms of bokeh of the 85mm will be very different of the 50mm and if the bokeh will be better than what I have today with my 60mm. Is the change worth?
I would love to hear your opinion.
Ps: I was planning to move to FX with the D600 but with the problem of the dust in the sensor, I am planning now to take the D7100
My best regards,
Zorzi