Lens review: The Nikon AF-S 85/1.4 G

_7001872 copy

Untitled still life. Nikon D700, AF 85/1.4 D with extension tubes.

Let me start by giving you a bit of my fast 85mm history. I never saw the big deal about this focal length until I went full frame; and even then, not til I got a D700 and the f1.4 D version in late 2009. Up til that point, it was just another forlorn intermediate marking on the barrel of my 70-200 or 70-300mm lenses.

_7001585 copy
Tea plantation, Cameron Highlands. Nikon D700, AF 85/1.4 D

After The First Leica Period, I had to find a lens to satisfy my bokeh addiction – it would spiritually replace the Leica 50/1.4 ASPH and Voigtlander 50/1.1; since all of the Nikon mount fast 50s were frankly pretty weak, and after the M8’s 1.3x crop factor, 50mm becomes 75mm, 85mm was the natural choice. I went for the Nikon AF-D 85/1.4 – the screwdriver focus version – and had a love/ hate relationship with it. On one hand, it delivered amazing bokeh, and great sharpness and separation of planes; use it at f2 and smaller apertures for optimal performance.

_D90_DSC8703bw copy
Ticketed. Nikon D90, AF 85/1.4 D

But what I didn’t like was that it missed focus frequently owing to the backlash in the focusing system, and often wouldn’t be able to move the elements enough to take care of small changes in distance. And then there was the edge softness, and CA…which was perhaps the worst I’ve ever seen in a modern lens design. Wide open, on a high contrast edge, you’d get a good 2-3 pixels PLUS some sort of interesting ‘bloom’ that would span anywhere up to a further 5 pixels – on a 12MP FX body, which is already fairly forgiving of lenses.

_7008049bw copy
On set. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF 1.4/85 Planar

Enter the Zeiss ZF 1.4/85 Planar. Not only did it have minimal CA, and somehow deliver 2/3rds of a stop more shutter speed for a given aperture setting (no doubt the T* coating had something to do with the hugely increased T stop) – it also delivered micro contrast and color transmission that was absolutely out of this world. In fact, the ability to reproduce fine structures went far beyond anything that I’d seen from Nikon glass – and I was pleasingly reminded of the 2/28 Distagon I also owned.

_7009484 copy
Construction, Putrajaya. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF 1.4/85 Planar

There is, of course, one catch: it wasn’t easy to focus. There was definitely some focus shift on stopping down; I solved that problem by shooting it wide open all the time – and with bokeh like that, I can’t think why anybody would want to stop it down in the first place. But more than that, depth of field – as expected – was about the thickness of two sheets of paper. Maybe two and a half, if you had a more distant subject.

_7008344bw copy
Arches. Perbadanan Putrajaya. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF 1.4/85 Planar


The Nikon AF-S 85mm f1.4 G ED IF N SWM (full name). Image from Nikon USA.

When Nikon released the updated AF-S 85/1.4 G in late 2010, I jumped. I didn’t intend to, but a brief test drive at my dealer purveyor of addictive substances confirmed my worst fears: it was not only on par optically with the Zeiss (at least on the D700), it also focused by itself, and was able to do so with precision, thanks to the AFS motor.

_5100_DSC1117 copy
Left out. Nikon D5100, AFS 85/1.4 G

On the D700, 12MP and 16MP FX bodies, I still think it’s an amazing piece of glass. You get all of the good properties of the Zeiss – high transmission, smooth bokeh, great micro contrast, broad spectral transmission, that 3D look, almost no CA – lateral or longitudinal – but with precise, fast autofocus. It’s also slightly sharper in the edges and corners than the Zeiss was.

_5100_DSC1276 copy
Pipe man, Nikon D5100, AFS 85/1.4 G

There really isn’t a lot to say beyond that it’s a) almost perfect on these bodies and b) eye-wateringly expensive. It was, and still is, my favorite lens for the D700 – fully 7% of all the images on my flickr stream were shot with it (which is amazing when you consider the number of cameras I use, and the number of lenses I’ve got.)

_7030977 copy
Rickshaw man, Kathmandu. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

Which is why my subsequent experience with it on the D800 is very, very confusing indeed. It doesn’t focus accurately or quickly; in fact, it tends to hunt more than a little, and doesn’t snap to focus with the certainty of the D700. (Although this could be my body, with it’s AF sensor misalignment and other peculiarities – I’ll report back again once I’ve had a chance to do extensive testing with the replacement D800E). It also isn’t that sharp, even on center. Before you ask, it isn’t an AF fine tune issue – even focusing in live view yields similar ‘best case’ optical results. It gets better – or perhaps worse – there’s also now very visible longitudinal chromatic aberration, something I’ve never seen with this lens on the D700; this color shifting also causes reduction in contrast and visible degradation of sharpness.

_7043168bw copy
Failure to launch. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

To top everything off, I find that if I calibrate the lens for close distances, then it’s off at infinity. And vice versa. Again – not behavior I’ve ever seen with any other body I’ve used this lens on. To be sure, I tested three samples, and several D800 bodies – they were all the same. I think it’s one of those unfortunate cases where the optical design doesn’t play nice with the new low pass filter or whatever other optical elements happen to be sitting in front of the new sensor.

_7030375bw copy
No trekking today. Kathmandu. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

If you stop down to f2, most of the oddness goes away. By f2.8, the lens becomes its perfect self again – but we didn’t pay for the extra stop to use it at f2.8; perplexingly, the (optically) much simpler AF-S 85/1.8G (no nano coating, no aspherical elements, no ED glass, no RF or IF even) is perfect at f1.8, and stays that way – the f1.4G needs to stop down to f2.8 to match it. Of course, you do loose about 2/3 stop of transmission between the two lenses, so something has to be said for the value of the fancy coatings and optics in the f1.4G.

_7019199bw copy
A great lens for ‘sniping cinematic moments’. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

Still. Surprising, no?

It’s a pity, because I really, really wanted to use this lens on the D800 – the sensor’s ability to reproduce very fine tonal gradations and subtle color nuances goes beyond anything else I’ve used; that combined with the 85/1.4 G’s resolving power and optical qualities (seen on the D700 at any rate) would have made a formidable combination for cinematic photography. Alas, it looks like I’m going to either have to buy the 85/1.8G to use on the D800, or stick with the D700/85/1.4G combo for now.

_8000063 copy
Stall chefs. Nikon D800, AFS 85/1.4 G

Can I recommend the lens? For D800 users, honestly, no. You’re better served by the 85/1.8G; use the balance of funds for other glass, or buy one of my prints with some of the money you’ve saved (shameless plug). It simply lacks the crispness I’ve seen with other bodies. For D700, D3, D3s and DX users: absolutely yes, it’s a stunning piece of glass, and has become my go-to lens together with the 24/1.4. I don’t know why it isn’t the case on the D800 since it has similar pixel density to the D7000, with which the lens does an excellent job – but it just isn’t. Now, what might be an interesting combination is D800 + Zeiss 1.4/85 Planar; I’d rather not find out in case I have to buy something. Having three 85mm lenses would be utterly ridiculous, wouldn’t it? 🙂 MT

_7035953 copy
Kathmandu. Not just a portrait lens; it’s great for reproducing the fine detail in landscapes, too. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

The Nikon AFS 85/1.4 G is available here from B&H and Amazon.

____________

Visit our Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including Photoshop Workflow DVDs and customized Email School of Photography; or go mobile with the Photography Compendium for iPad. You can also get your gear from B&H and Amazon. Prices are the same as normal, however a small portion of your purchase value is referred back to me. Thanks!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and join the reader Flickr group!

appstorebadge

Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved

Comments

  1. Hi Ming. Would you update us on the 85mm situation? What about on D810 or D750? (e.g. do you prefer f/1.8 on the former and f/1.4 on the latter?) Any interest in the Sigma Art 85mm f/1.4 or Nikon 105mm f/1.4?
    Thank you.
    Art

    • I sold my 85/1.4G post-D800E, and have been using the 85/1.8G since – when I need AF. The rest of the time, 85 Otus (if Nikon) or 100/2.2 (more likely, on Hasselblad).

  2. I switched to Nikon from Canon and had to sell my Canon 85mm f/1.2, so I immediately ordered a Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G. Same problem: on my D810 it was soft wide open even after fine tuning (+18), missed focus and had terrible CA. I sold it and bought the 1.8G. I really wanted to like the lens. Pity. I’m happy with Nikon, but miss the 85mm f/1.2 and the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS (but not the weight!).

    • The 85G was great on the 12 MP bodies, excellent on 16MP, OK on 24MP, and not acceptable on 36MP. Surprising given it’s a relatively new design. I wasn’t at all impressed with the 85/1.2II – lots of CA/PF everywhere.

      • I had the Mk I. The Canon 85mm is a classic case of a lens with faults and “character” – in my case, I loved the pure cream in the blur. I only ever used it for full face portraits and for that, it was sublime.

  3. Thankyou for your reviews. But do you know that the longitudinal CA can be easily removed by NX2 ?

  4. createthisdotcom says:

    Sadly, I’m seeing this same issue (differing af tune values like +6 at 6 feet vs +10 at 16 feet) on my new 85mm 1.4g and my d810. I see it on my old d3s too, but as you say, it’s much more forgiving at 12MP. I’m going to see if Nikon can repair it. Otherwise, I guess I’ll try the 85mm 1.8g.

    • Hmm, I would have hope they’d fixed this (can’t say as I sold my 85/1.4G after the initial D800E results; I needed something dependable). It seems that the 70-200/4 also has a similar issue – pick near or far to fine tune for…

      • I returned that copy (+6 at 6 feet vs +10 at 16 feet), and repurchased it. The second copy was -2 at 6 feet and +2 at 16 feet. The range is the same (4 units), so I’m starting to think this is just how this lens performs. Luckily, I don’t do a lot of portraiture anymore. I bought this lens mostly for cityscapes and sharpness at f8 corner to corner. I do prefer how the 85mm 1.4g renders at 85mm vs say, my 70-200mm f2.8 vr ii at 85mm, so I’ll probably keep this copy. I’ll just have to remember to af tune it for distance if I’m trying to get sharp results below f4.

    • This is not good news at all. I am quite worried about my 85mm 1.4g on my 2 week old d810 that I recently replaced my d800 with due to focusing issues. just today I did a Lensalign on the lens and I found it was front focusing by a good bit. A -17 helped some but I never get tact sharp images from it at 1.4 like ever. I’m tempted to send it back to Nikon to have it looked it but I am very disheartened because with my left focus fiasco I had with the d800 I feel like my luck is really starting to suck.

  5. Ming, agree entirely with your view of this lens on the D800/E.

    I have a D800E and bought this lens given the recent price drops on it in the UK. Despite some time getting microadjust of focus correct, it just seemed unduly soft wide open and the focus was hesitant. I found I needed to stop down to F2.8 to get decently sharp results. I wasn’t going to pay £1000+ for a F1.4 lens I could only use at F2.8, so I returned it to the shop.

  6. Roberto Wan says:

    Hi, i read that you said you can recommend the Nikon 85mm/1.4G on D700, D3 and D3s… and not for d800… will it work for D4? can you help me out? thanks

  7. hello! i currently have the d800 and i have tried both.. i don’t significantly see a big difference except for blur. the 1.4 seemed to me a tiny hair from the ass of a fly sharper on the periphery so i think i’m gonna take this extra aperture since i’m using a lot dof and do outside shootings. i also found the focus as fast if not also the same hair faster than the new 1.8G. (unless the 50mm comparison, which made me buy the 1.8 cheaper faster focus and just better). i was wonderning if it happens to you to take direct jpegs with your d800 or you 100% stick with raw? i know they are not really good when they directly pop out of the camera and from a raw well sharpened this is just perfect.
    also, if you want the 1.4 dof maybe you should have a look on the sigma, it’s optically fantastic, maybe the best, if you get a chance to try a perfect copy about focusing, unlike me… or maybe wait the next sigma in the “art” line. seems a real improvement in terme of quality with personnal AF tuning soon. just have to wait a little year i think…

    • I’ve tried a large number of copies of both the 1.4 G and the 1.8 G – the 1.8 G is sharper, but the 1.4G has slightly better microcontrast, less flare, and far more chromatic aberration. I use the 1.8 G because it’s a better lens for what I do. I don’t shoot jpeg, high end commercial clients don’t pay for that. The Sigmas have been historically very unreliable and inconsistent; not to mention sharpness somehow degrades over time; it’s as though something comes loose or drifts off calibration.

      • mhm i see.. might have been mistaken with micro contrast. did you ever take the exact same picture with both lenses? i’d be curious to see the difference. if you get a chance to show me i’d be very grateful 🙂 anyway it seems it’s easier with a good post processing to get tack sharp image for exposition prints starting from a high microcontrast picture, here if you can translate this conversation, it’s a bit tough for me to do it but looks very interesting. basically using a surface blur to keep the flatness of the images and low the noise, then high pass filter for the basic manipulation. seems working well for nature and landscape on details. i’m not sure about the preparation of files with NIK softwares… if you are interested and could make you feel better with your 1.4G + d800 😉

        http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?topic=25457.35;wap2

        • No, but I’ve used enough under a sufficient variety of circumstances plus completed a lot of bench tests. Microcontrast on both is excellent with lower resolution cameras. You just have to reach 2.8 on the 1.4G before it matches the 1.8G for CA performance (which severely impacts sharpness). Yes, high microcontrast translates into higher detail and better texture – basically, it’s better reproduction of fine detail structures. Filters are no substitute for a good starting file, and never quite deliver the results you have in mind because they make global adjustments. There is no substitute for getting it right and working each file individually…

          • i can feel the disapointement in your statement… which i understand considering the price, but let’s see the bright side, the 1.4 as still this dof mechanicly unmatchable by a 1.8, the resistance to flare for those using it under bright sun, the 9 rounded blades, the general build is suppposed to be a bit better. and of course at apertures such so wide the sharpness is something relative, melting the scene is the point. CA are removable, sharpness and local micro contrast can be improved in post processing. so yes it’s high paid for few advantages. nikon just made too good with this 1.8G in term of sharpness and price tag. it’s like comparing the 85L 1.2 to the 1.8 of canon, yes the big one is sharp, but if full of CA’s and never gets sharp in the borders/corners. the 1.8 is old but incredible, and quickly gets sharp all over the frame. one is 2K euros the other 380 euros… probably far of being 5 times better either. it’s a question of rendition. so we are artists, not technicians. lets be artists and shoot at 1.4 instead of 1.8 😉

            • Sure – but if I can’t use it at f1.4 because the image quality isn’t up there, then there’s no point having it. Not much difference between f1.4 and f1.8 anyway. I find I have to stop down a bit anyway with the D800 because focusing is so hit and miss at that resolution. Longitudinal CA is not easily removable, and microcontrast can’t be put back in afterwards.

              If you prefer the 1.4, that’s why we have choices 🙂 I know I don’t shoot at 1.4 anymore because I prefer to have some context in my scene to add to the story over that extra bokeh – I had both lenses, hardly ever shot with the 1.4 after getting the 1.8, so off it went. Equipment are tools – I don’t keep stuff I don’t use. At this price, we shouldn’t be making excuses for Nikon, either.

    • phototrope says:

      thomas, I think you just hit the nail on the head with a loud bang. Though I get the feeling that Ming still won’t agree with you. For example, there are also a whole host of old manual focus medium format lenses you can use on the D800 with adaptors. Each have their own peculiar aberrations and imperfections, but they can also produce beautiful art – that is, they can help you come closer to creating the beautiful vision you hold in your mind’s eye. But if you’re less interested in that and more interested in getting the next contract from the high-end client who is worried about a few pixels of CA then you won’t get it – you won’t get the advantage of those lenses and your reviews of them will be biased.

      • Oh, I understand why you’d have a lens for a particular artistic purpose or because of the way it renders – you’re talking to somebody with five 28mm lenses for this purpose – but in this case, since the 85 only comes out for client work, yes, I prefer to use what makes my life easier. I did use the 1.4G for quite a while as one of my primary lenses, so I know it intimately well – but just don’t like the way it renders on the D800E. Each to his own…as I said earlier though, I don’t think that leaves any excuse at the prices we’re paying for these things though. At least in this part of the world, the new one is 50% more expensive than its predecessor.

        • haha omg i will start to doubt for real ^^! but i totally get your point. no seriously i know on every comparison from every generations of prime lenses on nikon line it seems always to advantage the 1.8 versions for their ratio IQ/price, that’s a fact… and it’s all of’em, 50 and 85 af-d and now af-s. where you make me doubt is about this focus issue you are talking about 😮 i think i’m gonna get crazy if i purchase a 1.4G version and it’s spending more time to hunt and miss the focus point… i didn’t expererienced that with the 2 samples i tried though. CA’s are a plague for sure, but i still can proudly says i have printed a 5million pixels picture (after crop) taken with my first D3000+18-55 (which is a terrible combo) on 70×30 cm print and the present CA’s not processed didn’t waste the result after all.
          so my point is yes the bokeh, i’m a lover of this and i’m sick of smoothing blur on toshop. here is a non scientist comparison of the 2 lenses found on a review:


          i volontary don’t indicate which one is which one, the flare is talking by itself 😉
          it’s not a perfect exemple but i’m a bit worried that the extra crispyness you get with the 1.8G is also present in the bokeh nervousness with more details on the borders of the rounds. since i owned both 50mm 1.4G then 1.8G successfully i can say that i appreciate the sharpness of the new i have and regret the bokeh of the previous one.. (obviously not the AF speed). actually if i was planning to get a big park of optics i wouln’t think one seconde of spending so much for one lens and go for your recommendation. but i’m a romantic and almost plan to get this 1.4G welded to the camera body. oh i have another concern, is it weather sealed? if not i think the sky is gonna fall on my head :s
          but hey if you don’t like anymore your lens you should make me a friendly price to get rid of it 😀 haha!

          • I actually don’t mind the 1.8G’s flare – most of the time it isn’t an issue, but when I want to make things cinematic I easily can. If I don’t want flare, then I’ll use the 2/100 Makro-Planar. I’m not seeing the nervousness in bokeh in the real world, but I can see why you might. As for the 50s – the 1.8G has aspherical elements, the 1.4G doesn’t. This translates to better optics. Bokeh is a bit of a dark art though. All of the new lenses (even the 50/1.8G) are weather sealed, so no worries there. Sorry, 85/1.4G has long been sold!

  8. Jonathon Wong says:

    Thanks for the thorough review. If autofocus is no concern, would you recommend the Zeiss 85mm 1.4 or the Nikon G?

  9. Read your review. I’ve always like the 85 1.4g and like you have traded up from a D700 to D800e. I just shot some wide open (1.4) shots to test the chromatic aberration. True enough there is significant green and purple fringing. I’m sure you know this, but Lightroom and ACR have a new colour correction module (introduced since Lightroom 4) which does a great job with this stuff. I now recall I had a shot from last year with the D700 and 85 1.4 combo which had similar issues, so perhaps it’s not just a D800 thing.

    Anyway the defringing works very well in Lightroom. Just slide them to the max and the green and purple goes right away leaving a clean image.

    • I’d rather not leave the correction to software, you never know when it might not work out for you or cause some strange artefacts – besides, the 1.8 is lighter, and also excellent on the D700…

  10. Hi Ming, I am surprised by the D800+lens combo ! How does the lens perform on a D600 ? Have u had an opportunity to test ? Thanks

  11. Given the choice and performance of both lens, which one would you recommend? 1.4G or the 1.8G? i am trying to determine if the extra $1000 is worth it. Do you notice any AF speed issues with the 1.8G?

    • The 1.8 is definitely sharper and has lower CA. If you’re using the D800, the 1.8 is the way to go. No AF speed issues. I’m using the 1.8.

      • I am using the D700 and also recommend the 1.8 (I have owned both, but sold the 1,4 after trying the 1,8 side-by-side for a few weeks). Just my 2 cents (taken from my savings from going with the 1.8 …

  12. phototrope says:

    You’re crazy. The D800+85/1.4g is a beautiful combination. You either have a faulty D800 or over pedantic eyes. Either way, your pictures look great. LOL.

    • Haha thanks. I suspect a bit of both, actually. The 85/1.8 G does much better – can’t figure out why.

      • Yes, that sounds strange. I tried the 85/1.8g and the 85/1.4g on my D800 for a few days and decided to dump the 1.8g and keep the 1.4g. (No space in my bag for both). The 1.4g just had more keepers for me. Admittedly, I am a signed-up member of f/1.4 Addicts Anonymous so my decision may have been clouded. By the way, what extension tube did you use for the macro picture on this page? Nice work.

  13. Larry S. says:

    Ming – Any thoughts on the 85mm 1.8G on the D700? I currently own the 1.4G, but could definitely use some spare Ben Franklins. ^^

    Thanks,
    Larry

    • If it’s that good on the D800, I can’t imagine it being bad on the D700. I tried it briefly on the D4, and it was excellent on that camera too.

  14. Vitali Shkaruba says:

    Good review Ming. Some interesting real world observations.
    My experience with the 85/1.4G on D3 is actually very similar to what you encountered by using this lens on the D800. Not easy to acquire a critical focus and I missed quite a few shots because of that. I see also quite a bit of longitudinal CA and even Nikon Capture NX2 can’t compensate that. Thanks to these “properties” of the lens I’m now better trained at paying more attention to high contrast details in a shot and learned to do focus bracketing when taking close up portraits by moving slightly the camera.
    I use 85/1.4G a lot and now that the D800e is coming I guess I better adjust my expectations 😉

    • Are you using AF-S or AF-C? Have you fine tuned the lens for your body?

      • Vitali Shkaruba says:

        Now always AF-C with AF decoupled from the shutter release button, but tried both.
        Yes, I fine tuned with the D3, but the problem is that at close distance I need different amount of tuning than at longer distance (more front focus at longer distance).
        The only other lens that I needed to fine tune with the D3 is the 50mm. Both the D3 and the 85/1.4G where checked by Nikon service and reported to be OK. My main initial frustration with this lens was due to inconsistency in AF results. After using it heavily for more than a year I learned to predict that.

        • Hmm…I had similar issues on my original D800 with the 85/1.4 G – more fine tune at close distances, less at far distances. Since Nikon checked both, it can’t be an issue with camera or lens. That leaves how you’re using the AF system – try single point continuous, I find this works the best. Avoid any of the grouped or multiple point options because you have no control over what the camera selects as the subject.

      • Vitali Shkaruba says:

        Thank you for your suggestions, Ming. I feel that you used this lens a lot too. Thats what make your reviews way more credible.
        That is exactly how I use it now – single point continuous, no grouping, and no 3D tracking. The same setup worked best also for 105/2 DC.
        I use the D3 85/1.4G combo for street photography too and sometimes activate 3D tracking which works ok only if there is lots of light.

        • No problem – yes, that and the 24/1.4 are my staples on the D700; I’ve probably shot more than 20,000 frames with both combined. I use single point AF-C and lock focus when I feel it’s hit it (and have a split focusing/ high coarseness matte screen in my D700). 3D tracking is hit and miss at f1.4, I prefer to not to use it unless I absolutely have no choice…

  15. Thanks Ming for the detailed review. I am wondering if you will post a review on the D4 as well, if you decide to purchase one. I would love to hear your thoughts!

  16. Bruce Hansen says:

    Have you tried this lens on the D4?

  17. gustavo says:

    Amazing lens without a doubt. Shame it doesn’t work up to par with the 800…

    By any chance do you have any very wide primes Ming? \i have been pondering about maybe a Zeiss 21, maybe the Zeiss 18… Nikon’s 20 is a “D” and the front element rotates so that is a no-no for me…

    Keep up the nice work Ming

    • Thanks Gustavo. It seems a little better on the D800E – not sure if it’s the lens-sensor interaction or the AF issue – but not as good as it was on the D700, and not as good as the 85/1.8 G either.

  18. Please do let us know if you find the 85 1.4G performing better on the D800E then on the D800 you tested – this would be very interesting for my setup as well… thanks… and by the way, I have been watching your blog for some time, I very much do like your photos, they are impressive. Thanks!

    • I haven’t shot it in anger yet, but in my informal testing it does seem a bit better than the D800 – which points to the AF issue being the root cause. I’m still seeing residual CA though, and it isn’t as clean as the 85/1.8 G especially on fine detail structures.

  19. Ming – good review, however, what a pity.

    I have a 85/1.4D which I’ve been looking forward to test on my pre-ordered D800, but it looks like I’ll be waiting a while longer as I decided to cancel the order (over the weekend) and wait a little longer until all the production (quality) and supply issues have normalized. Depending on that test, I might end-up taking your advice on the 85/1.8G.

  20. Lovely pictures! Canon user here, so no real idea what you’re talking about. 😛 Having said that, the Canon 85/1.2 is an out of this world experience. One of my dream lenses.

    • Haha thanks. The 85/1.2L is comparable to the 85/1.4 G, in my experience. I used one on a 1DIII for a couple of weeks back in 2007 when I was contemplating a system swap in the pre-D3 days.

Trackbacks

  1. […] being hyper-aware of facial expressions, or edge intrusions, or context. I shot with a D700 and the AFS 85/1.4 G. the problem was, I got artistically stronger images the following year shot with a Leica M9-P and […]

  2. […] B&H Amazon Nikon AFS 50/1.8 G 7/10 – B&H Amazon Nikon AFS 85/1.4 G* 9/10 – review B&H Amazon Nikon AFS 85/1.8 G** 8/10 – review B&H Amazon Nikon PCE 85/2.8 Micro** […]

  3. […] not shooting a D800; if you are, get the 1.8G version below) – $200 off (reviewed here) AFS 85/1.8 G (reviewed here) – $100 […]

  4. […] readers of my site will know that I was originally a huge fan of the 85/1.4 G, especially on the D700 for it’s sharpness, quality of bokeh and incredible ability to shoot […]

  5. […] Prime time continues with a review of the Nikon 85mm f1.4G at Ming Thein. […]