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Archive 2011 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?

  
 
Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


Well, that's what I'm wondering. For years I've hoped to buy this lens, but of course that was before the release of the 24/1.4 AF-S & the 35/1.4 AF-S.
Until recently, I owned the 35/1.4AF-S, and though I enjoyed shooting with it, I found it lacked something that I couldn't put my finger on.
It was sharp enough, smooth bokeh, reasonably consistent auto focus, decently controlled CA but I just wasn't "feeling it" I suppose you could say.
Now I'm torn between the 24/1.4 and the 28/1.4.
The reasonable part of me says buy the 24/1.4, but then there's that little part of me that keeps reminding me of the 28/1.4 and the legacy it seems to have.
Lots of the shots I see from the 28/1.4 have an amazing rendering to them that I don't tend to see in newer glass, particularly photos taken in lowlight.
In a way, it reminds me of the 85/1.4 AF-D I used to shoot with, but with a more unique signature.
Also, I'm wondering how much of a difference I would see between the 24mm and 28mm as far as perspective goes.
I'm worried the 24mm might be too wide for environmental portraiture, which is my main interest. I also shoot bar shows and concerts fairly often.
I'd love to hear the imput on someone who's owned either the 24/1.4 & the 28/1.4 or the 35/1.4 & the 28/1.4!

Thanks guys.



Dec 11, 2011 at 04:14 PM
huddy
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


Brody, I'd look into this thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/985977/0

Gregory (NikkorAIS) has done some comparison between the two and the images can probably be found there or on his personal website. I don't have the money to afford either lens, but both are incredible. It is up to you to decide what you want. The 28/1.4 isn't is sharp as the newer G lenses, but it definitely has a rendering style all it's own, similar to the 58/1.2 Noct. It is certainly a look you can't get with modern lenses.

My personal preference has always been 28 over 24 if I am taking pictures with people, just because I don't like distortion.



Dec 11, 2011 at 04:28 PM
Avi B
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


If I had the money for either of these, I'd probably end up with the older 28/1.4 only because of Gregory's images.


Dec 11, 2011 at 07:15 PM
sputnik
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


For me the 24 is just to wide to be a 28. On the other hand, if I want wide, I want wider than 24. So I still have my 28, and loving it. That said, I'm sure the 24 is a great lens, and it probably have some improvements of the 28, such as nano coating and so on.

However would think that the 28 is a better low light lens by design. (There is an interesting interview with one of the guys behind the lens design on the Nikon homepage - I just can't find it right now).

So, as it often is, it depends on your needs and taste. Both great lenses.



Dec 12, 2011 at 07:15 AM
Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


sputnik wrote:
For me the 24 is just to wide to be a 28. On the other hand, if I want wide, I want wider than 24. So I still have my 28, and loving it. That said, I'm sure the 24 is a great lens, and it probably have some improvements of the 28, such as nano coating and so on.

However would think that the 28 is a better low light lens by design. (There is an interesting interview with one of the guys behind the lens design on the Nikon homepage - I just can't find it right now).

So, as
...Show more

I'd love to read that interview about the 28mm. I'm fairly sure I'll be getting the 28/1.4, but I've heard some nasty review in regards to the lens, but all the sample images I see blow me away. I'll be spending most of my time shooting this lens at f1.4 - f2 mainly in lower light. I'm not as interested in getting the most contrasty, sharp lens possible.



Dec 12, 2011 at 07:38 AM
eSchwab
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


In my opinion a fast 28 would be perfect. The 24 and 35 are great but 28 just seems to be right for me. However, the price is still outrageous for them.


Dec 12, 2011 at 08:38 AM
j.liam
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


I was debatiing the same purchases some time back so I contacted one of the more talented hands at www.mflenseslenses.com (Vilhelm Sjostrom) who shoots both lenses as a pro. His take when I posed the question: in love with the rendering but never shoots the thing at anything wider than f/2. Rørslett pretty much says the same (and worse), unimpressed with its performance wide-open and mentions trying out several copies with the same results, admitting he's at odds with the praise of others. Even KR who glows about it (and nearly everything else he writes about) adds a rare caveat that his sample may have been a particularly good one.
I wrote Lloyd Chambers asking why he made no comparison to it in his Zeiss review series and he reports regretting selling his copy but for the rendering alone, adding that it would win no awards for sharpness.

Gregory uses polarizers as an ND filter and shoots in particular lighting conditions that gives his hallmark effect, methinks. He's said he does little post, beyond some sharpening so you must take his work as a reflection much more of the artist than the tool.

Edited on Dec 12, 2011 at 09:02 AM · View previous versions



Dec 12, 2011 at 08:49 AM
Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


eSchwab wrote:
In my opinion a fast 28 would be perfect. The 24 and 35 are great but 28 just seems to be right for me. However, the price is still outrageous for them.


True the price is still high, but it seems to have leveled out slightly in the past few years.
I'm looking at getting a clean copy with the box and papers for $2500.
If I remember correctly, the price was pretty much always above 3k before the release of all the new primes.
This is what I think I've decided to go with.
28/1.4 for the wide angle, low light work and the ZF 100/2 Makro for portrait/stitches/macro work.
It's interested... I had the 35/1.4 & 85/1.4 AF-D and now I'm switching it up to the 28/1.4 & 100/2.
IMO, I think both of these changes will (hopefully) help to make my work more dramatic.
Oh and in between these changes, I had the m8 w/ CV 35/1.2II & zm 25/2.8.
Haha, I guess I'm all over the place with all these changes.

Does anyone have examples of the lens at f1.4, f2, & f2.8 to see the change in sharpness/depth? I wonder how it compares to the 35/1.4 AF-S wide open....



Dec 12, 2011 at 08:49 AM
sputnik
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


Brody LeBlanc wrote:
I'd love to read that interview about the 28mm. I'm fairly sure I'll be getting the 28/1.4, but I've heard some nasty review in regards to the lens, but all the sample images I see blow me away. I'll be spending most of my time shooting this lens at f1.4 - f2 mainly in lower light. I'm not as interested in getting the most contrasty, sharp lens possible.


Brody, here is a link to the page I was refering to. Hope it helps.

/Anders



Dec 12, 2011 at 08:55 AM
David Baldwin
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


I have extensive lowlight experience of the Nikkor 28mm f1.4 on film:

http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la06.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la02.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la16.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la04.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la15.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/ar14.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la14.html
http://www.nightfolio.co.uk/subpages/la09b.html

Wonderful lens for film - quite the best fast wide of the 1990's IMHO. I have never used the new Nikon 24mm f1.4 (having moved over to Canon 4 or 5 years ago), but I would assume Nikon's 24mm has similar performance to Canon's 24L f1.4 Mk2 that I do own. The long and the short of it is that I believe Canon's 24L is of course optically better than the old Nikon 28mm f1.4, and on that basis if I were still a Nikon shooter I would rather buy their current 24 over their discontinued 28.

Don't get me wrong, the 28 is a fabulous lens, but all the technical advances of the last few years strongly suggest to me that the latest generation of Japanese 24mm f1.4s will offer superior performance. Wideangles as a class do benefit greatly from being formulated specifically for digital use. The 28 is a much older design intended for wide open use on film in an age before we looked at our images at 100% on computer screens.

I would not swap my Canon 24L Mk2 for my old Nikkor 28mm, however much I loved the latter lens which I used for more than a decade.



Dec 12, 2011 at 09:01 AM
huddy
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Is the 28/1.4 still worth it?


Here is the Nikon story you were looking for: http://imaging.nikon.com/history/nikkor/28/index.htm


Dec 14, 2011 at 07:36 PM





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