DarkShinyAngel wrote:
On my annual visit to the Oregon Country Fair I decided to try the 58mm. The day was unusually overcast for a summer day in Oregon, so the colors are muted. I find that (for me) the 58 isn’t a good fit for the rapidly changing chaos of the fair where one needs to be able to quickly pivot, point, focus, and shoot. for me the focus doesn’t snap into place fast enough. My old AF 85mm f/1.4D isn’t snappy either, but I’m much more confident that the 85mm will lock focus first time exactly where I want it.
I’m going to keep the 58 as my walkabout lens, but I’m planning on reverting to my 85mm f/1.4D for next year’s trip to the Oregon Country Fair. (The final 35 photos – Saturday’s photos – in the gallery were done with the 85mm f/1.4D.)...Show more →
You have some nice shots here.
The surprise to me is that the bokeh area is not as smooth on the 85mm shots. The older diaphragm design (straight blade instead of rounded one) clearly shows up in the strong backlights rendering the pout of focus areas more 'nervous'. I clearly prefer the rendering from the 58mm. I bet the newer 85mm G would fare better than the old design.
gpelpel wrote:
The surprise to me is that the bokeh area is not as smooth on the 85mm shots. The older diaphragm design (straight blade instead of rounded one) clearly shows up in the strong backlights rendering the pout of focus areas more 'nervous'. I clearly prefer the rendering from the 58mm. I bet the newer 85mm G would fare better than the old design.
From what I've seen on the web, the 85G renders really nicely, too, but the 58's look is something special. The 58G was designed with smooth bokeh in mind, in certain situations the bokeh will slightly "swirl" around the subject, that's a trademark of this lens. You can see this effect in many photos on this thread, just look for it.
gpelpel wrote:
The surprise to me is that the bokeh area is not as smooth on the 85mm shots. The older diaphragm design (straight blade instead of rounded one) clearly shows up in the strong backlights rendering the pout of focus areas more 'nervous'. I clearly prefer the rendering from the 58mm. I bet the newer 85mm G would fare better than the old design.
I'm going to have to study my photos more to see if the difference details in the 58 vs 85mm images is a concern for me. The 58's bokeh is extremely smooth and has nice transition from the subject in focus. I've thought that the 85's bokeh is perfectly fine – although perhaps it's not as nice in comparison to the 58. Performance on the run is a problem with the 58. If I don't get that half-second pause to focus while I'm moving, I get out-of-focus shots. That's less likely with the 85. Chromatic Aberration seems worse in the 58 wide open than the 85 (although the 85 is pretty bad).
The old AF 85mm f/1.4D does have 9 rounded aperture blades. See Brian Tobey's Review. The bokeh on my shots might be worse because sometimes I had the 85 stopped down a bit.
The 58G also has a surprisingly smooth foreground bokeh and rather pronounced vignetting, as you can see in these shots, which adds to the mood this lens creates wide open.
Yes, CA is strong, but relatively easy to correct in post (once I found out how to do that ). BTW, these were shot on the same day, maybe 4hrs apart... that's what we call "summer" in Germany this year...
DarkShinyAngel wrote:
I'm going to have to study my photos more to see if the difference details in the 58 vs 85mm images is a concern for me. The 58's bokeh is extremely smooth and has nice transition from the subject in focus. I've thought that the 85's bokeh is perfectly fine – although perhaps it's not as nice in comparison to the 58. Performance on the run is a problem with the 58. If I don't get that half-second pause to focus while I'm moving, I get out-of-focus shots. That's less likely with the 85. Chromatic Aberration seems worse in the 58 wide open than the 85 (although the 85 is pretty bad).
The old AF 85mm f/1.4D does have 9 rounded aperture blades. See Brian Tobey's Review. The bokeh on my shots might be worse because sometimes I had the 85 stopped down a bit....Show more →
This lens is amazing I'm on my fourth. The issue with this lens is consistency. The most recent copy is very sharp. I think all of the conflicting results is a product of QC at Nikon. The rendering and mood this lens produces is magical.
Clearly must be....
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OH THAT'S whats UP! We'll see some of the best work, judging by your 200/2 thread!
@Elijah if you don't mind please tell us how do you work with colours when processing images.Do you use some plugin for that or it is in settings? You tend to use the same process for them all. I really like that unique look.
A little off topic but can you tell me how you have your B1 mounted in that setup shot Elijah, I have the knockoff B1 (the interfit s1) and want to do something similar.
xgrewellx wrote:
A little off topic but can you tell me how you have your B1 mounted in that setup shot Elijah, I have the knockoff B1 (the interfit s1) and want to do something similar.
milkod2001 wrote:
@Elijah@ if you don't mind please tell us how do you work with colours when processing images.Do you use some plugin for that or it is in settings? You tend to use the same process for them all. I really like that unique look.
I don't mind, these particular images are double processed by VSCO actually. I tend to use Fuji 400h and Kodak Portra 800++ more than any other presets.
I modify them and tweak a bit here and there but mostly, VSCO is the answer.
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Frank Scallo wrote:
From a recent portrait shoot. 58 on a D750:
Joseph. wrote:
Ok, my 58 1.4G arrived today. Very nice, like being reunited with an old friend.
Quiet, Elijah
HAHAHAHAHA!
I told you not to come back
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Hardcore wrote:
Elijah sold his as well then bought it again so he can't say too much Will be great to have you contributing to the thread again Joseph!
That was over two years ago... when I was young and dumb
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xgrewellx wrote:
A little off topic but can you tell me how you have your B1 mounted in that setup shot Elijah, I have the knockoff B1 (the interfit s1) and want to do something similar.
Yes, Cambyss is correct, that's an SBA adapter. Best thing ever invented for heavy modifiers. Takes the stress off of my B1
). BTW, these were shot on the same day, maybe 4hrs apart... that's what we call "summer" in Germany this year... 
Will be great to have you contributing to the thread again Joseph!