I don't know if I've ever posted in here, but the 58G has been my most-used lens over the last few years, and probably my favorite lens I've ever owned (which includes something like 17 different 50mm-ish lenses)
It's both sharper than I anticipated, and as soft as I anticipated. In Live View the resolution is pretty good, but I'll need to do some fine tuning to get the OVF to match. It's a pretty substantial difference, potentially the reason a lot of people crap on the lens.
I took my girl to the park, and we did a few side by sides with the 58 and 50.8G, photos she made me swear not to post. The 58 definitely renders an overall image that is leagues above the 1.8G outdoors...but the 58 also cost literally 10x what I paid for the 50. It's going to be a tough few weeks trying to decide where my priorities lie.
I posted on DPReview a while back comparing a boring indoor shot of toys and living room bokeh between the 50 1.4 and the 58. I was shocked my the rendering difference. 58mm had much smoother out of focus areas. If that's worth 4x more is debatable...or if it's 10x better than the 50mm 1.8.
Locked my keys in my trunk after a shoot, and the locksmith was nice enough to stand in the same spot for 3 minutes after bailing me out. Here's a side by side of the bokeh of the 58mm 1.4G and 50mm 1.8G side by side, with the framing and exposure matched as closely as possible.
Interestingly, the 58mm seems just as sharp as the 50mm after I fine tuned the AF. It's not soft at allll. All I needed on my main D750 was a +8 adjustment. Anyways, enough chatter.
50mm:
58mm:
The difference is pretty amazing. I wasn't expecting such a gap, but it's safe to say I've waited too long to try the lens out. But I paid 10x more for the 58mm.
I'll try to shoot more side by sides in the coming days, and post them here as my right and left brain fight against each other.
I have both the 58G and 50/1.8G. Personally I love the 58G and is well worthwhile. Yet the 50/1.8G for travel with respect to weight/size and price is superb.
The difference on web size presentations will be hard to make real judgments. Rent and compare to two. The only real issue with the 58G is you need to some time to fine tune the AF carefully. When you have carefully adjusted the 58G, the lens is surprisingly sharp yet smooth.
It's crazy how the subjects jump out of the plane of focus...it's almost medium format esque. Here's a shot my girlfriend would kill me if she found out I posted. But funny enough, she said that these photos aren't as 'crisp" as the ones I usually take her photo with, eg. the sigma 35 and 50 art lenses.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the 'medium format look'. I'm wondering if that is what keeps drawing me to this piece of glass. I've always been a huge fan of Mark Tucker and his work, and I guess my feeling is that this lens starts to approach that vision.
The Df and 58mm are such a good pair. So are the X-T1 and 23mm f/2 WR. I bought a little 35mm f/2 to use as a travel lens on the Df. Honestly, one of these may be gone next week. I'm still trying to decide what has a permanent place in my work and travel kits.
For work right now, I have the 2 D750s, 20mm 1.4 Art, 35mm Art (which is never going anywhere), 58mm 1.4G (still a maybe), 85mm 1.8G (for weddings and headshots), 135mm 1.8 Art for weddings and portraits, and potentially the Df for both a third work camera and a travel camera.
For travel, it would be the Df and 35mm/85mm combo. Or the X-T1/23mm f/2. I got an incredible (and I mean incredible) deal on the Df, so it makes more sense to keep it than sell it back. Plus the more I shoot the 58, the more I want to keep it.
eke2k6 wrote:
The Df and 58mm are such a good pair. So are the X-T1 and 23mm f/2 WR. I bought a little 35mm f/2 to use as a travel lens on the Df. Honestly, one of these may be gone next week. I'm still trying to decide what has a permanent place in my work and travel kits.
For work right now, I have the 2 D750s, 20mm 1.4 Art, 35mm Art (which is never going anywhere), 58mm 1.4G (still a maybe), 85mm 1.8G (for weddings and headshots), 135mm 1.8 Art for weddings and portraits, and potentially the Df for both a third work camera and a travel camera.
For travel, it would be the Df and 35mm/85mm combo. Or the X-T1/23mm f/2. I got an incredible (and I mean incredible) deal on the Df, so it makes more sense to keep it than sell it back. Plus the more I shoot the 58, the more I want to keep it.
