charles.K wrote:
Congratulations on the 58G Do spend time calibrating and practicing taking shots from f/1.4 to f/2.8. It is a superb lens but often new comers expect it to be perfectly calibrated and I suspect this is why it is a love/hate relationship. It is quirkish and I have had 3 copies and the fine tune AF ranged from +12 to +18. This is very normal with the 58G as mentioned by my Nikon service manager. Have fun as it is an awesome lens !!!
Bohemien wrote:
What Charles wrote above is what I meant-the 58G is something special in rendering, but also in the challenge it poses to focusing, it's not only about thin DOF. Make sure to get used to the lens at least a bit before you leave for Thailand. In addition to what Charles wrote, the 58G has a curved plane of focus (meaning that if its focused using a center focus point, not everything in that plane will be in focus) , and will behave differently when focused on near or far subjects. That's extremely tricky wide open, and gets better when stopping down-from f/2 on, the lens is crazy sharp while still retaining a gorgeous rendering. It's my most used lens at the time being.
Of course, I have been using the 58G with the D600 over the past years, the experience may be better with more modern AF systems like the D850, and should be something completely different on mirrorless. On the D600, I've given up using anything other than the central focus point with this lens, and am using live view when shooting portraits. Still, mind, I'm loving the lens to death and using it for 90% of my paid portraits. Just make sure you get to know its characteristics a bit before using it for your valuable holiday memories - but then you'll love it, I'm sure.
Markus...Show more →
Thank you both for the clarification and forewarning in advance of my trip
Not to jinx anything, but so far I've been blessed with both my D500 and D850, in that I got razor-sharp images with my 300 PF right out of the box, and never had to AF fine-tune with either camera. However, this is an older lens, so, just in case, I ordered a LensAlign and will make sure it's in tuned in before I go. Appreciate you both taking the time to give me a heads-up on that, thanks again.
Nice! How are you getting on with it? Are you using the Commlite adapter?
I just did the same as you, and now the lens is sitting on my desk smirking at me. It knows I won't get a chance to use it until the end of January. (Travel is getting in the way of getting the adapter, since I have to ebay it). But I got a good deal so I had to go for it.
I'll be using it with my A7III, so I'd be interested in your findings.
So I just spent hours going through every page of this post, some truly fantastic images here which I believe are more a testament to the photographer rather than the lens, don't get me wrong, the lens appears to be amazing and my test copy is arriving this Wednesday so I'm excited to see how it performs for me, something I learned throughout this thread is that you absolutely must adjust the AF to your camera body, so that is going to be one of the first things I do, I must admit I am lazy with this regard and have not bothered to do so with other lenses (I must have gotten lucky with most as they usually produce very sharp images for me). I think if I were not a Nikon shooter and having gone through this thread it would make me seriously consider switching, and for the naysayers of the 58mm, this thread shows proof the lens is capable of shots you can't really get with other lenses.
wjmeyer wrote:
So I just spent hours going through every page of this post, some truly fantastic images here which I believe are more a testament to the photographer rather than the lens, don't get me wrong, the lens appears to be amazing and my test copy is arriving this Wednesday so I'm excited to see how it performs for me, something I learned throughout this thread is that you absolutely must adjust the AF to your camera body, so that is going to be one of the first things I do, I must admit I am lazy with this regard and have not bothered to do so with other lenses (I must have gotten lucky with most as they usually produce very sharp images for me). I think if I were not a Nikon shooter and having gone through this thread it would make me seriously consider switching, and for the naysayers of the 58mm, this thread shows proof the lens is capable of shots you can't really get with other lenses....Show more →
I saw, my "likes" feed was blown up by you
I feel very reminiscent about the 58G... I wish I could swap back but boy that would be so ridiculous of me...
Elijah wrote:
I saw, my "likes" feed was blown up by you
I feel very reminiscent about the 58G... I wish I could swap back but boy that would be so ridiculous of me...
Well not everybody got that (the likes that is - Hardcore was another one, it was fun to see the progression of his Aussie from puppy to adult throughout the series as well as his kids), there were some ho hum images in this thread as well, that's not to say they weren't good, just didn't show off what I think the lens is capable of. I wonder how much might be PP work and the artistic talents of the photographer after post, but needless to say I was very impressed by some of the images which encouraged me to improve upon my skills, I've been shooting professionally since '95 but have been on a sabbatical for the past 8 years; however, have considered seriously getting back in at least part time as my daughter is modeling now and I find myself in more situations to snap a shot. I made the switch from Canon to Nikon back in 2008 and for a short while went to MFT but couldn't handle the low light AF and poor continuous AF performance so went "back to" Nikon when the D7200 was announced, now I shoot with the D750 but have contemplated going back to a D500 if I end up getting the Z6, still trying to figure all that out, in the meantime the D750 serves me very well. I've been shooting with the 105E the past couple weeks and while it's very impressive it is one hunk of a lens and I'm hoping for something much more manageable in the 58 but still able to yield some impressive results... I think the D750/Z6 with the 58mm might be the perfect "grab and go" setup for me, I look forward to seeing what it can do!
twelveish wrote:
Nice! How are you getting on with it? Are you using the Commlite adapter?
Thank you. Until now I own only the first A7 version where a Commlite adapter woudn't work with AF. I used an old manual G-Nikon adapter because I knew I would use this lens mostly wide open. In case of emergency I could use the aperture ring on the adapter and estimate the values by halving the exposure time. Someday I'll looking for a A7 iii.
wjmeyer wrote:
I shoot with the D750 but have contemplated going back to a D500 if I end up getting the Z6, still trying to figure all that out, in the meantime the D750 serves me very well. I think the D750/Z6 with the 58mm might be the perfect "grab and go" setup for me, I look forward to seeing what it can do!
FYI, I shoot with the D500 and Z6, and find that they compliment one another very well. The Z6 does a great job with Nikon G and E lenses on the FTZ. The 58 on the D500 is a great portrait length (87mm), and on the Z6 it's a nice "tight 50".
My 58mm shows up tomorrow, and I look forward to testing it out on both cameras. Based on the images in this thread, I don't think I'll be disappointed
twelveish wrote:
Yeah. Just a few days ago I did not see myself spending this much on a 1.4 50ish. Not even remotely. And then this thread happened.
I caught the bug too. I’m planning my strategy. Tell my wife that I really, really want that Noct advertised for $3,750 on the Buy and Sell forum. Then cave in and “settle” for a 58G. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Just received my used copy today. With it being pitch black outside with a windchill in the teens, no outdoor shots so a few indoor shots of my wife will have to do.
First shot is wide open at f/1.4, with the second shot stopped down to f2. Both images taken on the Z6 with the FTZ with no AFFT.
ijm5012 wrote:
Just received my used copy today. With it being pitch black outside with a windchill in the teens, no outdoor shots so a few indoor shots of my wife will have to do.
First shot is wide open at f/1.4, with the second shot stopped down to f2. Both images taken on the Z6 with the FTZ with no AFFT.
Nice shots! Did you experience any AF hunting with this lense on the Z6? I saw a video of another member using this lense on a z7 and it was hunting a bit.
khoido77 wrote:
Nice shots! Did you experience any AF hunting with this lense on the Z6? I saw a video of another member using this lense on a z7 and it was hunting a bit.
I'm not seeing any hunting in the "low light" conditions (f/1.4, 1/60s, and ISO 1600-6400). Focusing speed is somewhat slow, but consistent/accurate. It handles very well since it's pretty light weight.
ijm5012 wrote:
I'm not seeing any hunting in the "low light" conditions (f/1.4, 1/60s, and ISO 1600-6400). Focusing speed is somewhat slow, but consistent/accurate. It handles very well since it's pretty light weight.
Don't say that, you're making me have regrets for selling mine last year since I picked up a NOCT
webmstrk9 wrote:
Don't say that, you're making me have regrets for selling mine last year since I picked up a NOCT
Haha, sorry. Keep in mind, I've owned the lens for a whole 3 hours, but indoors in a room lit solely by Christmas lights, I'm not seeing any hunting on my Z6. Focusing is confident, silent, and doesn't really seem to need any AFFT.
ijm5012 wrote:
Haha, sorry. Keep in mind, I've owned the lens for a whole 3 hours, but indoors in a room lit solely by Christmas lights, I'm not seeing any hunting on my Z6. Focusing is confident, silent, and doesn't really seem to need any AFFT.
I don't think AFFT is ever needed on a mirrorless for any lense.
Do spend time calibrating and practicing taking shots from f/1.4 to f/2.8. It is a superb lens but often new comers expect it to be perfectly calibrated and I suspect this is why it is a love/hate relationship. It is quirkish and I have had 3 copies and the fine tune AF ranged from +12 to +18. This is very normal with the 58G as mentioned by my Nikon service manager. Have fun as it is an awesome lens !!!
