I feel that this lens renders people how they like to see/imagine themselves. A natural softness in their skin and where imperfections are not bitingly sharp. At apertures 1.4-2.2 this lens delivers that with great bokeh. Reviewers and their models certainly make a case for sharpness when photographing beautiful people.
The new firmware for the Z6 is just insane, works so well with the 58mm 1.4g
I have to say I like this lens at 2.2 - 2.8 the most when there is good amount of space between background subject and subject camera. Looks a bit more modern(sharper) but still retaining that lovely falloff and bokeh, imho you get the most "3D Po" at this range. But somehow my aperture is always stuck between 1.4 and 2.2.
I usually use the D850 and the D500 at the same time, so it's quite convenient. Both have a flip screen to use for the low view and I usually shoot at close range with large aperture. I just put the big sharp Zeiss lenses on the D850 and the close range dreamy 58 and the Zeiss 50 Planar on the D500. Resolution is enough and the fov gets more similar to the FF.
Using my 35mm and 105mm more these days, but always extremely surprised how different my 58mm renders at every f-stop. From 2.2 onwards it gets sharper, contrast is higher and I feel like the focused subject pops even more, especially if you use good lighting and some compositional elements ( foreground, leading lines)
Some people claim this lens loses its character at 2.8 and higher, ain't seeing that tho.
Tldr, I love this lens.
Nice blog post!
I too totally loved the 58/Df combo. I however have only bought this lens twice 😂. Now looking forward to pairing it to my first Nikon mirrorless. Not sure which body to go for though. That Z9 sure is tempting 😬
Great blog and set of images! Thank you for sharing!
I also appreciated the other blogs you linked at the bottom. I love this lens and researched the heck out of it before buying but didn't come across these blogs so thought it would be worth highlighting as well (thanks!):
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