supermario343 wrote:
Thanks! Yes it is, I feel like I want to leave this lens on my camera all the time no matter what im shooting but I cant lol.
It has definitely become my favorite. I think my Leica lenses are jealous. Only my old (1937) Zeiss Sonnar compares for bokeh, and not for anything else.
I would love to see some comparisons with this lens and the 85 1.4G. I think they render pretty similarly with a warm character, punchy colors and lovely, smooth bokeh.
Jason_Brook wrote:
Dave, one thing to consider is that near MFD there is focus shift going on. Be sure to test and tune at multiple distances. A good rule of thumb is to stop down to f/1.8-2 near MFD.
Thanks for the tip Jason.
Although I'm slightly confused though. Isn't focus shift the shift in focus plane between focusing (done with lens wide open) and when the aperture stops down if you selected a smaller aperture?
Or do you mean that the focus fine tune amount varies with distance, especially at MFD so stopping down helps to hide this with a deeper DOF?
Buckeye2604 wrote:
I would love to see some comparisons with this lens and the 85 1.4G. I think they render pretty similarly with a warm character, punchy colors and lovely, smooth bokeh.
I felt that they were very different. The 85 is much sharper. I think it ranks just below the 200 f2 on DXO charts, if you're into that sorta thing. Just another way to say it's really really sharp. And of course the 85 will offer thinner DoF, more compression, and thoretically more subject isolation. IMO the 85 has the best color of any lens I've used in Nikon's lineup, but that's just my opinion.
With all that said, because the two lenses rendered much differently when I was shooting them, I felt the 58 stood out. A complete novice could look at both shots and see the 58 had something special, maybe old timey about it. Soul? But that's also why I prefer the 85. Because whenever a camera is in my hands I'm making money and I prefer the more clinical look for that type of work. Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject.
swifty168 wrote:
Thanks for the tip Jason.
Although I'm slightly confused though. Isn't focus shift the shift in focus plane between focusing (done with lens wide open) and when the aperture stops down if you selected a smaller aperture?
Or do you mean that the focus fine tune amount varies with distance, especially at MFD so stopping down helps to hide this with a deeper DOF?
To me, and I may be wrong, focus shift is the plane of focus going out of tune between MFD/infinity; so yes, basically variable AF fine tune needed across distances.
Buckeye2604 wrote:
I would love to see some comparisons with this lens and the 85 1.4G. I think they render pretty similarly with a warm character, punchy colors and lovely, smooth bokeh.
I've tried both 85G's and I will say that if I had only one choice of a telephoto/portrait lens, I would go with an 85mm f/1.4G without thinking twice. The reason for that is simple: the 85 isolates subjects better and has more background compression than the 58. It is also sharper but that's not what I care about.
The reason why I don't own an 85 is because it would be a redundant piece of gear for me since I own a 70-200VRII. I prefer the 58mm over the 85mm is simply because its a 58mm; the field of view is just perfect for my shooting style! Often times there wasn't enough space for 85mm and that's when I wished I had the 58. But when I do have more room to shoot, I simply rack out my 70-200 and shoot way at 2.8, which gives me even more background compression than the 85 would.
With that being said, I wish Nikon would've released a modern 135G already!! 28G/58G/135G would've been the best combo for me.
Jason_Brook wrote:
To me, and I may be wrong, focus shift is the plane of focus going out of tune between MFD/infinity; so yes, basically variable AF fine tune needed across distances.
Swifty's correct, focus shift is the change in focal point if the lens is stopped down. Phase detect AF does its thing with the aperture wide open, but if you've selected a stopped down aperture, the focus will shift due to spherical aberrations when the shutter is released.
Stopping down closer to MFD is just good photographic practice with a lens with such a thin DOF, but ironically, closer distances is when focus shift is most noticeable.
low325 wrote:
the other ones don’t work, ive always used the center as well.
chuhsi1 wrote:
Just wondering...does anyone focus and recompose when shooting at 1.4? If so, how? I'd love to learn so I'm not limited to my 39 autofocus points. Thanks.
So my answer to the original question is yes, The only point I use is the center point and I focus & recompose. Works every time.
I make sure I slightly move the focus ring after I shoot the first image; then I focus and recompose the frame again. That way I get two images with focusing recomposing twice. I always do this at weddings; saves me time from looking at the screen a lot.
