Does anyone have experience pairing either the 85mm 1.8G or 1.4G to a film body? I'm really splitting hairs deciding which to keep for my N80.
In 2026 the price difference is small enough to not really be a deciding factor. They are both plenty sharp. The build of both seems basically perfect to me.
I have seen very impressive work done with the 1.4G and to me it has noticeably nicer colors and bokeh. However, I guess it may be spoiled for film cameras because of focus shift: several reviews (philipreeve, kasson, others) show at min focus distance the focal plane moves ~7 mm away when stopped down to f/2, f/2.8, f/4.0. In a headshot where you target the eyes, the capture will be focused inside the head. The effect is too small for me to see with DOF preview through the viewfinder, so I have no way to correct for it on film. Maybe I am overblowing this. I can't find many discussions about it.
I shoot street and travel pictures, always going out with only 1 camera + 1 lens, trying out longer focal lengths and more compression. Since the 1.8G is significantly smaller, lighter, faster-focusing and has a definitively irrelevant amount of focus shift it might be the sensible choice, the 1.4G's very beautiful rendering notwithstanding.
Thoughts, experience, sample pictures would be really appreciated!
I find lenses the size/weight of the 85 f/1.4G unpleasant on the N80. I've even got one with its little battery grip and it's still just not a great fit with fatter/heavier 1.4G's (24 and 35 in my case). So I'd keep the 1.8 if it's just for an N80.
