I have spent most of the last few years buying 'second best' lenses such as the Nikon 85 f/1.8 instead of the Nikon 85 f/1.4 as I thought why spend 3x the money to open it up from f/1.8 to f/1.4. How silly have I been all these years. After reading post after post about the 85 f/1.4 and how 'special' it was said to have been by those that actually used it, I decided to purchase a week or so ago. From my first outing with it for only a few shots, I can say - WOW, this lens is unreal.
I thought the f/1.8 was sharp, not even a comparison. What a joke. This lens is sharp at f/1.4 and razor sharp starting at f/2. Razor sharp. The bokeh....nothing else needs to be said. The contrast/color/sharpness....something about this lens, truly does make it special. I don't know what it is. I have taken hundreds of pics with the f/1.8 and never 'loved' any of the shots. I took a handful the other day and each one of them I said wow when I looked at....take a look
For those that don't have this lens and have the f/1.8 and think all you are missing is .4, that is not it. This lens is truly special. The images just jump like I have never seen from the f/1.8 version.
All shots, out of camera, no adjustments done, no color, no sharpening, nothing......
Glad you like it, and nice shots of a pretty girl! The great thing about buying the best equipment is that you can only blame yourself when your photos come out bad.
Dang - she's got the market cornered on cute! Nice pics. If I shot portraits, that 85 would be in my bag. Every time I see stuff from it I'm impressed.
I've long thought that the 85 f/1.8 is 2/3rds the lens at 1/3 the price. But it's the "magic" in that other 1/3 that makes the f/1.4 special. Nobody can seem to define it, but it's just that special "something" that sets it apart. I've got the f/1.8 and it's a really nice lens and a great value, but one day I will own the f/1.4.
Just took the same plunge myself about a month ago. Wish I had done it years ago. Agree with you 100% about the difference in quality. Amazing lens. Shows all my shortcomings.
I've gone from being a bit cold toward my 85/1.4 back when I first got it to definitely being a big fan. It's a great lens and no update from Nikon will take any of its greatness away.
luminosity wrote:
I've gone from being a bit cold toward my 85/1.4 back when I first got it to definitely being a big fan. It's a great lens and no update from Nikon will take any of its greatness away.
Same with me, it took me a little bit to find it's strengths. In some shots, in some conditions it can look ordinary, but it really excels once you get the hang of it.
Glad I'm not alone in my movement with it. It's a lens you have to get to know and understand, which I suppose is true for all lenses, but it's particularly true of the 85/1.4.
I received a lot of grief from a dear friend of mine when I decided to sell my Nikkor 85 mm 1.8 and purchase the 85 mm 1.4; at the time the 85 1.4 was selling for about 875.00, the 85 mm 1.8 was about 350.00. My friend who was a protégé and former assistant for well known photographer David Mecey was of the opinion that his status with Mecey made him an expert on everything Nikon simply because he had worked with one of the best photographers in the business. I loaned my friend what was at the time my cutting edge Nikon F4 and the 85 mm 1.4 for a project which was comprised of scantily clad young ladies captured on Kodacrome slide film, the first 36 slides that were placed on the light box were proof of the superior image quality of the 85 mm 1.4 over the 85 mm 1.8. My friend had been hung up on the minimal speed increase from the 1.8 to the 1.4 and never considered the image sharpness or the bokeh quality when he was giving me grief over my purchase decision. I have no idea how many times I loaned my friend the 85 1.4 over the years until he finally spent his own money and bought the 85 1.4.
Sure I would like to see a few improvements on the 1.4, I think everyone can agree that the lens hood design really blows, I would like to see “N” coating as well as “Silent Wave” focus motors in the lens. I hope that when the inevitable replacement lens arrives from Nikon that the quality of the new lens addresses the issues of the lens hood, “N” coating and “S” without compromising the overall image quality of the current 85 1.4. I for one will not be the first one to run down and purchase the replacement 85 mm 1.4 AFS N lens, the replacement lens will have to earn its way into my camera bag.
