Nikon 85mm f/1.4

I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

What do you plan on using it for?

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Taking pictures... ;-)

On Jan 20, 6:30 am, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

What do you plan on using it for?

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

"Buy_Sell" wrote in message
...
Taking pictures... ;-)

In that case it is a poor choice of lenses:-




On Jan 20, 6:30 am, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like
to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I
already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

What do you plan on using it for?

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Buy_Sell wrote:
Taking pictures... ;-)

If you don't know more about it than than, don't bother.

On Jan 20, 6:30 am, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

What do you plan on using it for?

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

On 2008-01-20 08:04:38 -0500, Buy_Sell said:

I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...

I don';t have it, but it has been on my wish list for years...
--
jen ... not.. home...//// yahoo... com

Buy_Sell wrote:
Taking pictures... ;-)

On Jan 20, 6:30 am, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...
What do you plan on using it for?

It's not as useful as I thought. On a cropped frame it's awfully long
and the DOF so shallow that it's very hard to use wide open. For a full
body portrait, this will let you blur out the background but any closer
& the razor thin DOF is a problem. Maybe I shouldn't insist on using it
wide open. I thought it would be good for low light/night work but the
focal length means you need too long a shutter speed to hand hold.
Another option you might consider is a 135mm f/2 which is a seriously
interesting long FL, enough to get 'compressed perspective' and a more
useful range of background OOF usability. The old 135 is a big heavy
klunky piece of metal, not very sharp wide open, especially close up but
for the soft portrait look it's really interesting and is cheap. The new
AF version is a DC (Defocus Control) lens with adjustment for the
foreground versus background OOF softness and it does better in tests
for the same price:
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/135_2_af_dc
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/85_14d_if_af

http://photozonede.h1355984.stratose...report?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Nikk...report?start=1

David Ruether wrote:
"Paul Furman" wrote in message
. net...

[...]
Another option you might consider is a 135mm f/2 which is a seriously
interesting long FL, enough to get 'compressed perspective' and a more
useful range of background OOF usability. The old 135 is a big heavy
klunky piece of metal, not very sharp wide open, especially close up but
for the soft portrait look it's really interesting and is cheap.
[...]

I think you are basing this on a "beater" sample...

That may be, or just my unreasonable expectations since I'm not really
happy with a new 85/1.4 either :-)

Anyways the 135 DC looks to be really excellent: sharper than the 85,
less CA, relatively close focusing, special attention to the out of
focus areas (useful even stopped down some) and a more interesting focal
length although it is expensive.


My AIS (non-AF version) 135mm is exceptionally sharp center to corner
at f2 at distances beyond maybe 12', below which it gradually softens
more as the closest focus distances are approached at the widest stops.
If it is tested at f2 at 5', it will look terrible; if it is tested at 50',
it will look
very good even at f2; if it is tested at infinity, it will look wonderful at
f2.
Lenses, particularly specialized ones, often have compromises in their
designs, but can give excellent results if these are understood and
accommodated...
--David Ruether

Thanks for the information, Paul. This is very useful. I've wanted
the 85 f/1.4 for several years but don't really know why? I could
very easily just go out and purchase it but I would like to know more
about the lens before spending any more money. My 80-200 f/2.8 is
doing a fine job but somehow the 85 f/1.4 is still on my mind.

On Jan 20, 10:27 am, Paul Furman wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
Taking pictures... ;-)

On Jan 20, 6:30 am, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:
Buy_Sell wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 I'd like to
hear from anyone who has this lens and how do they like it? I already
have the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Any thoughts?...
What do you plan on using it for?

It's not as useful as I thought. On a cropped frame it's awfully long
and the DOF so shallow that it's very hard to use wide open. For a full
body portrait, this will let you blur out the background but any closer
& the razor thin DOF is a problem. Maybe I shouldn't insist on using it
wide open. I thought it would be good for low light/night work but the
focal length means you need too long a shutter speed to hand hold.
Another option you might consider is a 135mm f/2 which is a seriously
interesting long FL, enough to get 'compressed perspective' and a more
useful range of background OOF usability. The old 135 is a big heavy
klunky piece of metal, not very sharp wide open, especially close up but
for the soft portrait look it's really interesting and is cheap. The new
AF version is a DC (Defocus Control) lens with adjustment for the
foreground versus background OOF softness and it does better in tests
for the same price:http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/1...n/85_14d_if_af

http://photozonede.h1355984.stratose...ns%20Tests/220...

Buy_Sell wrote:
Thanks for the information, Paul. This is very useful. I've wanted
the 85 f/1.4 for several years but don't really know why? I could
very easily just go out and purchase it but I would like to know more
about the lens before spending any more money. My 80-200 f/2.8 is
doing a fine job but somehow the 85 f/1.4 is still on my mind.

If your 80-200mm f/2.8 is an AF ED, with the tripod
collar and separate zoom and focus rings, it is a
*fantastic* lense. It can be used wide open and at the
ends of the zoom range. Which of course means it is a
great 85mm f/2.8 lense, sharp and with pleasant bokeh.

What the 85mm f/1.8 or 85mm f/1.4 lenses give you are
progressively even tighter Depth of Field, and perhaps
increasingly better bokeh (going from great to simply
fabulous).

If you shoot a lot of posed portraits, where you take
the time to compose virtually every detail, and may well
want to have effects such as the nearest eye being sharp
while the more distant one is noticably out of focus on
a 3/4 side view, then the 85mm f/1.4 can do that for
you.

The 85mm f/1.8 is not far behind in DOF or in the
quality of the bokeh, but costs significantly less.

But if most of your portraits are spontanious, not
posed, then the 85mm lenses do not offer much.

Frankly, if you just want to "take pictures", don't
spend money on 85mm fixed focal length lenses. Assuming
you have a DX format camera, the most useful adjunct for
the 80-200mm is the Nikkor DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
AF-S.

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)