D800....85 f1.4g or 85 f1.8g

... I recently bought a D750 and couldnt be bothered with the weight or Sigma lottery so went with the Nikkor 85 1.8G, very happy with it. For under £400 its a bargain.
 
boyfalldown said:
The D, while great, doesn't really hold up to the newer g or the sigma version.

Shaheed for what its worth the G is simply jaw dropping on the d800
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Cheers!

I love my Samyang and have got some greAt images at f1.4 with it but I'm starting to crave AF!! Lao when I had the sigma 70-200 on my d800, I was pretty impressed....then I got the vr2 which was amazing. I think that while the samyang is great, the nikkor equivalent should be better!

Have you got any f1.4 images to link to?

Shaheed
 
ST4 said:
I have the 1.8g of the 85mm Nikkor. I think it a most excellent lens and very sharp. Message me your email and I can post you a full res I took with it...
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Cheers for te file. I'll look properly when I've recovered from last night!!
 
I've said this many times on the Sigma lottery. Personally I've never encountered focus issues with any Sigma lens or for that matter any Canon, Tamron, Nikon, Panasonic or Olympus. My opinion is to ignore most of the internet panic and just buy the best lens for you at the price you are willing to pay and to test thoroughly when you buy, as you should with any purchase. Anyone wanting stats can find some at places like Lens rentals and should keep in mind that the camera manufacturers don't exactly have an unblemished quality record so there are potentially risks with all purchases.
 
woof woof said:
I've said this many times on the Sigma lottery. Personally I've never encountered focus issues with any Sigma lens or for that matter any Canon, Tamron, Nikon, Panasonic or Olympus. My opinion is to ignore most of the internet panic and just buy the best lens for you at the price you are willing to pay and to test thoroughly when you buy, as you should with any purchase. Anyone wanting stats can find some at places like Lens rentals and should keep in mind that the camera manufacturers don't exactly have an unblemished quality record so there are potentially risks with all purchases.
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I've had two sigma lenses, both have been fine.

I think I'm at the point where I want the nikkor 85 f1.4 (all the while wishing sigma did the art version of the 85) but reluctantly having to stump up the readies!!

Last time I reluctantly paid that much for a lens was well worth it with the 70-200 vr2.
 
twist said:
... I recently bought a D750 and couldnt be bothered with the weight or Sigma lottery so went with the Nikkor 85 1.8G, very happy with it. For under £400 its a bargain.
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I think I may have a crazy idea Saheed. I have been thinking outloud and whats the worst that can happen to me for suggesting and trying to save you a few quid;)

@twist you should be able to answer this, with his experience on both formats.

How would the Fuji 56mm f1.2 stack up against the Nikon 1.4g for studio work / people? For the price of the Fuji lens and a Xpro1 body, (plus the free two lenses on offer with the Xpro1), it probably isn't much more than the Nikon f1.4. This will then give Saheed the lens, a couple of more lenses and his back up body.
 
I have owned multiple systems and my advice would be to 100% stick to a single system. The 85 1.4g will last many many years through whatever cameras you buy in the future, would you want to invest in another system buy future Fuji's etc. Also the bokeh from the Nikon on a full frame body will eclipse the 56mm
 
Swanseajack said:
I think I may have a crazy idea Saheed. I have been thinking outloud and whats the worst that can happen to me for suggesting and trying to save you a few quid;)

@twist you should be able to answer this, with his experience on both formats.

How would the Fuji 56mm f1.2 stack up against the Nikon 1.4g for studio work / people? For the price of the Fuji lens and a Xpro1 body, (plus the free two lenses on offer with the Xpro1), it probably isn't much more than the Nikon f1.4. This will then give Saheed the lens, a couple of more lenses and his back up body.
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Id probably also stick to one system, the D800 will still provide better IQ, the Fuji 56 is very good though, but its equiv to 85 1.8 on FF so he would have better IQ and more money if he went for the 1.8G instead. Under £400 vs around £900 for a Fuji setup.
 
A while ago I was tempted by the smaller cameras. I do love the d800 and would always be comparing quality with it - I'd deffo stick to one system.

A good idea though!! If love the idea of a d750 especially it's af/low light ability but there's no way if can justify that at the moment. If once I launch properly I get a lot of clients straight off the bat then my first equipment purchases will be a d750 and an 85 f1.4. I will get them eventually but the speed of which I do that will depend on number of clients!
 
I'd just do as mentioned above, buy a second hand 1.8g for about £270-£290 and use it. Then as and when you can (if you feel the need to, which I don't think you will) you can sell on for the same.

I borrowed a friends when I helped him shoot a wedding and it impressed me enough that I went out and bought one for myself. He uses it on a D800 and a D610 along with all of Nikons other top notch f2.8 zooms.
 
Sir SR said:
I've had two sigma lenses, both have been fine.

I think I'm at the point where I want the nikkor 85 f1.4 (all the while wishing sigma did the art version of the 85) but reluctantly having to stump up the readies!!

Last time I reluctantly paid that much for a lens was well worth it with the 70-200 vr2.
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The Art series of lenses do seem to be aiming to be class leading but personally I don't need the worlds best mass market lenses and Sigma's old 50 and 85mm f1.4's were good enough for me.

I normal buy on specification and the look rather than on test charts and sharpness and as a Canon user I had the choice of the Sigma or the Canon f1.8 or f1.2. I ruled the f1.2 out because of the cost (I could afford it but I have a conscience and a limit I'll spend on myself) and the Sigma won over the Canon f1.8 for reasons of bokeh and out of focus highlight shape. These days I don't care so much and I use an old Rokkor 85mm f2.
 
Probably the best site (IMO) for lens reviews/tests is photozone. They have test results of the Nikon 1.4 and 1.8 as well as the Sigma, all tested on the D3x. The Sigma tests just as good as the Nikon 1.4, and both are better than the 1.8.
 
If you want to differentiate your look from the Sigma/Nikon lenses and don't mind manual focus look at the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 Planar.
 
Laudrup said:
If you want to differentiate your look from the Sigma/Nikon lenses and don't mind manual focus look at the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 Planar.
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Manual focus is one if the top reasons I'm looking at an AF 85!! I have a samyang already!
 
I found the 1.8 was not very sharp till f4. Was hoping it would be as sharp as the siggy 35mm art but sadly it didn't live up to that :(
 
Sir SR said:
Manual focus is one if the top reasons I'm looking at an AF 85!! I have a samyang already!
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The Zeiss is nicer than the Samyang. It doesn't sound like you need the 1.4G so the 1.8G would be best. I wouldn't recommend shooting it wide open all the time though as it is visibly better when stopped down a bit.
 
Laudrup said:
The Zeiss is nicer than the Samyang. It doesn't sound like you need the 1.4G so the 1.8G would be best. I wouldn't recommend shooting it wide open all the time though as it is visibly better when stopped down a bit.
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Again I'm not following your logic? Might just be the nuances of written/forum communication?

What makes you say I don't need the f1.4 from what I've written?

I know most lenses are better when stopped down, but surely the idea if buying a 1.4 lens is the ability to shoot at f1.4.

I have no doubt the Zeiss is better than the samyang. But they're exactly the same with respect to not having AF. I got a lot of kids at f1.4 with MF. I now want AF!!
 
I own the Zeiss... it's not as good I.Q. wise as the Nikon 1.4G; it's about on par with the 1.8G. That said any of them are more than sharp enough. The Zeiss renders things a bit differently is all.
The DOF difference between f/1.4 and 1.8 is minimal... but the 2/3 stop of light might matter to you. If it does I'd say get the 1.4, if not then it probably doesn't justify the cost. There's little to distinguish them when at the same apertures. There's measurable (test) differences, but nothing you will be able to easily see. In fact, I would put the differences within sample variable tolerances.

IMHO, that 2/3 stop would have to be very important as each one is costing an extra $500...

One thing about these wide aperture lenses, they usually benefit more from AFMA (unless you get rather lucky).
 
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Sir SR said:
Again I'm not following your logic? Might just be the nuances of written/forum communication?

What makes you say I don't need the f1.4 from what I've written?

I know most lenses are better when stopped down, but surely the idea if buying a 1.4 lens is the ability to shoot at f1.4.

I have no doubt the Zeiss is better than the samyang. But they're exactly the same with respect to not having AF. I got a lot of kids at f1.4 with MF. I now want AF!!
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It sounds like you're using f/1.4 stylistically for bokeh or shallow dof rather than say in a dark venue where the f/1.4 might make the difference for ISO/shutter speed over the f/1.8. If it was me the 1.8G would be the lens to pick up, it is sharp wide open but really benefits in the out of focus areas and contrast from being stopped down a touch.

Really any of the autofocus 85s are a good lens to use as if you can't use a fast 85 to get pleasing portraits then you're doing it wrong.
 
sk66 said:
I own the Zeiss... it's not as good I.Q. wise as the Nikon 1.4G; it's about on par with the 1.8G. That said any of them are more than sharp enough. The Zeiss renders things a bit differently is all.
The DOF difference between f/1.4 and 1.8 is minimal... but the 2/3 stop of light might matter to you. If it does I'd say get the 1.4, if not then it probably doesn't justify the cost. There's little to distinguish them when at the same apertures. There's measurable (test) differences, but nothing you will be able to easily see. In fact, I would put the differences within sample variable tolerances.

IMHO, that 2/3 stop would have to be very important as each one is costing an extra $500...

One thing about these wide aperture lenses, they usually benefit more from AFMA (unless you get rather lucky).
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The Nikons look much more complicated in terms of elements/groups compared to the Zeiss, but I do like the Zeiss rendering.
 
Laudrup said:
It sounds like you're using f/1.4 stylistically for bokeh or shallow dof rather than say in a dark venue where the f/1.4 might make the difference for ISO/shutter speed over the f/1.8. If it was me the 1.8G would be the lens to pick up, it is sharp wide open but really benefits in the out of focus areas and contrast from being stopped down a touch.

Really any of the autofocus 85s are a good lens to use as if you can't use a fast 85 to get pleasing portraits then you're doing it wrong.
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Funnily enough I used to use the 85 in dark venues but the manual focus was a but hit and miss. I stopped and used a fast 50 mm af but didn't like it as much.

Yes I do use it stylistically. And I'm plenty able to get pleasing portraits (IMHO) already with an 85 mm MF lens. So I don't think I'm "doing it wrong"
 
sk66 said:
Probably the best site (IMO) for lens reviews/tests is photozone. They have test results of the Nikon 1.4 and 1.8 as well as the Sigma, all tested on the D3x. The Sigma tests just as good as the Nikon 1.4, and both are better than the 1.8.
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Yes, Photozone is good, but their sharpness graphs don't agree with the above. Nikon 85/1.4 G is best overall, though very similar to the Nikon 85/1.8 at same apertures. Sigma is very sharp in the centre but falls behind on edge sharpness. It looks like they had a slightly better copy of the Nikon 1.4 than I tested, at lowest f/numbers at least, though not much in it. Apart from that, their reviews agree very closely with what I said earlier.

Nikon 85/1.8 G
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/717-nikkorafs8518ff?start=1

Nikon 85/1.4 G
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/606-nikkorafs8514ff?start=1

Sigma 85/1.4
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/605-sigma8514ff?start=1
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, Photozone is good, but their sharpness graphs don't agree with the above. Nikon 85/1.4 G is best overall, though very similar to the Nikon 85/1.8 at same apertures. Sigma is very sharp in the centre but falls behind on edge sharpness. It looks like they had a slightly better copy of the Nikon 1.4 than I tested, at lowest f/numbers at least, though not much in it. Apart from that, their reviews agree very closely with what I said earlier.
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Ah, well... I didn't/don't pay much attention to edge sharpness... especially in a lens that is largely going to be used to throw the BG OOF.
 
Just an update to this thread. Have swapped my sony RX100 kit for an 85f1.8g. Wanted the af.

I suspect I'll probably sell my samyang and if I do upgrade to a 1.4 it may be when sigma release their art 85 f1.4.

Looking forward to playing later when it arrives!
 
Unfortunately nobody to test it out on....caught the ids before they left to go out with my Mum. Taken in the playroom, on camera flash bounced off ceiling
Literally fired off a couple of a few test shots (my daughter counted to 5 telling me that was all the time I had!!

Yes I don't like the catchlights/shadows under the chin, and this is not how I'd normally shoot, but I have to say I'm mighty impressed with the 85 f1.8g......feel free to say "I told you so" @minnnt!!

The fact is, had the samyang 85 mf been on camera I wouldn't have got these shots, as I would have still been focussing manually!

Will try to have a proper play later......

85 f1.8g test 1 by Sir SR, on Flickr

85 f1.8g test 2 by Sir SR, on Flickr

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

The playroom:View attachment 35177
 
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I think this thread is going to cost me some money but has also saved me some too as this was a really good discussion on the merits of these lenses. Thanks to all those that took part.
 
Deano_uk said:
I think this thread is going to cost me some money but has also saved me some too as this was a really good discussion on the merits of these lenses. Thanks to all those that took part.
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I'm very impressed with it!

Knowing my character I'll want to get an f1.4 at some stage but that will be a long way off!!
 
Digifrog said:
I bought one too a few weeks ago. To be honest I don't think the 1.4 is needed, the 1.8 is stupid sharp. I think it's a great lens and not just for portraits or low light hand held.

View attachment 35212
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That's a great landscape and something I hadn't thought of using for. I've been thinking about picking up a nikon 85mm f1.8 G and this thread doesn't help! The current price new at £350 plus cash back saving of £50 make it very tempting at £300, can't go too wrong at that price.

I want to use it for wildlife portraits with shallow DoF. Currently I have a sigma 105mm macro and a nikon 70-200 f4, neither give that shallow DoF when close (1-2m) to the subject. The extra stops of light would be great too.
 
rob-nikon said:
The current price new at £350 plus cash back saving of £50 make it very tempting at £300, can't go too wrong at that price.
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Doesn't the cash back offer only apply if you buy it with a body? If so I think I missed a trick. Thanks too btw :eek:)
 
Digifrog said:
Doesn't the cash back offer only apply if you buy it with a body? If so I think I missed a trick. Thanks too btw :eek:)
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I think the lens cash back offer is separate to the dslr offer. think if you only buy the 85mm f1.8 you get £50 cashback, if you buy the 85mm f1.8 plus one dslr you get the £50 and either the dslr cash back or grip or training course.

https://www.nikon.co.uk/sites/promotions/index_uk.html
 
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