B&W Road testing the new 85 f1.8g

Sir SR

Sir SR

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Shaheed
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So I've had a samyang 85 f1.4 manual focus lens for ages and I love it....but recently I've noticed for fast moving kids I've missed the shot or missed focus. Wanted an AF 85 f1.4 (sigma/nikon) but that was trés pricey. Had the chance to get the 85 f1.8g and took it. Had a quick couple of test shots for the few seconds my girls would allow and already I can see the bonus of AF - I's still be trying to focus for one of the shots in the time it took to fire off a couple of AF shots.

I'll do a proper test of them later but this was a grab shot I took of my youngest. Not crazy about the shadows (no time to get a reflector) or the catchlights but mighty impressed by the AF and sharpness.

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

Thanks for looking

Shaheed

Edit: sb900 on camera bounced off ceiling (it was a quick test) in the playroom

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That looks a super sharp shot.:)
 
jockwav said:
That looks a super sharp shot.:)
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I'm super impressed with the lens. The novelty of not having to manual focus is awesome! I missed a fair few shots manual focussing my samyang at f1.4 - one of the reasons behind getting this lens.
 
Looks good to me Shaeed. You will not be disappointed with this lens. I to wanted the pricier faster versions but recently bought one of these and am blown away by the sharpness wide open. This lens is great outside in natural light too, get out and try. It just has something about it that no other lens I've owned has. I had a the Samyang too but never got on with manual focus so this is great.

I Recently switched to the back button focusing technique which i think has definitely increased the amount of 'keepers' of sharp shot's taken wide open of my fast moving kids.
 
Nikon's 1.8g's are excellent IMO. The 28, 35 and 85 are all excellent and unless you absolutely need a 1.4 I just can't see why you'd pay the extra dosh.
 
doublemint76 said:
Looks good to me Shaeed. You will not be disappointed with this lens. I to wanted the pricier faster versions but recently bought one of these and am blown away by the sharpness wide open. This lens is great outside in natural light too, get out and try. It just has something about it that no other lens I've owned has. I had a the Samyang too but never got on with manual focus so this is great.

I Recently switched to the back button focusing technique which i think has definitely increased the amount of 'keepers' of sharp shot's taken wide open of my fast moving kids.
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Yeah, I've back button focused for a while now for that reason!

I do like the f1.4 DOF but am amazed at the sharpness of the Nikon at f1.8

Hoping to get outdoors with it at the weekend.
 
UaeExile said:
Nikon's 1.8g's are excellent IMO. The 28, 35 and 85 are all excellent and unless you absolutely need a 1.4 I just can't see why you'd pay the extra dosh.
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I think the f1.4 is a want rather than a need for me (although I have shot at f1.4 a lot with the samyang!)

I do like this 85 f1.8g. I have the 50 f1.8g as well which whilst good isn't in the same league as this 85.

I think I will eventually get a f1.4 lens but that will probably be a sigma when it comes out. I'll keep this though, as I'm hoping to be up and running taking more portraits by that time and will want a backup.
 
Didn't think you would be disappointed :)
 
Sir SR said:
I think the f1.4 is a want rather than a need for me (although I have shot at f1.4 a lot with the samyang!)

I do like this 85 f1.8g. I have the 50 f1.8g as well which whilst good isn't in the same league as this 85.

I think I will eventually get a f1.4 lens but that will probably be a sigma when it comes out. I'll keep this though, as I'm hoping to be up and running taking more portraits by that time and will want a backup.
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I've recently picked up the 35mm 1.4 ART. They are big lumps of glass but excellent quality and great value.
 
If I had a Nikon DSLR the 85mm and the 35mm f1.8 would be my first lenses. Lovely photo
 
I don't know how you have managed Shaheed without auto focus until now. When I switched to Nikon 6 months ago I decided that I wanted the 1.4 35 & 85 as they are my most used lenses. Whilst I love them to bits, I can't imagine that they are 3 times what the 1.8 G versions are, only in cost.

I bought the 50 1.8 G last month and as its so light (one of the reasons I bought it) I have been able to use it one-handed last weekend and am impressed. Only issue I did note was shooting straight into the sun - there were all sorts of artifacts in the images - looks like a a dirty front lens element? But I don't tend to use 50mm much and it will do what I need it to, when I looked into the 1.4 version of it I was so underwhelmed that I thought the cheaper, newer version to be a no brainer.

I have had issues in the past with Sigma so remain quite sceptical of their QA, however, many report better with their newer ranges. I did have their 85 1.4 for my Canon a few years back and that is a stellar lens, I can't see why they would want/need to update it, it's excellent as it is.
 
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