I have the 58 f/1.4g..I agree..it's not sharp..especially on eyes, at 1/4. I see some improvement at 1/6, and f/2 and f/2.8..are very sharp.
So what am I missing here? It's not a good lens because..it's not razor sharp at f/1.4? How many times does one shoot portraits at f/1.4? Is f.2,8, particularly for a head/shoulders shot..not adequate for blurred background?
photorebel wrote:
I have the 58 f/1.4g..I agree..it's not sharp..especially on eyes, at 1/4. I see some improvement at 1/6, and f/2 and f/2.8..are very sharp.
So what am I missing here? It's not a good lens because..it's not razor sharp at f/1.4? How many times does one shoot portraits at f/1.4? Is f.2,8, particularly for a head/shoulders shot..not adequate for blurred background?
Yes, I always make portraits at 2.8 when working with a 50-60 mm lens. Then there is just enough of the face in focus and the background is still soft.
photorebel wrote:
I have the 58 f/1.4g..I agree..it's not sharp..especially on eyes, at 1/4. I see some improvement at 1/6, and f/2 and f/2.8..are very sharp.
So what am I missing here? It's not a good lens because..it's not razor sharp at f/1.4? How many times does one shoot portraits at f/1.4? Is f.2,8, particularly for a head/shoulders shot..not adequate for blurred background?
What 50mm lens isn't sharp at f/2.8? You pay big bucks for sharpness wide open. Otherwise it's money wasted.
The images in this thread are astonishing. How could Nikon release this lens so soft?
After reading the "comments" the past page or two, I'm going through about 100 photos or so from the past 24 hours for the first time. I'm giggling like a school girl at the people saying this isn't sharp at f/1.4.
People say the 85/1.8g is OMFG sharp; I've had three, it's not. The 58/1.4 is sharp when focus is nailed, but people are saying it's OMFG soft. I don't get it....
The people saying this lens is soft either don't understand DoF or can't recognize when someone missed focus. I'll back all this up with 100% crops in an hour or so, along with a comparison to the 50/1.8...which to me is identical IQ wise to the 1.4
In fact, it was some of the images in this thread, and over at Nikon Cafe, that got my lust for this lens going. The reason I bought one, was because of many of the images I saw here. Yes, I realize…it's the photographer not the gear, but seeing what this lens is capable of, was nothing short of impressive.
I had a Canon 50 f/1.2L when I was in Canon system. Sometimes it was sharp..wide open sometimes not. I don't think it was the focus shift in my case, but such a narrow DOF.
I've taken just a few..test shots with 58..and some are a bit softer at 1.4, but some were also very sharp, depending on where my focus was.
My copy is a good lens, only limited by me.
As for the 85 f/1.8G…I had one, I thought it was very sharp…but I returned it, and kept the 85 f/1.4G….despite all the claims, the 1.8 version was as sharp (or sharper) for less money.
I kept the 85 f/1.4 for same reason as I bought the 58, I liked the overall rendering, and the look of the photographs produced.
Just my 02 cents worth.
Jason_Brook wrote:
After reading the "comments" the past page or two, I'm going through about 100 photos or so from the past 24 hours for the first time. I'm giggling like a school girl at the people saying this isn't sharp at f/1.4.
People say the 85/1.8g is OMFG sharp; I've had three, it's not. The 58/1.4 is sharp when focus is nailed, but people are saying it's OMFG soft. I don't get it....
The people saying this lens is soft either don't understand DoF or can't recognize when someone missed focus. I'll back all this up with 100% crops in an hour or so, along with a comparison to the 50/1.8...which to me is identical IQ wise to the 1.4...Show more →
I have a Canon 85L II, so I understand both depth of field (meaning narrow) as well as sharp, wide open at F/1.2.
This Nikon lens is exceedingly soft even when the focus has been hit.
But as long as your amused, I guess that's worth $1600.
Jason_Brook wrote:
After reading the "comments" the past page or two, I'm going through about 100 photos or so from the past 24 hours for the first time. I'm giggling like a school girl at the people saying this isn't sharp at f/1.4.
The people saying this lens is soft either don't understand DoF or can't recognize when someone missed focus. I'll back all this up with 100% crops in an hour or so, along with a comparison to the 50/1.8...which to me is identical IQ wise to the 1.4
I'm agreeing with people that a lens at this money should be pretty sharp wide open, but I agree with you that a lot of the soft samples seem to be missed focus or camera movement with a lens this fast. A lot of the early shots I saw with this lens looted plenty sharp at f/1.4.
Jason_Brook wrotePeople say the 85/1.8g is OMFG sharp; I've had three, it's not. The 58/1.4 is sharp when focus is nailed, but people are saying it's OMFG soft. I don't get it....
You got three bad copies. My 85 f/1.8G is pretty stupid sharp, even wide open. I'm not super-skilled, but my best example would be: LEE_4471.jpg by e24mpwr, on Flickr
tight crop crop by e24mpwr, on Flickr
(and it suffers a bit from Flickr compression)
In any case, I'd love to have one, slap it on the front of a D810 and go play. For now, I'll have to stick with more mundane stuff (and I'm happy enough with that...)
Jason_Brook wrote:
After reading the "comments" the past page or two, I'm going through about 100 photos or so from the past 24 hours for the first time. I'm giggling like a school girl at the people saying this isn't sharp at f/1.4.
The people saying this lens is soft either don't understand DoF or can't recognize when someone missed focus. I'll back all this up with 100% crops in an hour or so, along with a comparison to the 50/1.8...which to me is identical IQ wise to the 1.4
I'm agreeing with people that a lens at this money should be pretty sharp wide open, but I agree with you that a lot of the soft samples seem to be missed focus or camera movement with a lens this fast. A lot of the early shots I saw with this lens looted plenty sharp at f/1.4.
Jason_Brook wrotePeople say the 85/1.8g is OMFG sharp; I've had three, it's not. The 58/1.4 is sharp when focus is nailed, but people are saying it's OMFG soft. I don't get it....
You got three bad copies. My 85 f/1.8G is pretty stupid sharp, even wide open. I'm not super-skilled, but my best example would be: LEE_4471.jpg by e24mpwr
D300s + 85 f/1.8G @ f/1.8 - 1/2000 Hand-held from ~8ft/2.5m
tight crop crop by e24mpwr, on Flickr
(and it suffers a bit from Flickr compression)
In any case, I'd love to have one, slap it on the front of a D810 and go play. For now, I'll have to stick with more mundane stuff (and I'm happy enough with that...)
M635_Guy wrote:
I'm agreeing with people that a lens at this money should be pretty sharp wide open, but I agree with you that a lot of the soft samples seem to be missed focus or camera movement with a lens this fast. A lot of the early shots I saw with this lens looted plenty sharp at f/1.4.
In any case, I'd love to have one, slap it on the front of a D810 and go play. For now, I'll have to stick with more mundane stuff (and I'm happy enough with that...)...Show more →
Yeah...to me, that's softer than what these people are crying about with the 58.
Jason_Brook wrote:
If this is soft, the venerable 35/1.4A is just mediocre.
It's photos like these, the convinced me to buy the lens. I'm not looking at if it's razor sharp..when enlarged 200%..
But what I'm seeing is an overall rendering, some say an almost 3D effect, that I find very pleasing.
I'm not bothered that some do not like this lens. Why does it bother others that we do like the lens? We didn't buy it with their credit card?
Nice shots Jason. Has anyone else notice that there seems to be some weird jpeg blocking artifact going on for the images we are uploading here to FM? Just started noticing it on images the past couple of days.... maybe it is my computer or internet connection or something....
Here are some sharpness shots for people at F1.4
Seems like Fred is compressing the images too much for my liking. Here are some full captures from a 36 megapixel d810 to pixel peep if people really want to keep telling me that F1.4 is not very sharp....
photorebel wrote:
It's photos like these, the convinced me to buy the lens. I'm not looking at if it's razor sharp..when enlarged 200%..
But what I'm seeing is an overall rendering, some say an almost 3D effect, that I find very pleasing.
I'm not bothered that some do not like this lens. Why does it bother others that we do like the lens? We didn't buy it with their credit card?
What makes your think others are bothered that you like this lens? Are you THAT insecure?
