davewolfs wrote:
Does the focus shift on this lens bother anyone? It's pretty significant.
Not at all...focus shift exists in lenses that cost 2-3x this lens, some more.
My copy just arrived and the phase detect autofocus was awful right out of the box. Setting auto fine tune to +18 brought it in line with Live View and I'm a happy camper. Now time to go out and shoot
For those interested, here are some 100% crops from the center. The first is LV focus, the second is auto fine tune = 0 and the third is fine turn = +18. The raws were converted in LR with no sharpening or any other adjustments. Shot with D800, ISO 100, f1.4, tripod with 1 sec exp delay.
The weather is clear and I'll take some new shots tonight with some pin point light sources in the corners. Dave
Question everyone? Should I buy this lens? The reason I am asking this is because I have a dilemma. I already have a 50 mm f 1.4 G and it suits my needs fine. However I'm not sure if I should spend that kind of money just for this lens in general. The other half of my dilemma is that I have a Sigma 85 mm F1 .4 and I would like to sell it and go back to the Nikon 85 mm F1 .4. Since these two lenses are priced about the same, I'm trying to decide on which one I really want. I use the 85 mm probably 90% of the time. To be honest, I really don't use a 50 mm that much, nor do I use my 35mm that much.
It seems that I always only use the 85mm when I am out with my camera doing general shooting. But I guess it's good to have some variety and I could get rid of my 50 mm and use this 58 mm in place of it with higher-quality optics.... I tried another one of these 58 mm lenses at the camera store yesterday, and it was impressively sharp wide open and the corners were nice and sharp wide open as well. This is just a dilemma that I wish I did not have. Because I like both lenses I'm torn between which one to buy. I know I already have the 85 Sigma, but I think that I am missing the 85 quality of the Nikon better and I want to go back. I only have enough money to purchase one of those lenses at the moment. It seems like you guys are all happy about the quality of the 58, I guess it really just depends on your shooting style and what Lens you use the most. I guess I'm just looking for constructive criticism here, maybe some good positive reinforcement comments from you folks as to which I should get.
I really like shooting landscapes and people portraits etc. this 58mm would be good for both, especially night shooting when the lighting is low and you can she wide-open and still be pretty sharp. I guess it really sounds like I've answered my own question doesn't it? I guess I will report back and let you know what I decide,. I'm sure it doesn't matter to any of you which when I get it I just figured I would ask and get some opinions. Thanks
Todd wrote:
Question everyone? Should I buy this lens? The reason I am asking this is because I have a dilemma. I already have a 50 mm f 1.4 G and it suits my needs fine. However I'm not sure if I should spend that kind of money just for this lens in general. The other half of my dilemma is that I have a Sigma 85 mm F1 .4 and I would like to sell it and go back to the Nikon 85 mm F1 .4. Since these two lenses are priced about the same, I'm trying to decide on which one I really want. I use the 85 mm probably 90% of the time. To be honest, I really don't use a 50 mm that much, nor do I use my 35mm that much.
It seems that I always only use the 85mm when I am out with my camera doing general shooting. But I guess it's good to have some variety and I could get rid of my 50 mm and use this 58 mm in place of it with higher-quality optics.... I tried another one of these 58 mm lenses at the camera store yesterday, and it was impressively sharp wide open and the corners were nice and sharp wide open as well. This is just a dilemma that I wish I did not have. Because I like both lenses I'm torn between which one to buy. I know I already have the 85 Sigma, but I think that I am missing the 85 quality of the Nikon better and I want to go back. I only have enough money to purchase one of those lenses at the moment. It seems like you guys are all happy about the quality of the 58, I guess it really just depends on your shooting style and what Lens you use the most. I guess I'm just looking for constructive criticism here, maybe some good positive reinforcement comments from you folks as to which I should get.
I really like shooting landscapes and people portraits etc. this 58mm would be good for both, especially night shooting when the lighting is low and you can she wide-open and still be pretty sharp. I guess it really sounds like I've answered my own question doesn't it? I guess I will report back and let you know what I decide,. I'm sure it doesn't matter to any of you which when I get it I just figured I would ask and get some opinions. Thanks
I myself was in the same kind of dilemma. I had the 50mm 1.8g lens and sold it. I also have the sigma 85mm 1.4 and tamron 70-200mm VC. I wanted the 58mm 1.4 bc of the character everyone was talking about. Its unique and the nikon 85 didnt have it. Theres just something about this lens that makes me like it. I could never go back to the 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens after using this one. Hope that helps and best of luck with your decision.
IME keep in mind this isn't much of a landscape, architecture, commercial lens. I think it's a fantastic people, nighttime and artistic lens however.
You said your 50 1.4 does what you need so you have to ask yourself if your photography will need something with this type of character in your kit. To me the 58G can tell stories better than any standard FL lens in nikon's current lineup and even, dare I say it, an otus.
Todd wrote:
Question everyone? Should I buy this lens? The reason I am asking this is because I have a dilemma. I already have a 50 mm f 1.4 G and it suits my needs fine. However I'm not sure if I should spend that kind of money just for this lens in general. The other half of my dilemma is that I have a Sigma 85 mm F1 .4 and I would like to sell it and go back to the Nikon 85 mm F1 .4. Since these two lenses are priced about the same, I'm trying to decide on which one I really want. I use the 85 mm probably 90% of the time. To be honest, I really don't use a 50 mm that much, nor do I use my 35mm that much.
It seems that I always only use the 85mm when I am out with my camera doing general shooting. But I guess it's good to have some variety and I could get rid of my 50 mm and use this 58 mm in place of it with higher-quality optics.... I tried another one of these 58 mm lenses at the camera store yesterday, and it was impressively sharp wide open and the corners were nice and sharp wide open as well. This is just a dilemma that I wish I did not have. Because I like both lenses I'm torn between which one to buy. I know I already have the 85 Sigma, but I think that I am missing the 85 quality of the Nikon better and I want to go back. I only have enough money to purchase one of those lenses at the moment. It seems like you guys are all happy about the quality of the 58, I guess it really just depends on your shooting style and what Lens you use the most. I guess I'm just looking for constructive criticism here, maybe some good positive reinforcement comments from you folks as to which I should get.
I really like shooting landscapes and people portraits etc. this 58mm would be good for both, especially night shooting when the lighting is low and you can she wide-open and still be pretty sharp. I guess it really sounds like I've answered my own question doesn't it? I guess I will report back and let you know what I decide,. I'm sure it doesn't matter to any of you which when I get it I just figured I would ask and get some opinions. Thanks
I did a comparison of the 58 and 85 and 50 over on DP review. I even put up a video on YouTube, ha! But it should be noted that the 85 1.4G and the 58 are very very different lenses. The 85 is decidedly sharper. It's almost silly how much sharper it is. The 85 also provides more compression for portraits. The 85 is not as razor thin wide open. So where the 58 might get the eye only, the 85 will get some of the cheek around the eye, maybe the eyebrow, you get the point. The 58 is pretty razor thin wide open.
So then why buy the 58? Nikon's lenses all have a very sharp, I would say journalistic type look. But the 58 does not. It has a very soft, three dimensional look. The subject isolation of the 58 is the best I've seen, though I'm no expert. I find the bokeh more pleasing on the 58, although the 85 is nearly as good, again that's my opinion. I also found that the 58 picked up a bit more available light, just a bit, so in that sense perhaps it's a bit better for low light photography.
But really this lens has been a bit of an enigma. Photographers seem to think it's the worst, or the best, depending on what they're looking for. As a portrait photographer this has become my favorite lens. If you have a subject with a big nose, backup and shoot a little farther away and crop after. But otherwise, it's been a joy to work with. I think I'll leave it at that, before I write too much, feel free to PM me!
Dec 17, 2013 at 03:02 PM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
supermario343 wrote:
I myself was in the same kind of dilemma. I had the 50mm 1.8g lens and sold it. I also have the sigma 85mm 1.4 and tamron 70-200mm VC. I wanted the 58mm 1.4 bc of the character everyone was talking about. Its unique and the nikon 85 didnt have it. Theres just something about this lens that makes me like it. I could never go back to the 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens after using this one. Hope that helps and best of luck with your decision.
Mario
Thanks Mario, I appreciate your opinion and personal experience you've had with the lens... It will help with my decision.
