I managed to pick this lens up at a bargain price which made it all the sweeter!. i was in two minds over this lens and a new 85mm 1.4 which is also excellent its just that this lens managers to render skin tones so ridiculously beautiful. That's before you start getting into the Defocus control which is a Nikon Exclusive.
I use this lens with my D700 and i have to admit i had to fine tune the autofocus slightly as it was back focusing ever so, but once done not another problem since. This really is a full blown portrait lens, maybe a little long on APS-C camera if you don't have the room to shoot, but perfect on full frame.
The Focus on this lens is quick enough to cope with most situations and the fast aperture is great, with the DC feature you wouldn't need the f1.4 as this more than compensates for it and more, plus with the high iso of my D700 it doesn't make much difference being one stop slower.
The build quality of the lens is excellent thanks to combination of metal and plastic parts with a Nikon "pro style" crinkle finish. The length of the lens remains constant regardless of the focus setting and the front element does not rotate due to an RF (Rear Focusing) design. It also has a built in lens hood rather than a petal type that i find cumbersome sometimes, or is it me just being lazy?.
The optics in this lens are fab even though they are slightly dated in comparison to modern nikkors with their nano crystal coatings etc but they are as follows:-
7 elements in 6 groups.
Multi coated.
Newer D models have an extra rear optical flat to protect against dust.
Rear Focusing.
Haruo Sato of Nikon received US Patent 5,841,590 on Nov. 24, 1998 for the defocus control design.
When an optical designer friend ran simulations and analyses on the design, he discovered another clever trick: Nikon designed the red end of the spectrum to focus in a slightly different plane to make skin look even better.
Lets get down to the nitty gritty of bokeh, it is incredible! soft and dreamy. ive shot with the 85mm 1.4d (cream machine), the new sigma 85mm 1.4 hsm and have to say as a portrait lens this smokes them, for starters you can control how the bokeh looks either in front or behind the subject just by turning a dial! plus this lens renders skin tones like no other lens ive used yet, as Nikon say this and the 135 are their portrait lenses.
Its an older design which came out in 1993 and has stayed in production since, i don't think there is much they could improve on optically other than nano coatings etc?
The defocus control works by adjusting a ring on the front of the barrel to match the aperture set. but if you go on another setting from the aperture you can get all sorts of soft focus effects. set it to zero and its super sharp!
At f2 it looks like you could fall down the thing looks like an abyss that sucks up light!.
In short if you can find one and are looking for a dedicated portrait lens this is my favourite! build quality, optics and shear picture quality, if they stop making this lens expect prices to rocket as its very special.
The defocus control works by adjusting a ring on the front of the barrel to match the aperture set. but if you go on another setting from the aperture you can get all sorts of soft focus effects. set it to zero and its super sharp!
At f2 it looks like you could fall down the thing looks like an abyss that sucks up light!.
In short if you can find one and are looking for a dedicated portrait lens this is my favourite! build quality, optics and shear picture quality, if they stop making this lens expect prices to rocket as its very special.
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