Nikon 85 1.8G - Great Budget Lens!

[TickleMyElmo]

Hey everybody! I picked this lens up today and I know a lot of people are always looking for a nice budget lens, and man, this is one sweet budget lens!

Normally I would have went with the more expensive 85 1.4G, but every review I saw mentioned how this new Nikon lens outperformed the 1.4G is almost every test, including sharpness and focus speed. So I figured I would save $1k and pick this bad boy up today while a local store was having a promo where they paid the sales tax.

I haven't got a chance to shoot much with it yet, but this thing is razor sharp even at 1.8, and dangerously sharp by f/2. It will be absolutely awesome for portraits! I can't wait to use it on a wedding or engagement session.

It has a very solid build to it, even though it's plastic fantastic it has a very durable, quality feel. To be honest, it doesn't even feel like plastic. Based on my 50 1.4G I thought the manual focus ring would feel cheap but it doesn't at all, feels just as high quality as my 24-70 and 70-200, in fact it feels higher quality because it seems a little more dampened.

Plus, with the money saved, now I can buy a 16-35G VR

So yeah, you cant go wrong with this lens at $500, I recommend it to everyone looking for awesome performance on a budget!

[Kayen]

Wonder how the Canon's are compared to this... I need a new lens.. my place got broken into, and all my lens were stolen, I happened to have my camera with my 50mm 1.8 on me that day... so I do need to get some new lens' again...

[ronaldvalente]

Do yourself a favor and get a 85 1.4 or a 50 1.2 or a 105/200 Micro lens.
I highly recommend manual focus. You will still spend less than the current models, in addition to that they are built to last a lifetime in Japan vs cheaply made stuff from China. IMHO

[ronaldvalente]

Always invest in Prime lenses, they will perform much better than zoom lenses and you can get used lenses here: KEH.

Since there is almost nothing on a manual focus lens to break, you have a risk-free purchase. KEH also offers returns on all items sold within 14 days.

I have had a great deal of luck with KEH.

[HX67]

What a great timing.
Been looking for an affordable glass around 80-100 mm range for awhile.
I think I'm gonna go with your recommendation. Found one (1!) locally, even.

Thanks for putting this up!

[kubalik]

Yup, I picked up that lens some time ago and fell in love with it at once. Can't beat the price on that superb piece of glass.It's also very light.

[SMB]

Looks like your shooting with a D3s. The difference in speed between a 1.4 and 1.8 lens should be minimal. With that camera ISO 200 one stop up to ISO 400, you loose nothing.
My favorite lens is still the 17-35mm. ( Have not tried the newer 16-35mm.)

[ronaldvalente]

Originally Posted by SMB

Looks like your shooting with a D3s. The difference in speed between a 1.4 and 1.8 lens should be minimal. With that camera ISO 200 one stop up to ISO 400, you loose nothing.
My favorite lens is still the 17-35mm. ( Have not tried the newer 16-35mm.)

The D3s can shoot in the dark, you can up the ISO to 1600 and not notice a difference. Getting better/faster glass is always the most important.

[TickleMyElmo]

Originally Posted by Kayen

Wonder how the Canon's are compared to this... I need a new lens.. my place got broken into, and all my lens were stolen, I happened to have my camera with my 50mm 1.8 on me that day... so I do need to get some new lens' again...

From what I've seen, the Canon version (85 1.8) is also a great great lens. I'm not sure how it stacks up against the new Nikon version, but obviously the Nikon 85 1.8G is newer and possibly improved in optical design over the older Canon version, but I really have no idea how accurate that is, just a theory of a possibility. Sorry to hear about the break-in!

Originally Posted by ronaldvalente

Do yourself a favor and get a 85 1.4 or a 50 1.2 or a 105/200 Micro lens.
I highly recommend manual focus. You will still spend less than the current models, in addition to that they are built to last a lifetime in Japan vs cheaply made stuff from China. IMHO

Originally Posted by ronaldvalente

Always invest in Prime lenses, they will perform much better than zoom lenses and you can get used lenses here: KEH.

Since there is almost nothing on a manual focus lens to break, you have a risk-free purchase. KEH also offers returns on all items sold within 14 days.

I have had a great deal of luck with KEH.

Yeah, I'm normally all about buying the more expensive glass like the Nikon 85 1.4G, but literally every review I read mentioned this new 1.8G performs better in nearly every category than the 1.4G and backed it up with samples. The mansurovs review is a great example of this.

I disagree about buying manual focus lenses as I have no desire to do so whatsoever, but that could be a younger generation thing I shoot professionally for weddings and portraits as well, so I cant be mucking around with manual focus. And on the Japan vs. China made thing, every lens I own besides this new lens is made in Japan, and none of them feel cheap

Originally Posted by HX67

What a great timing.
Been looking for an affordable glass around 80-100 mm range for awhile.
I think I'm gonna go with your recommendation. Found one (1!) locally, even.

Thanks for putting this up!

No problem, glad it helped! I think you'll be very impressed with the performance/price ratio!

Originally Posted by kubalik

Yup, I picked up that lens some time ago and fell in love with it at once. Can't beat the price on that superb piece of glass.It's also very light.

Yeah, its perfectly balanced on my D3s and the D700, and its perfect when paired with an ungripped D700. Even the mansurovs review of the lens mentioned how well balanced it was on all the higher end models.

Originally Posted by SMB

Looks like your shooting with a D3s. The difference in speed between a 1.4 and 1.8 lens should be minimal. With that camera ISO 200 one stop up to ISO 400, you loose nothing.
My favorite lens is still the 17-35mm. ( Have not tried the newer 16-35mm.)

Originally Posted by ronaldvalente

The D3s can shoot in the dark, you can up the ISO to 1600 and not notice a difference. Getting better/faster glass is always the most important.

Hehe yeah, they don't call the D3s the king of darkness for no reason, and I think its truly amazing that it is still considered the low light king even after the release of the D4 and 1DX. I really love the camera, I'll replace it with a D4 soon enough, but I'm really in no rush whatsoever as this camera does everything perfectly well for me.

[SMB]

Came across this nice list of fast primes.
B&H also a reliable store. Have dealt with them for over 20 years.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/...=FastGlass2012