Closest focus distance/max. magnification: 0.85m / 1:8.3. This is too bad as I normally need something around 1:3-1:5. So no brownie points for this performance, but other 85mm lenses don’t focus closer either. When you use a Canon 500D close-up filter (as some would call it) you could reach something around and beyond 1:5.8. So perhaps all is not lost. [0] The "M/A" position means autofocus. It's called "M/A" because you also can focus manually simply by grabbing the focus ring in this position. You can judge the effect if you look at the shadows at the lower left of the camera body and the mounting-plate. The shadows become lighter and the overall image contrast and dynamic range is reduced by almost one stop when the lens is stopped down from f1.4 to f5.6. The effect is nothing dramatic but for optimal results you should prevent the sun from shining into the lens. Gallery Refreshing is that Nikon hasn't pimped-out this professional lens. This 85/1.4 has no aspherical elements, no ED glass and no VR, just great performance through traditional optics done brilliantly. This 85/1.4 has always been a favorite of portrait professionals, along with the older 85/1.4 AI-s and newer 85/1.4 G.

If you want a fast, tough 85mm, that's why this lens has been sold out for most of its 15 years as Nikon's top fast telephoto lens. Manual focus on the Nikon D800 is also fast, easy and accurate using the electronic indicators, even at f/1.4.The astonishing observation here is that you in fact get lower contrast when closing the aperture, although that should minimize stray-light in the lens. But unfortunately the reflections from the aperture itself cause some veiling glare. Sharper than any other lens I own, including the 50mm 1.8D and the 70-200VR. My most detailed and sharpest images (where you can see the pores on the skin) were done wide open. And on another note: While switching between the new 35/1.4G and the 85/1.4G it is very obvious that 85mm on a DX-body is already taxing your skills to keep the lens steady. Try to shoot 1/125 sec at least if you want to avoid shake and produce sharp photos hand-held! I compared it directly to the autofocus 85mm f/1.4D, manual focus 85mm f/2 AI-s and manual focus 85mm f/1.8 AI-upgraded. I had no 85mm f/1.8 AF handy, which is another day's work since the 85mm f/1.8 AF is probably the most practical 85mm going today

Dildoplant. 85mm f/1.8 G, Nikon D800, f/1.8 at 1/1,600, ISO 100, VIVID +3 Saturation, Sharpening set to 6. LARGE BASIC Optimum Quality JPG file (losslessly rotated in iView 3.1.3). The lens provides excellent fit and finish, with a metal lens mount and metal 77mm filter ring. The exterior of the lens is a deeply texturized metallic finish which is easy to hand-hold. A recessed and windowed distance scale is present, marked in feet and meters, and a depth-of-field scale is marked with an infrared index. The lens is old enough to sport an aperture ring. The lens uses 9 curved diaphragm blades to creature the aperture, which create very uniform results for bokeh. Throughout history, when a pro photographer has mentioned their very favorite lens, it's either their f/2.8 tele, or their 85mm f/1.4 lens, either the 85mm f/1.4 AI-s (1981-2006) or the 85/1.4 AF-D (1995-2010). 85mm f/1.4 lenses are this good and this useful to professionals who know what they want, as opposed to trying to cover every unnecessary focal length with a slew of zooms. This is a professional lens for use on FX and 35mm cameras. Unless I specifically call it out, I'm not talking about DX cameras like the D7000, D300 or D200 in this review. If you have any question, comment or suggestion regarding the review head over here. A selection of my shots with this lens can be found there.I believe the advantages of the focus-by-wire system far outweigh their current problems and limitations, and Nikon made the right decision by incorporating it into all the Z lenses. With the focus-by-wire system, it is possible to not only improve autofocus speed and accuracy but also provide more fine-tuned control of different camera operations. Thanks to this system, Nikon has already been adding several programmable rings and function buttons to its high-end lenses. Unfortunately, this lens suffers a bit from purple fringing in high contrast area (see sample pic below), it is also susceptible to flare, but not as bad as other lenses.

If I was working in nasty, dirty areas, I'd forget the cap, and use an uncoated 67mm Tiffen UV filter instead. Uncoated filters are much easier to clean, but more prone to ghosting. The fact that there is nothing but flatness in the f/1.4 and f/2 images is exactly what we want! It's not until f/2.8 where the blur circles even become circles at all, and even then, they are even, without emphasized edges. On the subframe D200, distortion is negligible. Distortion on a full-frame body is only slightly more evident - at 0.1% barrel distortion in the corners, one could categorize it as statistically insignificant. Having done over 500 shots with the new lens I have a pretty good feeling what the overall performance of the new lens is. Sharpness/contrastThe completely different autofocus 85mm f/1.4 D lens is introduced. This manual focus 85mm f/1.4 AI-s is not discontinued. This 85mm f/1.4 G, along with Nikon's new 24mm f/1.4 G and 50mm f/1.4 AF-S, are pretty much the only three lenses you'd ever need for anything worth shooting, especially in low light. (Or replace the 24mm and 50mm with the 35mm f/1.4 G, or leave the 50 at home. You get the idea.) Large aperture lenses are for isolating your subject. I need this as a nature shooter and even as a landscape shooter I love to have not everything in equal sharpness. Alternatives Very good feel to the rubber grip around the focus ring, too bad I can't manually focus this using the D70's tiny viewfinder. Magic Nano-crystal coat is an anti-reflection coating which varies its index of refraction continuously to achieve even greater reflection reduction. It's probably only on one surface, and is used mostly for marketing purposes.