Got my 85mm, kinda disappointed?

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Does it show focus lock on the review display?
 
having had some problems with the 135mm F2 - I have concluded that micro adjusting the AF is an absolute must for fast prime lenses. Although sometimes the micro adjust is not enough.

Have a look at this thread

I, for one, do not blame you for pixel peeping, if you spend that kind of money on a lens you should expect to be able to get reasonably sharp photos
 
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gazmorton2000 said:
Using single point and single focus and about 6 feet from subject. Enough for a head and shoulders shot at full frame.
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Are you using "focus and recompose"? I'd find it impossible to get a razor sharp focus that close at 1.4 using focus and recompose.

Your static shots of the Stella bottle look incredibly sharp so lens sharpness wouldn't be the worry for me I don't think thats the factor.

More than likely its the difficulty of the DOF of 1.4 at that distance as others have said, try the same thing, headshot, but try single point continuous focus and see if that improves matters? And maybe increase the shutter speed a tad, the exif I checked was 1/60, I know you're using flash but it may still help a tad.

I'm very jealous! :thumbs:
 
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Just to make sure, do the cerial box/ruler test (as shown on Pete's link). With DoF that shallow, there is no other way to guarantee that there is no significant camera or subject movement. And the point about focus-recompose above is very valid - you just can't do that at all at close range and f/1.4!

Box with an absolutely flat front surface (not bulging at all), centre focus point, camera dead square on a tripod. Try it at three feet, and ten feet. A lens like that should nail it pretty damn close every time.

Edit: I do it on the kitchen worktop. The pattern on the floor is really handy for lining the tripod up square.
 
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I did not focus and recompose. Focused on the eye, pulled the trigger. I was shooting the stella bottle again last night on tripod. Every shot focussed slightly differently. I will try the box/ruler test when I get in later today. Spoken to nikon and he wants me to send a couple of sample images.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I did not focus and recompose. Focused on the eye, pulled the trigger. I was shooting the stella bottle again last night on tripod. Every shot focussed slightly differently. I will try the box/ruler test when I get in later today. Spoken to nikon and he wants me to send a couple of sample images.
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Hopefully its something simple :)
 
Well, after another afternoon of playing, here are a couple more samples. I now have the micro adjust on the D700 at +20. It feels like, if it would go to say, +25, it would be perfect. Or maybe I am expecting too much. Here are 100% crops, both unedited, simply opened in ACR, cropped and saved as .jpg.

1. At F1.4
eye2.jpg


2. At F2.8
eye1.jpg
 
Looks about right to me.

One tip - don't view at 100% - therein lies a world of pain.
 
Radiohead said:
Looks about right to me.

One tip - don't view at 100% - therein lies a world of pain.
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Really? Even when the edge of the eyebrow just above is in focus? But the eye itself is slightly out?
 
That just means you could have focused on the edge of the eyebrow.

Have you used MF and LiveView?'
 
Quick update if anyone is interested, lens has gone off for calibration. Still waiting to hear back though.
 
Do you send it in with the body? I'm sure it'll come back fantastic, desperately want one of these
 
Lets us know how it goes :thumbs:
 
Just to join in, I too gave the same lens
And work alongside Arkady doing the same job. ( before he got out)

Anyways I took mine to afghanistan in December, mine is producing different results on both of my D3 bodies.
One is +5 and the other +12 on the micro adjust.

I have the option of sending it back, but feel the fact my cameras have micro adjust and it now works that there is no point.

It bugged me for a week when shooting portraits and the closest focusing point, and eyebrows were sharp and not the pupil!!!

But now it is spot on and hasn't missed a beat since.
 
planetx said:
And work alongside Arkady doing the same job. ( before he got out)

Anyways I took mine to afghanistan in December, .
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Blimey, as if Afganistan wasn't bad enough already, then you had to work with Rob :bonk:
 
Well, had an Email today, the 85mm has been recalibrated under warranty. So they agreed there was an issue. Looking forward to getting it back soon to see the difference.
 
Hope you get it back and it is sorted, nothing worse than shelling out that much money and it not working properly.
 
For close range at that DOF you need to use LiveView zoomed in and use a tripod if you want to nail the focus such that you can zoom in on a pupil at 100% like that.....

If you just want to look at it normally then don't bother, but for that kind of pixel peeping it's LiveView and manual focus I'm afraid... Zoom all the way in and ask your subject to remain totally still.
 
looking forward to seeing the results of the calibration. I've never been that fussy with 100% crops but I'm starting to wonder...
 
All the folk who are saying about using tripod etc etc. Have any of you read the reviews for this lens?

The top and bottom of it is, my copy was front focussing. Nikons approved repairers agreed and as such, felt it necassary to recalibrate the lens under warranty.

As I said earlier in this thread. I do not usually get hung up on 100% crops and pixel peeping. But for a lens which is supposed to be very good at F1.4, it just wasn't, and as I said before, the shop, and a friend of mine who is much more experienced at photography than I am seemed to agree. He actually said, he was surprised at all the reviews saying it was so good wide open when it just wasn't.

I do agree though, the change of ever shooting a portrait that close at F1.4 is very unlikely. Why would you want one eye in focus and the rest not. It would be a rarity. But if the chance arose, I would want the eye in focus, not the eyebrow!
 
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To be fair, people are saying about tripods etc because it is VERY hard to get a perfect shot under those conditions. You need to remove the human factor in order to decide if the lens is duff - especially considering the lens has an excellent reputation.

Glad Nikon are sorting it for you though.
 
Yes I didn't mean that as harsh as it read back to be honest.

Ok, a quick test performed on me outside wall. Dull day today so any indoor shots are out of the question without flash. I will try another test on a hoooman eye should i be able to find one later this evening.

You can see the angle I was stood to the wall. Distance of about a metre. Focussed on the rawl plug. No editing done, just a 100% crop from the Raw and saved as JPG. Not a good test of sharpness but the focus seems to be ok.

Now I should behave and take some normal photos with it!

DSC_1945.jpg


Couple of full frame shots.

DSC_1950.jpg


DSC_1951.jpg
 
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Damn....! My bank balance is gonna take some punishment soon!

I want one...
 
would love to see a before and after of the eye shots.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
Lickle edit.

Taps1.jpg
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Wow, that B & W really makes it stand out. I have just been using an old Takumar 55 1.8, and if I have it wide open, then it is nearly impossible to get both eyes sharp. Just closing down by one to two stops makes a real difference, and does not hurt the DoF any.
 
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