Nikon 85mm 1.8 D

stickytape · 31 Jan 2017

While in my continued research to decide upon which DSLR system to start investing in, I cam across a lot of comments and samples of this (Esp on flickr). This Nikon lens looks to be a stellar performer, especially if it were paired with a full frame Nikon DSLR - however, is there a good canon equivalent? From what I can see, the Canon are considerably more than this one retails at, albeit this Nikon lens appears to be from the later 1990s or so.. Its only early days, but I am starting with lens first to see which manufacturer will give me my favored focal lengths and potential in general

Comments appreciated - hope this make sense.

Thank you

PaulButler · 31 Jan 2017

The 85mm f1.8D is a pretty good lens, it is very sharp particularly in the centre area. It suffers terribly with purple fringing though so ... however, the newer 85mm f1.8G is a stellar performer. I've no experience as such with the Canon 85mm f1.8 but would be fine.

TBH unless you have an absolute lens specific requirement (e.g. greater than 1:1 macro) I'd choose the body first, simply because this is what you control and how it feels in the hand is more important than a minor gain here or there. If you don't like using the camera, you won't use it! Both Nikon and Canon have a full range of full frame lenses, most of which are very much fit for purpose.

sk66 · 31 Jan 2017

When choosing a system you need to look at the genre(s) which you want to focus on... what are they?

stickytape · 31 Jan 2017

PaulButler said:
The 85mm f1.8D is a pretty good lens, it is very sharp particularly in the centre area. It suffers terribly with purple fringing though so ... however, the newer 85mm f1.8G is a stellar performer. I've no experience as such with the Canon 85mm f1.8 but would be fine.

TBH unless you have an absolute lens specific requirement (e.g. greater than 1:1 macro) I'd choose the body first, simply because this is what you control and how it feels in the hand is more important than a minor gain here or there. If you don't like using the camera, you won't use it! Both Nikon and Canon have a full range of full frame lenses, most of which are very much fit for purpose.

Thanks for your reply! This is the hard thing - I have been looking at a fair few makes - and had a Go of a few models in Currys, and there are none that I "dislike". They all seem very nice to handle and use, that's why I was thinking of going Lena first. Ultimately, I suppose it will be Nikon or canon - but I haven't ruled out Sony yet.

stickytape · 31 Jan 2017

sk66 said:
When choosing a system you need to look at the genre(s) which you want to focus on... what are they?

A little bit of everything really - I'd like to have a reasonable zoom lens for wildlife and nature, a good multi purpose lens - perhaps an 18-135mm and then finally one prime lens (like an 85mm) that is fantastic for making the background pop away from the subject. I am very keen to try everything really, currently loving the Panasonic FZ1000 I bought.

sk66 · 31 Jan 2017

IMO, wildlife is not the realm for Sony.

When it comes to budget long lenses I think Canon has a slight edge w/ their 100-400, and when it comes to some of the premium lenses like the 400/2.8 their prices are marginally lower. If you're considering used gear (advised) I tend to think Canon stuff is a bit easier to find cheaper. And Canon has some (expensive) specialty lenses that are better or not offered for Nikon (tilt shift/high macro). In the rest of the realms of photography the lens lineups are more even.

However, IMHO Nikon has been notably ahead of Canon in sensor performance (excepting the D5), and I personally prefer the Nikon menu system and controls in general... the latter is probably because I have a lot more experience w/ them.

stuartm1 · 1 Feb 2017

I love my 85mm f1.8D and rate it as my favourite portrait lens. It does suffer from purple fringing but then so does the 85mm f1.4G and it costs 4 times as much. I don't find the fringing that bad on the D lens and it's way better than my 135mm f2DC. I normally step it down to f/2.2 and it seems ok with nice sharp details, shallow dof with nice blurry background. The slightly more expensive 85mm f1.8G has less issues with fringing but there's not a lot in it between both.

As regards to which brand you should choose is more difficult. If you're doing a lot of low light shooting and need good shadow recovery with good IQ then I'd choose Nikon over Canon. I'll never forget the day someone sent me some Canon 5DIII raw files (shot @ ISO 800) to edit and when I tried to lighten the shadows all this red noise appeared in the blacks - never got that from Nikon at such a low ISO.

stickytape · 1 Feb 2017

sk66 said:
IMO, wildlife is not the realm for Sony.

When it comes to budget long lenses I think Canon has a slight edge w/ their 100-400, and when it comes to some of the premium lenses like the 400/2.8 their prices are marginally lower. If you're considering used gear (advised) I tend to think Canon stuff is a bit easier to find cheaper. And Canon has some (expensive) specialty lenses that are better or not offered for Nikon (tilt shift/high macro). In the rest of the realms of photography the lens lineups are more even.

However, IMHO Nikon has been notably ahead of Canon in sensor performance (excepting the D5), and I personally prefer the Nikon menu system and controls in general... the latter is probably because I have a lot more experience w/ them.

Fair shout - the only ones I'm vaguely liking are the ones with the high res SLT viewfinders - I really enjoy the one of the FZ1000. I'll whittle down the sort of focal lengths I want and then decide on a male I think. Have looked at the 100-400 - is it quite a portable lens? I understand it's over a good KG, but I take it it's a well balanced piece of kit?

stickytape · 1 Feb 2017

stuartm1 said:
I love my 85mm f1.8D and rate it as my favourite portrait lens. It does suffer from purple fringing but then so does the 85mm f1.4G and it costs 4 times as much. I don't find the fringing that bad on the D lens and it's way better than my 135mm f2DC. I normally step it down to f/2.2 and it seems ok with nice sharp details, shallow dof with nice blurry background. The slightly more expensive 85mm f1.8G has less issues with fringing but there's not a lot in it between both.

As regards to which brand you should choose is more difficult. If you're doing a lot of low light shooting and need good shadow recovery with good IQ then I'd choose Nikon over Canon. I'll never forget the day someone sent me some Canon 5DIII raw files (shot @ ISO 800) to edit and when I tried to lighten the shadows all this red noise appeared in the blacks - never got that from Nikon at such a low ISO.

Thanks for the feedback - so far it appears Nikon do appear more favorable! Thanks!!

sk66 · 1 Feb 2017

stickytape said:
Have looked at the 100-400 - is it quite a portable lens? I understand it's over a good KG, but I take it it's a well balanced piece of kit?

For a longer FL lens it is small/light/versatile, and I believe it's a bit better/cheaper than the Nikon 80-400.