Samyang or Nikon

Peter69

Peter69

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I wasn't sure whether to post this here oe in equipment but as it is super specific to portraits I'll post here.

At present I have a D5100 but sometime this year I will be upgrading to D800.

For portraits, I have reduced my selection to 2 lenses, the Samyang 85 1.4 or the Nikkor 85 1.4G. On the face of it the choice is easy but, depending on how much kudos you give DXO Labs, the Samyang has less aberration but the Nikkor is a little sharper. The Samyang is manual only but the focus has a massive throw so fine focus should be spot on.
There is also a £860 price difference too.

Advice please.
 
Any reason why you don't have the Nikkor 85mm f1.8 G in that list ?

I have owned the 85mm f1.4D and 85mm f1.4G in the past (although at the moment I'm without one). On the Canon system I used the 85mm f1.8 rather than the f1.2L and had no issues with it, only buying the Nikon f1.4 equivalents for "getting ready" images at weddings for low light hotel rooms or or to blow out terrible backgrounds in brides bedrooms.

Now there is a f/1.8 G if I ever get another 85mm prime it will be that one.

FWIW I'm shooting with the D800E.
 
It depends what your eventual use is, but for me 85mm on FF would be too short as a first choice portrait lens. I'd go 135mm
 
MF is MF. 1% of extra hypothetical sharpness is useless when your shots are out of focus again and again. Considering budget constraints you should consider f/1.8G as already suggested above.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

Phil, I think 135mm maybe a little long, tbh 85 is a squeeze.

The 85 1.8 looks a good lens too. Both Nikons score better then Samyang. The 1.8 is very close in price too. What really drew me to the Samyang was the price and the reported good manual focus (or do you all us af on portrait style shoots?). The budget is open as someone is gifting me them :)
 
Hi Peter.

I really LOVE my Samyang 85 f1.4. Have used it on the D90 and the D800. YES it is manual focus, which has been tricky with the kids at f1.4. It is sharp and contrasty and the focussing ring is lovely.

However. I have often thought about the nikkor 85 f1.8g purely for the auto focus. But then I look at the results for the samyang and cany justify the cost of change!

Anyway http://www.flickr.com/photos/63852338@N07/sets/72157629131828769/ is a set from the samyang since I got it a few years ago, starting on the d90 and latterly the d800

Hope that helps

Shaheed
 
Nice Pictures.

Obviously the step up from D5100 to D800 is a big one so I'm not sure how precise the autofocus is on the D800. I like the idea of using the MF on the Samyang. I have a 35 1.8G which isn't the best at MF.
 
Peter69 said:
Thanks for the responses guys.

Phil, I think 135mm maybe a little long, tbh 85 is a squeeze.

The 85 1.8 looks a good lens too. Both Nikons score better then Samyang. The 1.8 is very close in price too. What really drew me to the Samyang was the price and the reported good manual focus (or do you all us af on portrait style shoots?). The budget is open as someone is gifting me them :)
Click to expand...

But that's now on crop, when you go FF that 85 will behave more like the 50 does now. Which was precisely my point. If 50 and 85 are working for you on crop, then when you go FF the equivalent FoV will be approx 85 and 135 (as close as you can buy anyway, you can't buy a 75 and 128).

135 was my favourite fl on 35mm film and 85 is my favourite on my crop DSLR.
 
I've got the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 and I usually end up shooting at about f/2 anyway. Were I buying again, I think I'd definitely consider the smaller, lighter f/1.8 model...
 
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