AF-S FX NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

I have to admit that I am an 85mm lens junkie. I have owned six different 85mm lenses including the storied Canon 85mm 1.2 L II. I have also owned the Nikon 85mm 1.8D. After giving my 1.8D to my son-in-law, I picked up the 1.8G, which is a fabulous lens clearly an improvement on the D version in terms of clarity, color and bokeh. The reviews generally claim that there is little difference between the two lenses and given the price difference, I wasn't tempted. However, when the recent rebates dropped the price of the 1.4G to under $1400, I couldn't resist any longer. So, is the 1.4 a great lens? Absolutely. Is it worth the price difference? That is a much tougher question. Obviously, this lens provides 1.4 and 1.6. If you need the speed then you have to pay the price. In addition, the bokeh at 1.4 is noticeably superior to that at 1.8. So, again if you need the smoothness difference then you have to pay the price. My 1.4 is sharp wide open (amazing) and is sharper than my 1.8 at every common aperture (some reviews differ). The difference may be due to better contrast, but the difference is nonetheless there. However, the differences are not major and are only noticeable on high magnification and close scrutiny. As for bokeh, at 1.8 and smaller apertures (larger aperture designations like 2.8 and 4.0), there are differences, but they are subtle. The fact is that the lenses are more alike than they are different. I can't say emphatically that there are shots that I can get with the 1.4 (other than shots taken at 1.4 and 1.6) that I couldn't get with the 1.8, but I'm willling to pay the difference just in case. However, I can say with a high degree of confidence that whatever that number is, it is much less than 5% of the shots I take at 85mm. So, if you are on a budget and don't require sub-1.8 aperture shots, I could not in good conscience advise you to purchase this gem when the 1.8G is so excellent. As for the comparison with the Canon 1.2, the 1.4G fares very well. Sharpness wide open is pretty close between the lenses (this is a non-rigorous comparison; a serious comparison would require mounting the 1.4G onto a Canon body and shooting both lenses in tandem). The thing that I found to be truly interesting is that the smoothness of the bokeh between lenses is very close despite the 1/3 stop difference. In fact, I give the 1.4G bokeh the nod by half a nose. However, this conclusion--as are most with respect to bokeh--is somewhat subjective and may also depend somewhat on differences in rendering between Nikon and Canon bodies. Regardless, it's good to know that Nikon shooters don't lose much (or anything) by not having the fastest 85mm lens available. The decision of which lens to use is difficult. For raw speed the Canon is faster (1/2 stop); but I prefer the Nikon bokeh and it focuses faster. Moreover, the Nikon provides better-edge-to-edge sharpness wide open. So what lens did a take on a reason hike? It was the Nikon 1.8G which was the preferred lens due to its compact size.

This 85 1.4g and 105 DC are my favorite portrait lens. I use 85 for indoors / low light and 105DC mostly for outdoors. 85 has creamier Bokeh (of course!) and 105DC has slightly faster autofocus (Both focus faster than 24 1.4g and Canon 85 1.2L). I shot indoor kid karate display once and this 85 was no sloth capturing the flying movements. When mounted on F5, the 105DC is scary fast for focusing and I noticed the same applies to 85, which also focus faster on F5 than on D700. Both lens are tack sharp (If picture was bad I found usually it was my fault). Both lens render beautiful skin colors and 3D like pictures. Being the new design 85g has more contrast & saturation than the 105DC (depends on the scene sometimes I choose 105DC for its subtlety). When shoot against sun 85mm is noticeably better (Nano coating) than 105DC. 85mm is well built and balance well on F5 and D700. It is fatter lens but feels pretty good in hand. After brief use, I noticed large debris appear inside the lens elements and figured that was because the internal lens movement for focusing , which pumps air and thus trapped the debris in (105DC has some debris too). Was a bit of surprise since 85 1.4g has weather seal design while 105DC does not. No big deal. I am very happy about the pictures and capability it provides . Yes compared to 85 1.8g the big brother shows diminished returns (not necessary three times better from what I read). I bought 1.4g before 1.8g rumors surfaced on internet. Nevertheless, this is a keeper and compliment very well with 105DC. ***Update***: I have been using this lens for 2+ years as all around lens. It proved to be very versatile for not just a gold standard portrait lens but also a great lens for street and landscape application. I like the size, weight and confidence provided by this 85g. This lens is on my camera most of time and has produced many satisfactory pictures that received high praises from family and friends. it worked so well for film (Velvia 50, Provia 100, Kodak Gold), digital (D700/D750) and video (D750). On the side note I found my photographic skills have improved gradually with years of experience on prime lens. I still do not own zoom lens (I admit I have always been tempted to grab 14-24 and 70-200 vrii) and found these prime lens (85g, 24g, 105DC and 50g) meet all of my current photographic needs. Highly recommended!

No wonder this is the best DXOMark-ranked lens, it brings out sharpness, clarity, bokeh and colors I never thought possible before. An example, with my D800 an early morning hand-held shot of a flower 1 meter away brings out the tiny little dews on the flower petals even better than some close-ups with my Nikon 60mm macro lens on a tripod (I haven't compared to my Nikon 105 mm macro lens yet). I've been able to achieve outstanding portraits, unobtainable otherwise, with both my D800 and D3200. Just a note: this lens also out-resolves the D3200, with which the 85mm photos in side-by-side comparison with those of the D800, do show a little lesser resolution, albeit still exceptional. Bokeh-wise, this lens lives up to its legendary artistry; with both D800 and D3200, it easily isolates the subject in focus from the rest, front and aft, with silky smooth and absolutely pleasant 3-dimensional-like bokeh. ---Update--- I now have had a chance to compile a shoot-out of about 100 shots (F2.8 and narrower apertures) of different subjects, light conditions and compositions (adjusted for about the same coverage areas) between this lens and my Nikon 105mm lens with both my D800 and D3200. With the same apertures, both cameras picked the same shutter speeds for both lenses in 90% of my test shots, which showed how close they are in terms of light transmission capabilities. Looking at RAW (NEF) files in Photoshop at 100% to compare sharpness-wise, the two lenses are virtually the same with my D3200 shots, but this 85mm lens is a tad better than my 105mm with my D800 shots; in the case of my D800 shots, the results could have been affected by the fact that my 105mm shots were taken with the D800 positioned farther away from the subject (to adjust the compositions for differences in the focal lengths). For bokeh at F2.8, my 105mm (being longer focal length) produces more pronounced bokeh effects. For color brilliance and vibrancy, both lenses are very indistinguishable, except for my test night shots, each seemed to have its own "character" emphasizing slightly different color spots. That concludes my very subjective comparison of Nikon's two best lenses ;-)

A little background. I shot with with Canon and Nikon in the past and have owned several of their 85 mm lenses. The Nikon 85/1.8 and 1.4 and the Canon 84/1.2. I also still own the Korean manual focus 85/1.4 sold as Rokkor or Shamyan (not sure about the brand names). I was hesitant for some time and finally ordered it. Now I regret I didn't oder it before! I do a lot of portrait photography and love to use very narrow depth of field in my work. This lens is one of the best lenses I have ever owned! It is already great and reasonably sharp wide open and gets razor sharp once stopped down a little. Even with a D800 (36 mp) I feel comfortable shooting at 1.4. The AF-S system is not a rocket but very accurate. That is one of the most important things with fast lenses. I lost many good shots with other lenses because it is always a challenge with nail focus. With this lens I get a noticeable higher success rate. It's a large lens but doesn't weight a ton. It feels lighter than the size suggests. Bokeh is beautiful and smooth. Vignetting is also very low for such a fast lens. There is no other 85 that I tried that overall performs so well and reliable. Yes it's expensive but I think it's worth it. Would I recommend it? Yes, but keep in mind, not everyone needs a high end lens like this. If you are on a budget, it makes no sense to spend all your money on one lens only. The Nikon 85/1.8 is a valid alternative for a lower budget. It doesn't reach this lens in terms of sharpness and bokeh, but it's pretty close.

I don't know what's up at Nikon these days, but this lens was horrible. I already had the 85 1.8G and it's very nice. I gave it away to a family member (because it's almost worthless to sell it used - you lose nearly every dollar you originally paid for their China manufactured lenses) when I ordered the 85 1.4G. Now I have NO 85mm in my bag. As for this 85 1.4g, the severe back focusing issues could not be dialed out using my Nikon body's focus adjustment. It's a D810 and needs almost zero adjustment for any other lens in my collection. The adjustment is limited to +20 or -20, and I would have needed something closer to -30 in order to have the new 85 1.4G nail focus. For a lens I have wanted for over 5 years, this is pretty disappointing. Last plastic Nikon lens I will ever buy.

Picture quality is good but it is a bit pricey.

The Nikon 85mm f/1.4G is really an amazing lens. It is my favorite portrait lens in my bag (on full frame) - I grab it before I grab the 70-200 (unless I really need the versatility of a zoom) and long before i grab the 135 f/2 DC. ...I know that is very subjective - but anything anyone writes in a review like this is subject) The 1.4G has very nice bokeh, quick AF-S, less C/A than any of the other nikon 85mm's and the multi-coating seems to help the contrast in backlit or flare conditions. The only thing that tempted me to down grade this 5star to a 4 star lens is the price. Very expensive compared to the older 1.8D and even the 1.4D. [I upgraded from the 1.8D with this lens - and I'm keeping BOTH! THe 1.8D is definitely a 5-star, amazing little lens that is more suited for general photography. The 1.4G is much more specialized for portraits and gives a faster lens, a bit better bokeh. If you've got the extra $$ and you need a more specific portrait lens - you wont be dissappointed with the 1.4G If you want an 85mm for landscape details, travel, portraits, and more general shooting - the 85 1.8D would be my choice

This lens is the best lens I've had the privilege of using. The images I've gotten so far have eye popping clarity with amazing low-light handling and magical bokeh. Years ago I spent a lot of time with a Canon 50mm F1.4. I now use a Nikon D700 and shoot with my Nikon 24-70 F2.8g and this lens. On a full frame camera such as the D700, this focal length is quite nice for getting great close-ups without being up in everyone's face. The depth separation shooting at F1.4 is much more dramatic than what you get with the 24-70 F2.8. I cross shopped this with the older 85mm F1.4D. I even rented that lens and took 2000 shots with the F1.4D. I found the older lens to be slow focusing and very loud. It also suffered from fairly severe chromatic aberration (ghoulish purple fringe) in several shots I took. It was these limitations that made me pay the extra money for the 1.4G. I'm so glad I did. After a weekend of shooting, I sent a flickr link to a friend at work and he later stopped me in the halls and brought me to his desk to ask questions about some of the shots I had gotten. He wanted to know how to get his shots to look like that. I told him "it's all the lens".