Nikon 85mm 1.8G Review and Sample Pics

Hey guys! Here is my review on the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G. This is a most excellent lens, with some excellent images. It is fun to use, and cheap enough, along with light enough that it should be in just about everyone's camera bag.

Gear Tags: Nikon D600, D7000, Nikkor 85mm 1.8G, 50mm 1.8G

[ocphish]

Nice review Gary. I think almost your last words were "Go out and get it". I did, and I love it. Thanks for posting.

[BetterImageFoto]

Thanks, Raider! You wont be disapointed with the 85mm 1.8G. It is a great lens.

[RVProject]

As Gary indicated, the DoF is actually deeper on a crop camera. The reason being is with a crop camera you have to backup to get the same field of view. When you backup, the focus point becomes greater and thus the DoF deeper.

The culprit here is assuming that on a crop camera, the focal length is longer - it is not. The "apparent" focal length may be longer, but the true focal length is unchanged. Therefore, the behavior of DoF does not change except when backing up with a cropped camera).

[BetterImageFoto]

The D7000 is a great body, I have used one for a few years. The 85mm and the 70-300 are both great lenses, and have been my work horse lenses for a long time (Although the 70-300 was the Nikon version for me). Have fun shooting!

[pauljamieson]

Enjoyable and informative review ..Off to buy one cheers

[SaltyRice]

i returned and exchanged my d7000 35mm f1.g and 55-200mm for a d5100 with 85mm f1.g and tamron 70-300 and i was happy to know that lens is more important than the body as far as getting sharp quality pictures. im so happy with my set up because theres nothing more frustrating than looking at your photos and cant get that satisfaction because you went with the cheap lens. d7000 would have been nice with these lens that i got but didnt wanna deal with back focus and af fine tune.

[tombrokaw]

good job my good man... you made a quick correction that i hope everyone picked up one " the photographer takes amazing photos, not the lens."
it is a great lens and a great review  

[JoeSAShaffer]

The contrast seems dramatically better when stopped down.

[BetterImageFoto]

This lens is great on FX or DX. And you have that backwards, the DoF is actually more shallow on a full frame camera than a crop. And you don't always have to af adjust a lens.

[BetterImageFoto]

You're right! I honestly haven't noticed, though.

[GRiDLOCK_]

I saw some dust spots in your sensor dude... nice review btw....

[pablo-znmg]

3:45
Question. 
what if my camera doesn't have that option to fine tune the autofocus ?
I'm using a nikon D5300.
are my images not gonna be that sharp ?  any way around this ?
thanks !!

[BetterImageFoto]

They are comparable, fast, but not blazing. I think the the 85 gets the edge though, being just a little faster to acquire a focus lock than the 50.

[BetterImageFoto]

I had to give it around -7 AF fine tuning on my D7000.

[jevans]

Good review. How much +/- did you have to AF fine tune on the D7000?

[KamenMinkov]

Maybe I wasn't precise enough, sorry... which 50 are you talking about, because I was asking about 50 1.8 G? A colleague of mine has that 50 f/1.8 G, I've played with it on my D7000 and it seems very, very fast to focus, whereas the 85 f/1.8 G, which I tried yesterday at the store, is rather slow-ish, like the 35 f/1.8 G I own. The 85 is, from what I see, absolutely excellent in terms of optics, especially for that price, and it's only its rather slow AF that stops me from buying it soon.

[KamenMinkov]

How is the 85 compared to the 50 in terms of AF speed?

[BetterImageFoto]

Seriously such a ridiculous comment. Let me teach you a new word; Dialect. This is the different pronunciations that different cultures use. I guarantee you do not pronounce every single Japanese noun the same way they do. Get a life you troll.