Nikon 85mm f1.8 D review

Most people use the Nikon 85mm prime lenses for portraits because 85mm to 135mm is generally accepted as the portrait focal lengths. I'm not that much into portraiture lately and prefer shooting what mother nature provides me with.

I sold my first copy of this lens a few years back in favor of the Nikon 105mm VR Macro lens. My biggest gripe with the 85mm f1.8 D was that it was constantly hunting for focus in the studio when using any of the outer points. It worked better with the center point but that meant I had to focus and re-frame the shot which lead to other focus problems when working with shallow depth of field.



The other thing that annoyed me was the minimum focus distance of 85cm. This meant cropping a lot of my photos or having to switch to another lens when working with children. That is why I opted to go with the 105mm VR Macro lens.

To cut a long story short I bought another Nikon 85mm f1.8 the other day because I missed the images it produced so much. It is an excellent lens but does not come without flaws. To some those flaws are actually blessings.

The build quality is excellent and feels much more sturdy than the Nikon 50mm f1.8. It also balances better on most cameras and there is ample room to support the lens without getting in the way of the focus ring. The lens does not have a full time manual focus override so you have to keep your hands off the focus ring when it is focusing otherwise you will strip the focus gears. This can take quite some time to get use to if you are use to using newer AFS lenses.

The biggest reason people get this lens is because it can throw just about any background out of focus and turn a good photo into a great photo. There is however a trade off to be made and that is sharpness and contrast suffer very much when you shoot at f1.8 not to mention the Chromatic Aberrations. Stopping the lens down to f2.2 sharpness increases significantly and contrast is also much better. f2.8 completely eliminates Chromatic Aberrations and increases the contrast even more.

Here is three images shot at f1.8, f2.2 and f2.8

As you can see the f1.8 image definitely has the most pleasing background. f2.2 also produces a nice background whereas the f2.8 image looks very busy. On it's own the f2.8 looks really good but it really can't compete with the other two images.

Now lets take a look at some 100% crops from the above Images. Click for the full size

At f1.8 it almost looks like the Image has a soft focus filter applied. f2.2 looks much better contrast and sharpness wise. By f2.8 the difference is really small and you would probably have a better image shooting at f2.2 and getting that beautiful bokeh.

The Nikon 85mm f1.8 D lens can't be beat in terms of value for money and it has so many uses once you actually try to find something to shoot with it. Yes I know the Nikon 50mm f1.8 is much cheaper but I'm sure once you have used the 85mm you will be back for more. Earlier in this article I said this lens has some flaws which is actually blessings. The blessing comes when shooting from f1.8 - f2.2 The lack of contrast will actually make your background appear less busy and create a much more appealing photo. Here is one such example showing just how much a difference there is between f1.8 and f2.2.

 

Nikon 85mm f1.8D Specifications

• Mount Type
  Nikon F-Bayonet
• Focal Length
  85mm
• Maximum Aperture
  f/1.8
• Minimum Aperture
  f/16
• Format
  FX/35mm
• Maximum Angle of View (DX-format)
  18°50'
• Maximum Angle of View (FX-format)
  28°30'
• Maximum Reproduction Ratio
  0.11x
• Lens Elements
  6
• Lens Groups
  6
• Compatible Format(s)
  FX
  DX
  FX in DX Crop Mode
  35mm Film
• Diaphragm Blades
  9
• Distance Information
  Yes
• Super Integrated Coating
  Yes
• Autofocus
  Yes
• Minimum Focus Distance
  2.8ft.(0.85m)
• Focus Mode
  Auto
  Manual
• Rear Focusing
  Yes
• Filter Size
  62mm
• Accepts Filter Type
  Screw-on
• Dimensions
  (Approx.)2.8x2.3 in. (Diameter x Length)
  71.5x58.5mm (Diameter x Length)
• Weight
  (Approx.)13.4 oz. (380g)
• Supplied Accessories
  • HN-23 hood
  • 62mm lens cap
  • Rear lens cap