Camera Labs

The new Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G was announced today.


The press announcement is here. The techical data there.
The lens should be available mid March, at a list-price of 500 USD.

Die deutsche Pressemitteilung liegt hier. Und die technischen Daten dort.
Erwarteter Liefereinsatz Mitte März, Listenpreis 529 EUR (incl. 19% MwSt.)

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Here's the key technical data, compared to the 85/1.4G:
Focal length: 85 mm (well obviously )
Aperture: f/1.8 ... f/16
Lens construction: 9 elements in 9 groups, no fancy glass or nano-coating (1.4G has 10/9 and nano-coating)
Closest focus distance/max magnification: 0.8 m/2.62 ft / 1:8 (similar to 1.4G)
7 rounded diaphragm blades (1.4G has 9)
Filter: 67 mm (1.4G is 77mm)
Size/Weight: 80 x 73 mm/3.1 x 2.9 in, 350 g/12.4 oz (1.4G is 87 x 84 mm, 595 g)
Rubber-grommet protects lens-mount (both)
revertible bayonet hood included (both)
List-price: 529 EUR incl. 19% VAT (1.4G was 1649 EUR, currently at 1400 EUR)

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hmmmm.... Dunno if want...

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Extrapolating what Nikon has achieved with the new 35/1.8G and the 50/1.8G I'd assume the 85/1.8G to be very sharp and contrasty. Below are the MTF-charts for the 85/1.8G left/1st and the 85/1.4G right/2nd:

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

hmm....

those numbers indicate my ignorance in this matter.


on a serious note.
strange that nobody has sample photos with this thing.

guess it got overshadowed by the d4.

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On the x-axis is the distance from the image center (in mm). So left (=0) is center perfromance, right (=22mm) is performance in the corner of the sensor.
On the y-axis you can see the "relative" contrast: a value of 1 indicating that the lens does not deteriorate the contrast of the target, a value of 0.5 indicating that you'Re losing 1 stop fo contrast, 0.25 = 2 stops etc.
Now the red line(s9 show the contrast at a frequency of 10 line-pairs per mm, the blue-line(s) at 30 line-pairs per mm. For comparison: a D7000 (and the rumored D800) sensor could resolve around 100 LP/mm.
Normally you interpret the 10 LP/mm line(s) as contrast in general and the 30 LP/mm line(s) as micro-contrast or sharpness.
Just keep in mind that the diagrams show performance wide open only, so f1.8 performance for the new lens and f1.4 performance for the larger brother. If Nikon would show us the MTF-charts for smaller apertures the blue and red lines would climb towards 1, which is pretty boring

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi, looks a great piece of glass!

Any word on pricing in the UK? Cheers.

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Nikon D3100, 18-55mm, 80-210mm

Will be ordering one for testing.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I want one

And most likely it will focus a lot slower than it's AF-D counterpart. :/

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

That, Citruspers, is conjecture which has to be tested.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses