28 f.14D - user comments

I would like to buy a prime WA lens - I don't care for zooms (I sold

my 17-35 f2.8) and I am wondering about the 28 1.4. I've read Ken

Rockwell's review that it is very good shot wide open, or near

max.aperture. It would also double as my landscape lens. I want to

use available light in low light places (not asking much am I?)

Being that this lens is so expensive - any comments would be

appreciated. Rich

It is pretty much the best wide angle that nikon has ever made, but it is grossly overpriced for how good it is. Mind you the nikon 28mm F2.8 is the worst of the nikon wides so go figure.

Hardly, most people says 28mm f/2.8 beats the 28mm f/1.4 at f/2.8.

Rich,

About 6 months ago, I too had wondered the same thing. So I rented the 28mm 1.4D for a weekend and shot 10 rolls through it (Velvia, Provia 100F). Conclusion? Excellent lens it is but I could see absolutely no difference between this lens and the 28mm 2.8D. In the "old" days when fast film was inferior, maybe it was worth the money but not today! I say if you could find a good one for under $1,000, then maybe go for it but be careful. There is at least one on Ebay right now but it has rear element damage and that person is still asking $800+ for it, which I think is ridiculous. Just my two cents.

http://spaceweb.oulu.fi/~petri/AF_Nikkor_28mm_f1.4D.html

 

This site lists a few reviews of this lens. It states that the 28/1.4 AFD beat the EF 24/1.4 and Minolta 35/1.4 G lenses in a magazine test.

 

I can't think of a compelling reason to buy this lens over the 28/2 Nikkor for general use. If you had a need for this lens you'd already presumably have ruled out the other options. Note that the author of the page listed above bought the lens for photographing the aurora borealis, which is a specific photographic situation that not many of us encounter regularly.

I have the Nikon 17-35 f/2.8 zoom and the 28mm f/1.4. I love the 17-35, but sometimes it just isn't fast enough.

 

With the 28 f/1.4, I can shot Ilford HP5+ at ISO 320 at night on the street at f/1.4, f.1.6 or f2.0 and get great photos at 1/20 second hand held. I even get great photos at 1/8 second hand held, just like Ken Rockwell says.

 

The 17-35 might be my favorite lens, but the 28 f/1.4 becomes my favorite when it gets dark.

 

The 28mm is a good lens, but I don't know many people that would call it a great lens. If you are stopping it down to f/5.6 or f/8.0, I would expect it to give you pretty good photos and I think that it might be able somewhat difficult to see any differences between it and the much more expensive 28 f/1.4 lens.

 

Something that you don't mention is Ken Rockwell's observation that the 28 f/1.4 is very resistant to flare. When taking photos at night, you frequently will have bright lights in the photos. They don't blow out with the 28 f/1.4 like they do with other lenses. Paired with the F5's matrix metering, which can handle bright lights in a scene, you can get excelent photos at night using the 28 f/1.4 lens.

Since you've sold the 17-35 mm f/2.8, you're obviously into Nikon's best.

 

Have you checked out/considered the 35 mm f/1.4 AIS and 28 mm f/2 AIS lenses. They are manual focus, and don't matrix meter (and Roland Elliot says that there is no room for him to add the chip to provide matrix metering); but I'd say those are Nikon's two "best" wideangle lenses.

 

Of course, if you need something wider, than they naturally are not the best. But overall, I'd say they are the two best performing wides. Of course, once you get the 35 mm f/1.4; you may find the 28 too close, and look at the 24 or 20 mm f/2.8 lenses.

I've had the fastest Canon L lenses and Nikon lenses. I recently offed all

my Canon gear to concentrate on Nikon, primarily because Nikon mount

digital offerings. If I could not have the 28/1.4 and 85/1.4 I would not

even own a Nikon. The 28/1.4 may be expensive, but it is worth every

penny and then some. I disagree with those who say it isn't a great lens.

Shooting digital with this ASPH lens in low light contrasy situations

reveals exactly why it is in a class by itself. Well over 70% of my

wedding candids are shot with this lens on a D1-X.<div></div>