eric_arnold Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <blockquote> <p>"I was just testing to see if some of the background harshness that many complain about with the D version was improved. It appears to be, significantly. "</p> </blockquote> <p>i would agree its less harsh and easier to work with. just wouldn't call that a 'bokeh lens.' what you're seeing is slightly less terrible bokeh with the 85/1.8 AF-S--not excellent or above average by any means, just better thant he 50/1.8 (which is icky). the tamron 28-75@75 and the nikon 24-70 and 70-200 II at almost any length blow that away. so does the sigma 50/1.4 or any 85/1.4 (nikon, sigma, samyang). </p> <p>not trying to belabor the point since some folks are interested in this, and i do thank you for posting, Elliot, as i was a smidgen curious about this. but consumer-grade AF-S+ marginally-improved bokeh+better flare resistance wont make me regret buying the sigma. However, if i had the 85/1.8 AF-D and was on a budget, i would swap it out for the AF-S in a heartbeat.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkka_nissila Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>Looks like an excellent improvement over the 85/1.8D. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back alley Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>so where are all the adverts for the 85/1.8 d ?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenkins Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p><strong>Simon, what kind of shots are you looking for?</strong></p> <p>Something with more of an even simple background Elliot I just want to see how it renders, no pressure though.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony_defilippo1 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>Elliot, thanks for the review and the thread! Any comment on the way the hood connects to the lens? I haven't used the new 50/1.8 G but my old 35/1.8 DX G lens had a worthless hood due to the looseness of the connection when on the lens.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acbeddoe Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>I'll stay with my 85 f/1.8<strong>D</strong>. My $500 is better spent on the SB-700 or SB-910.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>Tony, the hood locks in nicely. The hood on my 28-300mm is so loose that I have put tape on it to keep it from falling off. Quite annoying!</p> <p>More to follow later this weekend.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenkins Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>I bought a third party lens hood for my 16-85mm it's driving me nuts, keeps slacking off.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>Used the lens a bit more today (indoors, testing). I have found that the lens is front focusing severely on my D3, so much so that +20 correction does not fix the issue. Works perfect without correction on my D7000 though. Not sure what to do about this...</p> <p>In any case, below are some crops from some test shots. CA is still an issue with the new lens. All 4 shots were at f1.8 with bounce flash.</p> <p>IQ on the D3 is about the same or perhaps a little improved with the new AF-S lens. Colors and contrast are improved. Where I see the most improvement is on the D7000. Images with the D version look slightly OOF. I re-shot numerous times just to confirm I wasn't making an error. Optics are obviously improved and the D7000 is able to take advantage of the better glass. If you have a D7000, I highly recommend the AF-S lens.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>These are from the D7000</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>You can clearly see the improved color and detail with the D7000/AF-S combo but the CA is horrible. The D3 image with the AF-S lens is manually focused. Differences in sharpness are easy to see with the D7000 and are harder to see on the D3 comparison shots but you should be able to see them.</p> <p>My conclusion based on numerous sets of comparison shots I have done for myself - the AF-S version offers improved IQ over the D version.</p> <p>NOTE: The CA shown here is emphasized with these images for some reason. It is not quite as bad with the majority of shots I have taken but it is there nonetheless.</p> <p>Another Note: Even with DXO correction, I was not able to improve the sharpness of the D version up to the level of the AF-S lens (to my pleasant surprise). Again, colors are improved with the AF-S version.</p> <p>THE TWO SETS OF IMAGES ABOVE are unprocessed from the RAW shots I took, opened in CS5 without modification.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_arnold Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 <blockquote> <p>the AF-S version offers improved IQ over the D version.</p> </blockquote> <p>yeah, well, it's supposed to right? a lot of that improvement looks like better coatings for more flare resistance, would be curious to know how much the optical formula changed.however, it's not enough of an improvement as one would have perhaps hoped, even without the FF front focus problem Elliot describes. interestingly, my sigma 85/1.4 had perfect focus out the box on my D3s. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>CA sample after processing.</p> <p>The AF-S version is not free from CA, obviously. But it does clean up nicely during post. Here is a processed shot (with DXO) - this is the D7000 image.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>dup post delete</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Processed image here</p> <p>DXO did a pretty good (but not perfect) job on the CA. Again, this is the exception rather than the rule. A box is not the best subject for an 85mm lens. There are obviously certain conditions (mix of lighting/subject) that can cause extensive CA wide open. Most of the outdoor shots I have taken are free or almost free of CA, and certainly not to the extent of these examples - these are perhaps the worst of the worst.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Eric, what is most interesting with the FF issue is that the lens works 100% perfect on my D7000. So the problem is obvious with my D3 and not the lens. What is even more interesting is that my 85mm D needs +15 correction but also functions perfectly on my D7000. All of my other lenses (about 10) work perfectly on my D3 without correction. This is so strange.</p> <p>I will post some outdoor sample shots later today.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>With regard to CA, the 85mm lens can be very tricky sometimes. Kent has posted a sample that shows dramatic CA with the D version he had. My sample above is also an extreme example. I wanted to assure you that most of my shots have no or minimal CA. And it is easy to correct anyway. And, if you stop down a bit, most of it disappears (although I prefer and choose to use this lens wide open almost 100% of the time for obvious reasons).</p> <p>Here is one more sample from the initial test shots I took showing what would by typical CA.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Extreme crop (full frame above).</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p><em>Eric stated: "70-200 II at almost any length blow that away"</em> I am not quite sure that is true. In any case, a fair comparison of any lens is when you compare it to a known good sample. Posting an individual shot without a point of reference really doesn't illustrate much (IMHO). So I took 3 with identical test shots. Here are some samples to compare between the 85mm D, 85mm G and 70-200mm at f2.8. Which is best? You will have to decide for yourself. I know which one I like best. I think the answer is obvious. Is this as good as Nikon's f1.4 or Sigma's f1.4 lens. Someone with those lenses will have to post similar test shots as I have neither.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Same shot with the new AF-S Lens.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>and the 70-200mm II lens.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>All three images were shot with the D3 on a tripod. All were shot RAW and opened without any processing in CS5.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Crop of top right corner.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Crop of top right corner.</p> <div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>70-200mm II top right corner crop</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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