Nikon 85mm lens

Roughcollie said:
Hi Richard,
Not to far away from me then,how come you moved over to Olympus ?
I do like shooting with the Nikon FM3a ,the build quality is really nice.
Regards Nigel
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I think for various reasons. For some reason, I just didn't bond with the FM3a, I prefer the smaller size of the Olympus gear. Also for nostalgic reasons. I had a OM4 as a student and loved the spot metering and always regret selling it. My OM4Ti plus 40mm pancake is my ideal travel kit
 
I have lots of Nikon 85's and have used them all professionally in newspaper photojournalism and wedding work over the last 20 years, the f/2, 1.4 Ais, 1.8 H.C converted and the AF 1.8 and I've used the 1.4 AF-D and G versions. SO I kinda know a thing about them.
The f/2 is wonderful lens, its "flaws" work well for portraiture at those distances. The 1.8 both are very capable, both have slightly more busy bokeh but its easy to spot and control. The Ai-S is a real gem, get that if you can and are able to manual focus well enough. The AF versions of the 1.4 are the best in Nikon's current lineup and are only topped by the Zeiss Otus.
Choosing an 85 before a shoot is a very interesting process with me HA. I find I use the Ai-s 1.4 mostly about 45% of the time and then split the rest with the 1.8 H.C and the f/2 which is quite good and very light and small. I use an HN-7 hood for both the H.C and the f/2 which is quite long and metal. For the 1.4 Ai-s I use a very thick old Tiffen filter with the glass removed in addition to the HN-20 which adds about 10-12mm extension to the hood setup.
 
Contarama said:
I have the 85/1.8 K factory converted ai. This 85 was a popular fashion lens in the 60s. My copy is very sharp and exhibits a nervous edgy sort of bokeh. Somewhat of a drawback is 6 aperture blades but I also have the 105/2.5 in my kit so I dont worry much about that. Many prefer the 85/2. In my opinion the high speed model isn't worth the extra cost or weight and is more of a studio rig because it is huge. Your FM3A is small so it is probably better to stick with lighter smaller.

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I have the same lens and I love it, especially the bokeh:

m9njab.jpg


29dtuno.jpg


It is a big lens, no doubt about it, but I decided to go for the rarer 1.8 instead of the f2 and I'm not disappointed.

2v7v5tu.jpg
 
Timmyjoe said:
I'll second the Nikkor AF 1.8/85D. One of the few lenses I sold that I came to regret.
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This lens lives on my F100, but even on my D750 it's magnificent. There's a lot of Internet talk about it "only" being 1.8 and how much better the 1.4 is, but I have no problems whatsoever with the image quality (and the build quality is excellent as well.)
 
SBergstrom said:
This lens lives on my F100, but even on my D750 it's magnificent. There's a lot of Internet talk about it "only" being 1.8 and how much better the 1.4 is, but I have no problems whatsoever with the image quality (and the build quality is excellent as well.)
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I had an Af D lens too and sold it. Then I regretted it so much I bought another. And get this. I sold it to buy a Nikkor 85mm f1.4. The latter lens is wonderful for portraits but I like the f1.8 more for general work as its technically superior for general shooting in my view. The other disadvantage of the f1.4 is its large size and weight which can be problematic.

I also have the Nikkor AI 85mm f2. Its much better than the reviews would have you believe being very sharp although I believe its said to be less good up close and wide open. (Which is a shame given that is how many will use it and where you might expect it to be at its best.) I must admit I have not really tried it in that situation.

I have on several occasions tried to find an early 85mm f1.8 as I love the look and it has a great reputation. I have not yet found one that I am willing to pay the price for - they tend to attract quite a premium considering their age. And I do not even mind if its a pre AI lens as the conversion is a simple process that takes perhaps 30 minutes from start to reassembly. They still seem to go for more than I expect.
 
I've used all the Nikon 85s at one time or another, and, frankly, they are all at least very good. Their relative shortcomings are different; the 1.4 AF-D has more longitudinal and spherochromatic aberration from the rear focus, but in this case 'more' is still 'not much'. The manual focus f2s and f1.8s are slightly softer close up because of the lack of a floating element/CRC, but again, it's marginal and the f2 Ai in particular is lovely and compact. The f1.4 G and AiS are the least flawed optically, but both are big. Really big for an 85. The 1.8 AF-D and G are both excellent, as pointed out above, and all they really lack is that extra half stop with all the size and edge softness (which, admittedly, you may be looking for) that goes with f1.4.

What are your subjects? How big are you printing? How closely do you look?

Marty

File0846.jpg
 
Back in the day, I had a Nikkor-H 85/1.8 on loan from my uncle for almost a year. A wonderful lens.

Then later I bought a new 85/2 AI-S. Another wonderful lens. Many, many photos from it.

Three years ago, I bought another of the older Nikkor-H 85 to use with my F, and have since used it on the Olympus E-1 and Nikon F6 as well. Had it AI'ed. Remains one of my favorite Nikkors.

G
 
I've had a 85mm F1.8 pre-AI lens for over three decades and I was lucky enough to find a Nikon conversion ring for it a few years ago. It is a wonderful lens, but I am under the impression that it does not sell for much, maybe $150, especially when it hasn't been converted to AI. One thing about the focusing feel: AI and pre-AI lenses have longer focusing throws and much better dampening than the autofocus lenses and so to me the ergonomics of the older lenses are definitely preferable. This also applies to AIS lenses, but to a lesser degree.
 
Mudman said:
Robert did she wake up from the sound of that motor going off? 😀
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No. She was at a New Years party with her parents, because their babysitter stood them up at the last minute.
She was asleep on a couch and when my wife and I arrived, I immediately saw her and ran out to my car to grab a camera and lens.
The 85 was the fastest telephoto I had with me and because of the poor interior lighting, I was forced to shoot wide open and cheated on the hand-held shutter speed.
I took two or single three shots and liked this one the best.
The motor didn't wake her, and the parents very soon thereafter woke her and went home.
They loved the print that I made for themas a gift.
 
rbsinto said:
motorized Nikon F2AS
Nikkor 85 f2 AI
Fuji 100 ISO colour slide
f2 @ 1/30th
Allie-.jpg
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This is beautiful and I love the warm tones. At the weekend we watched The Godfather again and I realised there's something wonderful about the warm tones that can be produced on colour film with the right lighting.
 
rbsinto said:
No. She was at a New Years party with her parents, because their babysitter stood them up at the last minute.
She was asleep on a couch and when my wife and I arrived, I immediately saw her and ran out to my car to grab a camera and lens.
The 85 was the fastest telephoto I had with me and because of the poor interior lighting, I was forced to shoot wide open and cheated on the hand-held shutter speed.
I took two or single three shots and liked this one the best.
The motor didn't wake her, and the parents very soon thereafter woke her and went home.
They loved the print that I made for themas a gift.
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It's a beautiful shot Robert. I was just joking over how loud those motorized cameras from the 70's can be. Of course, sometimes my M8 can give them a run for their money 😛
 
I'd get the 85/2, a very sweet lens and never a bother to have along. 🙂

Love all the various samples in the thread 🙂
 
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