Nikon 85 1.8 g review năm 2024

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Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G (FX) - Review / Test Report

Lens Reviews - Nikon / Nikkor (full format)

Article Index Introduction Analysis Sample Images & Verdict

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Review by Markus Stamm, published August 2021

Introduction

85mm is a focal length very popular for portrait photography. Typically, very fast lenses are used for that purpose (f/1.4 or even faster), because they have a reputation of offering the smoothest bokeh and the most appropriate skin tone rendering. Unfortunately, those lenses are usually fairly big, heavy and most of all expensive.

Luckily, there are alternatives, both in terms of lenses and also, what to shoot with a moderate tele prime. Not everyone needs a special portrait lens (some maybe don't even shoot portraits at all). With the AF-S 85/1.8 G, Nikon offers such a more affordable and budget-friendly alternative for mainstream clients and purposes.

The lens offers most of the technical standards of the late F mount era, especially a silent-wave AF drive, which makes it compatible with the complete range of current Nikon DSLRs.

In this review we take a look at how the lens performs on our 45 MP review camera, the Nikon D850. We also reviewed the lens on the Nikon D3x back in 2012, so if you're interested in how the lens performs on a lower resolution FX body, please have a look here. For obvious reasons, parts of the earlier review have been reused here.

The build quality of the lens is very decent thanks to an outer barrel made out of high quality plastics. It's the same material used on most recently released consumer primes, in fact the lens looks and feels like a scaled up variant of an AF-S 50mm.

The rubberized focus ring is nicely damped and operates smoothly. We're glad to report that the focus unit follows the focus ring immediately and without any delay, even when changing the focus direction.

Thanks to an IF (inner focus) design the length remains constant regardless of the focus setting and the front element does not rotate. Using a polarizer is therefore no problem.

The lens features a Silent Wave ultrasonic drive allowing for a near-silent autofocus and manual override at all times. The AF speed is quite fast for a portrait prime, but still slower than the high-end f/2.8 professional zooms.

The AF-S 85 is a G-type lens and thus does not offer an aperture ring.

Specifications Optical construction9 elements in 9 groups Number of aperture blades7 (rounded) min. focus distance0.8 m (max. magnification ratio 1:8) Dimensions80 x 73 mm Weight350 g Filter size67 mm (non-rotating) HoodNikon HB-62, barrel-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) Other featuresLens provides distance (D) information to the camera, Silent Wave AF motor

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is Nikon's latest and best 85mm lens, a great focal length for classic portraiture and general short telephoto use. Compared to the similar 85mm f/1.4G, this lens is around about as sharp, but weighs in at a third of the weight and costs a third as much. Its general construction is plastic, but when you can pick one up for around $500 for such a useful and optically excellent lens, who cares!

Over time, Nikon (and Canon) have been producing lenses that are optically better, but mechanically not as good because last century, lenses were often kept and used for decades before being replaced. Now, with the advent of digital sensors which improve every few years, more are demanded of lenses and they're being replaced with superior designs every couple of years, meaning people don't keep their lenses for as long. Everybody wants cheap, optically excellent, well built and light lenses. Something has got to give and often what most people are willing to sacrifice is build quality. That said, this lens is still built very well, about the same as the 50mm f/1.4G and f/1.8G lenses.

Optically, this lens is excellent. DxOMark rates it as one of Nikon's sharpest lenses and I agree. In my testing of this lens, it absolutely smokes my Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR (at 85mm) and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 at the telephoto end. In fact, it's probably as sharp down at around f/1.8 or f/2 as these lenses are at around f/4.

This lens loves to be shot wide open at f/1.8 and that's the reason why you'd buy a lens like this. At f/1.8, its rendering of out of focus areas are lush and creamy - the bokeh is excellent and extremely pleasing. In focus areas remain tack sharp and contrast is excellent. Sharpness is held up right through the frame into the corners of the shot, but you rarely put your subject there anyway.

Autofocus is reasonable, it's faster than the 85mm f/1.4G, but much slower than the 24-70mm f/2.8 or 24-120mm f/4 VR. The reason for this is focus accuracy matters a lot more at these wider apertures, where you often have such a wafer thin depth of field. Shooting with this lens wide open requires much more shot discipline than shooting at f/2.8 or f/4, because the slightest movements can throw your subject out of focus.

The optical design of this lens is extremely simple. Whilst most lenses show off a vast array of Nikon's latest technologies on their backside, this lens only features SWM, for silent focusing on all Nikon DSLRs and IF (internal focusing), meaning the front element doesn't move in and out as you focus. It's remarkable that Nikon has managed to perfect such a simple optical design.

That said, the lack of Nano Crystal Coat, present on higher 'professional' lenses, does mean that this 85mm f/1.8G lacks the contrast and colour which something like the 85mm f/1.4G would have. It's also not as resistant to flare, if you shoot into direct sunlight, there are chances you'll get some slight flaring - it's not an issue as I've used this lens. It lacks ED glass and aspherical elements. As a result, there is some chromatic aberration (purple fringing) present on lines of high contrast when used wide open.

Every time Nikon releases a new lens, it absolutely obsoletes the older version, much like this 85mm f/1.8G obsoletes Nikon's older 85mm f/1.8D. Even though the D's construction quality is better, as with the 85mm f/1.4D compared to the 85mm f/1.4G, the newer lens has much better optics and much more accurate autofocus, which is something extremely important with a lens such as this. Today, I wouldn't buy one of the older D versions, I'd go right for this 85mm f/1.8G. If I have too much money and I want to spend a little more to get a 'professional' lens, I'd get an 85mm f/1.4G.

Specifications

• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G
• AF-S - Silent Wave Motor for silent, fast and in lens autofocus
• G - Gelded, so it doesn't have an aperture ring and can't be used on the oldest film cameras.
• 15 elements in 11 groups
• 67mm filter thread
• 3.1 in. (80 mm) x 2.9 in.(73 mm)
• Around 350g

How I Use This Lens

A short telephoto such as an 85mm or 105mm lens is extremely useful. Before the era of modern 70-200mm f/2.8 professional mid-telephoto lenses, most photographers carried a short telephoto lens. Today, the 70-200mm zooms do most of what these short telephotos can do, but they don't have an f/1.8 aperture nor the small size and weight of this Nikon 85mm f/1.8G.

If you're shooting down at around f/4, or if you don't mind the weight, something like the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 or similar will do exactly the same thing this lens can do and offer the convenience of going all the way to 200mm. Most people don't know the difference between subject isolation and depth of field, so they buy lenses like this 85mm f/1.8G and shoot at f/1.8 to separate their subject from the background. You're much better served trying to put your subjects against cleaner backgrounds or using a longer lens. See Subject Isolation and Bokeh.

The reason why you use an 85mm f/1.8 lens, such as this one, is to still have some sense of location in your images, but blur the background just enough to give a dreamier look which centres the attention on your subject. Shooting this lens down at f/1.8, it focuses accurately, but often can miss focus. I generally use this lens for street portraits. Unlike using a 200mm lens, this lens still preserves some of the setting and mood of the scene. This is the sort of lens I would take to take portraits of my family on holidays. I wouldn't use a 200mm lens because we might as well be shooting in our backyard.

The size and weight of this 85mm also makes it a winner. Unlike my 70-200mm f/4 VR (which is already around half the weight of the f/2.8 version), I can walk further, shoot for longer and feel freer. This is important because what leads me to making good images is actually having a camera to my eye. If I'm tired after two hours of shooting with a 70-200mm f/2.8, but can go for four housr with this 85mm, I'll end up with many more good images. Weighing in at around 350g, it weighs around as much as a Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or just a tiny bit more than the 50mm f/1.8G. Compared with either of those lenses, this is much better for tight crops and portraits because you don't get as much perspective distortion.

Samples

Nikon makes lenses from around $100 to well over $10,000 carried by beginners to seasoned professionals. When a lens is said to be one of Nikon's sharpest of all time, you know it's a great lens. This 85mm f/1.8G is amazing. Sharpness is great, contrast is great, rendition is great. You'll make great images with this lens.

Yes, as I've mentioned previously, this lens does have a couple of limitations - in that it does exhibit some chromatic aberration and it doesn't handle flare as well as some others - easy, don't shoot it into the sun or use a lens hood and all those issues go away. For around $500, you're getting a stellar lens for portraits and general short telephoto use.

Compared to Other 85mm Lenses

Compared to the older 85mm f/1.8D and f/1.4D, this lens isn't as well built. The 85mm f/1.4D, in particular, was built like an absolute tank. However, they are both older optical designs which aren't as sharp as this newer 85mm f/1.8G. When Nikon releases a newer lens, often it obsoletes the previous generation. That's the case here, even if sharpness wasn't your main priority, this newer 85mm f/1.8G has a better autofocusing system, with its Silent Wave Motor focusing more accurately and reliably than the screwdriver autofocus the older D versions used.

Compared to the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G, this is much better value for money. They're both equally sharp and the images you get from either lens will be practically identical for all intents and purposes. However, what you do get with the 85mm f/1.4G is better build quality, a sturdier construction and Nano Crystal Coat, which will help with flare and shooting into direct sunlight. The 85mm f/1.8G struggles with that. Is the f/1.4G version worth three times more? I'd say no. Get the f/1.8G version.

Compared to Zooms (e.g. 70-200mm f/2.8)

The 85mm f/1.8G, in another time, would have been a lens most photographers would want to own. A short telephoto lens is a very useful lens to have as part of any kit. However, today, the usefulness of a short telephoto is surely undermined with these newer, more versatile zooms. Image quality is equal. Both of Nikon's 70-200mm lenses, the f/2.8 and f/4 versions, are both equally as sharp as this 85mm f/1.8G lens and both autofocus faster, are generally better built and both are much more useful than a fixed 85mm f/1.8 lens.

Get the 85mm f/1.8G if you need f/1.8 for low light work or for shallow depth of field portraits. For most other usage cases, the zooms are the better option. Remember that even though f/2.8 and f/4 are quite slow in comparison, for static subjects, VR will more than make up for the difference. In fact, for static subjects, such as landscapes, buildings and objects that don't move, I much prefer VR to a faster aperture because it allows me to keep more in focus. E.g. Shooting at f/4 at 1/20s is the same as shooting at f/2 at 1/80s.

What is the Nikon 85mm 1.8 used for?

The AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G features Nikon's Internal Focus (IF) system providing fast and quiet AF and produces sharp and clear images at all apertures. Its fast maximum aperture is ideal for taking stills or HD videos under ideal lighting, in low light, head and shoulder portraiture, weddings or concerts.

When did the Nikon 85mm 1.8 G come out?

Introduction. The Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G is the third and latest incarnation of Nikon's popular short telephoto prime lens. Originally launched in 1987 as the 85mm f/1.8 Nikon released an updated D version in 1994, which you can read a full review of here.

How much is Nikon 85mm 1.8G in Australia?

$682 Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G Lens | Buy Cameras Direct Australia.

What cameras are compatible with Nikon 85mm 1.8 G?

Everything works perfectly on every digital Nikon ever made, both FX and DX, from the best D4, D800 and D800E to Nikon's cheapest digitals like the D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D3100, D5000 and D5100. It's also perfect on decent or recent AF film cameras like the F6, F100, F5, N80 and N75.