The Nikon 85/1.8D AF PRO Performance--Bargain Price
Written: Jun 30 '01 (Updated Jan 16 '02)
Product Rating:
Pros: Fast, Light, Compact, Exceptionally Sharp, Sturdy, Good Bokeh, and Cheap
Cons: Under-Damped Manual Focusing, Closest Focus is 36 inches
The Bottom Line: The Nikkor 85/1.8D AF is a Pro quality short fast telephoto with tack sharp resolution, absolute color fidelity, good Bokeh, and excellent contrast at a bargain price.
Howard_Creech's Full Review: Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D Lens
Nikon has been making quality optics since 1917. By the late nineteen thirties the company had become a major defense contractor, manufacturing optics, optical devices, and precision instruments for the Japanese Military. After the fall of Japan, the Marshall Plan helped Japanese defense related industries convert to civilian pursuits. Nikon was encouraged to enter the popular “mini-cam” market dominated at the time by German built Leica, Contax, and Exacta cameras. Nikon company engineers looked closely at popular Leica and Contax rangefinder cameras and decided they could manufacture a camera that would be able to compete. The Nikon 1 was designed to incorporate the best features of both Leica and Contax rangefinders. Nikon’s first camera looked like, shared the lens mount, and handled much like a Contax, but the cloth focal plane shutter and long base rangefinder were more similar to the Leica. The first Nikon camera was a precision built photographic tool, comparable in quality and operation to the popular German cameras of the day.
Nikon had been making lenses for many years (from 1937-1946 Canon cameras were equipped with Nikon lenses) so the lenses designed for the Nikon 1 were noted for their exceptional resolution and contrast. U. S. Officials arranged to market the new camera through the PX (Post Exchange) to the thousands of American GI’s stationed in Japan during the post war occupation. One story of how Nikon got its name goes that military officials felt that Nippon Kogaku, Tokyo (Nikon’s corporate name) would remind GI’s of the long and painful years when Japan had been America’s enemy, a market savvy PX officer is reputed to have suggested that a contraction of Nippon Kogaku, Tokyo to Nikon sounded German (like Zeiss-Ikon) and would be easy to remember. American GI’s bought hundreds of Nikon rangefinder cameras and by the time the Korean War started in 1950, Nikon had a small but dedicated following among American military photographers.
After the end of World War II Japan was considered very exotic and Life Magazine maintained a Tokyo bureau to handle stories from the mysterious orient. David Douglas Duncan, Life’s Tokyo bureau chief, was laying out a story one day in early 1950, when his Japanese assistant snapped his picture. When Duncan saw the 8X10 enlargement of the photograph he was amazed, the resolution was equal to the expensive German made Carl Zeiss lenses he was using, and the contrast was much better. His assistant showed Duncan the Nikon 80/2.0 lens that he had used and Duncan asked if he could borrow it. After shooting some pictures, Duncan confirmed that the Nikon lens was excellent. He arranged to visit the factory and check out several other lenses. A short time later the Korean War broke out, and Duncan headed for the Hermit Kingdom to shoot the action. His Korean War images, shot with Nikon lenses, won the Pulitzer Prize and established the reputation for quality and toughness that Nikon optics enjoy to this day. The first lens Duncan used was the Nikon 80/f2.0, the direct ancestor of the Nikkor 85/1.8D AF (and the Nikkor 85/1.4D AF IF)
Superb Quality Prime Lenses
Nikon’s legendary primes; the 28/2.8, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 85/1.4, and 105/2.5 Nikkors have contributed greatly to the continuance of Nikon’s reputation for exceptional resolution, absolute color fidelity, excellent contrast, and “built to last” durability. Countless portraitists, photojournalists, music photographers, and “street” shooters have used Nikon’s prime lenses to shoot wars, “paparazzi” style celebrity shots, breaking news, jazz & rock artists, primitive peoples, documentary projects, and life in the streets of the cities of the world.
The Nikkor 85/1.8D AF is the latest incarnation of Nikon’s longest running traditional prime lenses. This is simply one of the finest 35mm camera lenses ever manufactured. It’s fast, light, tough, and most importantly sharp as a tack, from center to edge, and at every aperture. Five decades of refinement and constant improvement have brought this lens to its theoretical “maximum potential” point. The Nikkor 85/1.8D AF may be the finest short telephoto lens ever made.
The lens is perfect for portraits, general photography, the intimate landscape, travel photography, and candid/street shooting. All of Nikon’s prime lenses have benefited from the continuous input from thousands of professional photographers, who have always been the major customers for Nikkor optics. If you compare any of the prime lenses listed above with ANY zoom lens ever manufactured, the primes will win hands down in every category, resolution, contrast, color fidelity, and bokeh. I have owned all of Nikon’s primes, some in manual focus, and others in the auto focus versions. The 85/1.8 is the best of the group. The lens is equal or superior to any professional lens (from any manufacturer) in its range, and it is significantly cheaper, than most. The 85/1.8 Nikkor has a long and illustrious pedigree, has been used by some of the finest photographers who ever lived, and has produced millions of stunning images.
I love the 85/1.8D AF Nikkor for “street” photography, since it is the same size as a 50mm “normal” lens, but gives the photographer seventy per cent more stand off distance from his/her subjects. I have used both the manual focus and auto focus versions of the lens. Taking pictures of people “being themselves” is difficult, since almost everyone will “pose” if they are aware they are being photographed. The extra stand off distance with this lens allows the photographer a bit more anonymity, and the fast maximum aperture permits blurring the background to accentuate the subject. The Nikkor 85/1,8 is absolutely perfect for travel photography, the perfect focal length for shooting crowded markets, colorful costumes, local characters, and “close-ups” of exotic architecture. The 85/1.8 is also superb for natural light portraiture, since short telephoto lenses in the 85mm to 105mm range give the most pleasing perspective for head and shoulders portraits. The fast maximum aperture will blur the background and place emphasis on the subject. The lens has good Bokeh, making out of focus background highlights appear soft, rounded, and subtle.
Technical Specifications
Focal Length: 85mm
Maximum Aperture: f1.8
Minimum Aperture: f16
Optimal Aperture: f5.6
Minimum Focus Distance: 36 inches
Construction: 6 elements in 6 groups
Filter Size: 62mm
Included: Rigid Lens Hood
Price: $350.00
In the Field/Operation and Handling
The Nikkor 85/1.8D AF is well designed and the build quality is quite good. The focus and aperture rings are well placed (the manual focus ring is a bit narrow at less than ½ inch) and the manual focus (as with most AF lenses) is a little under-damped. The auto focus is very fast, and locks on the subject almost immediately. At maximum aperture (f1.8) the subject will “pop” into focus so fast that it is sometimes startling. The lens is a bit noisier than the Nikkor 85/1.4, but the noise level is not abrasive or distracting. The front element does not rotate during focusing, so using the lens with circular polarizers and graduated neutral density filters poses no problem.
A recent rainy Friday afternoon provided me with a great opportunity to shoot a roll of Kodak T-Max ISO 100 Black & White film in the area that used to be the old Louisville & Nashville Railroad’s “South-End Maintenance Yards”. It was overcast, with even lighting and no shadows. I shot a small two story industrial building near the new Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The building still shows traces of the original pastel pink and blue paint, although it is a bit flaky now. The structure has a swooping flying saucer look, because of the rounded front façade, and the double (outside) circular stairway to the second floor. I was drawn to the exuberant fifties architectural style initially because of the long abandoned and neglected look of the structure. The building reminded me of the images of Clarence John Laughlin, a seminal New Orleans photographer who used decrepit French Quarter buildings and Ancient Creole Cemeteries to convey a sense of mystery, timelessness, and spiritual decay.
I had tried twice before to get the building on film (both times with color slide film) and could never get the “look” I wanted. I was hoping that the moody weather, fine-grained Black & White film, and the incredible resolution and contrast of the Nikkor 85/1.8D AF lens (mounted on a Nikon N90S) would give me what I wanted. As soon as I saw the contact sheet, I knew that I had nailed exactly what I was looking for. The building almost leaped out of the frame, every detail sharp, and with perfect contrast. The 85mm focal length had allowed me to get close enough to show the entire front façade of the building, and the fast f1.8 maximum aperture had permitted me to use the camera handheld and throw everything except the façade of the building out of focus. This accentuated both the flashy fifties style and the advanced state of decay, exactly the look I wanted; a surreal sort of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” urban gothic.
Conclusion
Photography can easily become a very expensive hobby, and it is not at all difficult to spend several thousand dollars on photographic equipment. While everyone loves a bargain, serious photographers understand that photography is the science (and art) of compromise, and that most photographic bargains come with a heavy trade off, usually in terms of lens speed loss or image quality loss. Every now and again, it is possible to find a REAL bargain, the Nikon 85/1.8D AF Nikkor is a fast ”pro quality” short telephoto lens that will consistently deliver slides and negatives with tack sharp resolution, excellent contrast, absolute color fidelity, and superb Bokeh, at a price that is quite reasonable, especially when compared with other “pro” quality optics. It’s not often that you can buy a legend, let alone shoot images with one. I can recommend the Nikkor 85/1.8D AF lens, without reservation.
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