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Nikon 85mm 1.4 D vs AIS?

Jason Honeycutt

Jason Honeycutt

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I was curious if anyone's done any tests with the Nikon 85mm 1.4, the original AIS. I have the 28mm and I love it, such a rich tone to it without being too... dunno, 'fake' or modern. For that reason, I was curious how the D version compared, if it has any character to it, like the AIS line does. I know the D is super sharp and fast auto-focus for stills, but I'm mainly wondering, straight up for video... how the two compare.
 
The 85 AI-s absolutely has that great organic old Nikon look. In my opinion it has even more character than the 28 (assuming you're talking about the exceptional 28 2.8, I haven't used the 3.5 or 2.0). I'd put it up there with the 50 1.2 and 180 2.8 for character.

I find the 85 D to have a healthy amount less character. Also, I wouldn't call its sharpness 'super', more like slightly above average. I'd say the AI-s is sharper.

Of course if sharpness was your primary objective, you'd want the 85 G which is sharper than either (and arguably the Zeiss, btw). FYI, the 85 G has less of that organic Nikon character than the AI-s but way more than the 85 D.
 
Worth pointing out that the AI-S does flare into a halo-ish softness below f2, and is pretty soft by 1.4 - characterful though, for sure. Worth watching the iris blades when selecting one though - some can be a bit asymmetrical, and that is revealed strongly in the bokeh.
 
The D was alright but not really up to the AI-S, if you're after a vintage look the AI-S is the way to go the the latest G is by far the best performer and I feel it strikes a very nice balance, almost Master Prime like.

Here is the original 85mm 1.4 AI-S...
krissy-2000x1342.jpg


And the latest 85mm 1.4 G Nikkor...
3_Aero_Alex.jpg
 
Wow guys... I totally appreciate all of this info. It's a huge help. I heard nothing but great things about the G; being the look of the old with the functionality of the new... but it's a bit out of my range at the moment, just having bought my Scarlet rig, which is why I have it down to the D or AIS. I know Zeiss is so highly-regarded but, I dunno, I haven't been that blown away with their glass compared to Nikon's high-end stuff, especially the classics.

@John. Thanks so much for the video... big help to see how it works with motion, it looks awesome... great falloff, has that 'tint' to it that my 28mm has. The low light detail is great.
@Evin. Geeeez-us... beautiful framegrab... the lens looks amazing too :) It's so crisp without being 'videoish', while still having a softness to the skin and, again, the background falloff is great. Dunno, has kind of an Angenieux look to it -- is that blasphemy?

I'm definitely going go with the AIS after seeing these... huge help. There just aren't too many videos, if at all, online with that lens, especially on RED.
 
Jason Honeycutt said:
I know Zeiss is so highly-regarded but, I dunno, I haven't been that blown away with their glass compared to Nikon's high-end stuff, especially the classics.
Click to expand...

I agree. The line is overrated, overpriced, and inconsistent (although only the 18 3.5 and 28 2.8 are actually BAD). But, there are ones worth owning. 50 & 100 Macro are stellar. 21 is one of my favorite lenses, besting the epic Nikon 14-24. The upcoming 15 is rumored to be amazing.
 
I like the AIS versions better when it comes to Nikon lenses. My Nikon 50mm 1.2 is my favorite lens, just so much I can do with it. I find that many of the newer lenses are more or less the same with the difference being in bokeh, some are just very different from each other. I have yet to build up an AIS set but first on my list is the 17-35mm 2.8 and the 24mm 2.0. In the meantime I have a mix of third-party lenses to keep me covered.
 
I absolutely love the 85/1.4 AI-S. I don't have an 85/1.4D to compare it to, but here are some shots from the 84/1.5 AI-S, 50/1.4D and 50/1.2 AI-S wide open that might give you a feel for the look of the AI-S line versus the D's:

85/1.4 AI-S
test8514.jpg


50/1.2 AI-S
test5012.png


50/1.4D
test5014.jpg
 
I just wanted to follow-up. I went ahead with the AI-S version, could have had the D version at $100 less but from these examples, the AI-S seemed like an easy choice. I'll be shooting a concert and interview with Zedd (DeadMau5 style of artist) so I'll post some framegrabs when I shoot that next week. I definitely want to use the 85mm for the interview part.

[I also was in the market for a 135mm prime, for the fun of it and stumbled upon a 2.8 Tokina for $7 mislisted on eBay with no bidders. Felt like I kinda stole that one ;) ]
 
Evin Grant said:
The 135mm AIS is F2, the 105mm was 1.8, both great but the 135mm f2 is stellar!
Click to expand...
You're referring to the one with defocus control right Evin? This lens is at the top of my list right now. I'd like to acquire a really good sample, although most of the ones reviewed seem to all get great praise so maybe the QC on this particular lens was very tight. Couple of other items I need to purchase before I can get this but definitely love the 135mm focal length.

I've also hear the Nikon 135mm F2.8 Ais is also very good.
 
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