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Nikkor 28 mm F/1.4 AF-D comments

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Peter Kayaert

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Hi

I have a D700 and I am interested in the 28 mm F/1.4 Nikkor lens. I would like it for low/available light usage but as it comes (second hand) at such a high price I would like it to perform equally good as main landscape lens (landscape being one of my main interests).

Can you people give some feedback on real life usage of this lens?
 
It's pretty darn good at f/4-f/5.6 for general photography/landscapes, but perhaps exceedingly expensive for that kind of task. I haven't directly compared it to say the 17-35 at 28mm at those apertures, but offhand I'd say they are comparable. Again, offhand I'd say it may have better edges than my 28-70 at 28mm at f/4ish, but the 28-70 may be better at say f/8.

It's a wonderful lens. I love it for the bokeh opened up and it is pretty sharp stopped down some, but it does soften some from diffusion at higher apertures f/8, f/11 etc.

I do love this lens on the 12MP FX sensors.
 
As Martin Chung noted on one of my threads, the 28 f/1.4
  • has less coma flare on point sources (most people don't notice this).
  • has a less contrasty rendering, which gives better shadow details especially for night shots.
  • has a slightly cooler colour compared to more recent Nikkors, helping to even out the tungsten cast.
From my experience, at distance it is great from f/2 as you get closer you need to stop down (close shots are best from f/4.5)

Here are some the I posted recently with the exposure information. All shot handheld with D700/28 f/1.4 combo.



1/40th f/2.5 ISO1600



1/40th f/2.2 ISO1800



1/25th f/2 ISO3200



1/40th f/4.5 ISO1800



1/40th f/5.6 ISO1100



1/250th f/2 ISO320

--
Jeff
Peter Kayaert said:
Check out my gallery at http://www.theexpressivemoment.com
Click to expand...
 
If Nikon releases a new one with AFS and similar or better performance, at less than $2K. I'll be all over it. I am not paying the prices being asked for it now. I wonder if it will improve with newer optics and coatings.
--
Respond to rudeness with civility, it really annoys them.

Regards,

JR
 
Two primes that have never impressed me, they're not bad, just the IQ does not justify the asking price at all, the 14mm F/2.8 and the 28mm F/1.4

The 28mm F/2.0 AI-S or the 35mm F/1.4 AI-S, perform just as well if not better

the 35mm F/1.4 suffers from CA and purple fringing wide open, but from F/2.0 and smaller it's a classic lens. if you look at the exif of most shots taken with the 28mm F/1.4, most are taken at F/2.0 or smaller, in which case the 35mm AI-S or the 28mm F/2.0 AI-S can easily match it and from F/2.8 and smaller the 35mm F/1.4 just blows everything out of the water.
 
You and me both, but only for a new and improved design, and for 1,700$. That's how much Canon 24/1.4 costs, no reason why Nikkor should cost more.
Cultured Vulture said:
If Nikon releases a new one with AFS and similar or better
performance, at less than $2K. I'll be all over it. I am not paying
the prices being asked for it now.
Click to expand...
 
35/1.4 also suffers from disgusting bokeh.

That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no sense at all. Anyone wanting to shoot at F/2 can buy the 28/2 AIS or the 28/2 ZF. The rest of us who want a F/1.4 wideangle have no options, short of paying absurd and silly prices for a used 28/1.4 AFD.

Wake up, Nikon, we could use some new primes..
VRII said:
the 35mm F/1.4 suffers from CA and purple fringing wide open, but
from F/2.0 and smaller it's a classic lens. if you look at the exif
of most shots taken with the 28mm F/1.4, most are taken at F/2.0 or
smaller, in which case the 35mm AI-S or the 28mm F/2.0 AI-S can
easily match it and from F/2.8 and smaller the 35mm F/1.4 just blows
everything out of the water.
Click to expand...
 
Jeff Klofft said:
  • has a less contrasty rendering, which gives better shadow details
especially for night shots.
Click to expand...
Could you elaborate on that? How would poor microcontrast improve shadow detail? It's not like high microcontrast reduces dynamic range...

BG
 
coudet said:
35/1.4 also suffers from disgusting bokeh.
Click to expand...
The Bokeh is just fine, I should know a little about the subject as I also shoot with the 85mm F/1.4, 105mm f/2 DC, and 200mm F/4 Micro AF ED, three lenses which produce world class bokeh
coudet said:
That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no
sense at all. Anyone wanting to shoot at F/2 can buy the 28/2 AIS or
the 28/2 ZF. The rest of us who want a F/1.4 wideangle have no
options, short of paying absurd and silly prices for a used 28/1.4
AFD.
Click to expand...
well, is not a theory, I've scrolled thru the photos in Flickr and Pbase for years and reading the exif, over 90% of the quality shots I've seen are shot at F/2.0 and smaller.

http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/28_14d_af
coudet said:
Wake up, Nikon, we could use some new primes..
VRII said:
the 35mm F/1.4 suffers from CA and purple fringing wide open, but
from F/2.0 and smaller it's a classic lens. if you look at the exif
of most shots taken with the 28mm F/1.4, most are taken at F/2.0 or
smaller, in which case the 35mm AI-S or the 28mm F/2.0 AI-S can
easily match it and from F/2.8 and smaller the 35mm F/1.4 just blows
everything out of the water.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
coudet said:
That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no
sense at all.
Click to expand...
Please read the exif on the 28mm F/1.4 shots posted by Jeff on this thread, you will find:

F/2.5

F/2.2

F/2.0

F/4.5

F/5.6

F/2.0
coudet said:
Anyone wanting to shoot at F/2 can buy the 28/2 AIS or
the 28/2 ZF. The rest of us who want a F/1.4 wideangle have no
options, short of paying absurd and silly prices for a used 28/1.4
AFD.

Wake up, Nikon, we could use some new primes..
VRII said:
the 35mm F/1.4 suffers from CA and purple fringing wide open, but
from F/2.0 and smaller it's a classic lens. if you look at the exif
of most shots taken with the 28mm F/1.4, most are taken at F/2.0 or
smaller, in which case the 35mm AI-S or the 28mm F/2.0 AI-S can
easily match it and from F/2.8 and smaller the 35mm F/1.4 just blows
everything out of the water.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Beautiful bokeh. Very sharp in the center, color saturation is excellent. The 28mm f/1.4 AF-D a real jewel on FX or DX. I really wish Nikon would update this lens and several other old classic Nikkors. (The 16mm fisheye, 28mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 58mm NOCT...)

The 28mm is over priced on the used market IMHO. Consider the 35mm f/1.4 AiS for a more reasonable price if you can MF. The 35mm is a sweet lens that few newer Nikon shooters have discovered.

Cheers,
JB
Peter Kayaert said:
Hi

I have a D700 and I am interested in the 28 mm F/1.4 Nikkor lens. I
would like it for low/available light usage but as it comes (second
hand) at such a high price I would like it to perform equally good as
main landscape lens (landscape being one of my main interests).

Can you people give some feedback on real life usage of this lens?
Click to expand...
 
You dont need a F/1.4 lens that costs a kings ransom to shoot at F/2.0-5.6. There are cheaper lenses for that. 28/2 AIS for one. But, to each his own. That's ok, that's how Jeff uses his lens. Just cause one man shoots at F/5.6 doesnt mean we all do. ;)
VRII said:
coudet said:
That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no
sense at all.
Click to expand...
Please read the exif on the 28mm F/1.4 shots posted by Jeff on this
thread, you will find:

F/2.5
F/2.2
F/2.0
F/4.5
F/5.6
F/2.0
Click to expand...
 
coudet said:
You dont need a F/1.4 lens that costs a kings ransom to shoot at
F/2.0-5.6. There are cheaper lenses for that. 28/2 AIS for one. But,
to each his own. That's ok, that's how Jeff uses his lens. Just cause
one man shoots at F/5.6 doesnt mean we all do. ;)
Click to expand...
Like I stated earlier 90% of the use this lens at F/2.0 or smaller, you maybe in that
 
BasilG said:
Could you elaborate on that? How would poor microcontrast improve
shadow detail? It's not like high microcontrast reduces dynamic
range...
Click to expand...
It goes like this: if you have a contrasty lens in a contrasty ligthing situation, the shadows e.g. on people's faces will be very deep. Now, if you don't like this look, and want people to look like humans, you pull the shadows in post-processing, but this introduces noise, the deeper the shadows are in the original, the more noisy they will appear in the low-contrast version.

Therefore, it has been my experience that a lens which has low contrast at wide apertures is more suitable for available light people photography than a high-contrast lens. That's one reason why I prefer the 105 DC over the 100mm ZF for this type of work.

This discussion has made me actually quite interested in the 28/1.4D AF. Hmm. where to get that kind of money ... ;-)

Ilkka
 
coudet said:
35/1.4 also suffers from disgusting bokeh.

That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no
sense at all. Anyone wanting to shoot at F/2 can buy the 28/2 AIS or
the 28/2 ZF.
Click to expand...
Right, but the 28/1.4 shot at f/2 is probably much sharper than the 28/2 Ai-S at f/2. This is where the price is justified, also in the autofocus which is sometimes needed in low available light people photography situations.

I am a user of the 28mm f/2 Ai-S and it is good at f/2.8 but I've never gotten an acceptable result at f/2. If the 28/1.4 can do this, I am interested.
 
Ilkka Nissilä said:
coudet said:
35/1.4 also suffers from disgusting bokeh.

That theory about 28/1.4 being shot always at F/2 or slower, makes no
sense at all. Anyone wanting to shoot at F/2 can buy the 28/2 AIS or
the 28/2 ZF.
Click to expand...
Right, but the 28/1.4 shot at f/2 is probably much sharper than the
28/2 Ai-S at f/2. This is where the price is justified, also in the
autofocus which is sometimes needed in low available light people
photography situations.

I am a user of the 28mm f/2 Ai-S and it is good at f/2.8 but I've
never gotten an acceptable result at f/2. If the 28/1.4 can do this,
I am interested.
Click to expand...
I can only comment on my copy of the 28mm F/2.0 and it is very sharp wide open, I'd be happy to compare it against any wide angle prime at F/2. I believe Bjorn also found the F/2 to be sharp wide open

http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_wide.html
 
Ilkka Nissilä said:
It goes like this: if you have a contrasty lens in a contrasty
ligthing situation, the shadows e.g. on people's faces will be very
deep. Now, if you don't like this look, and want people to look like
humans, you pull the shadows in post-processing, but this introduces
noise, the deeper the shadows are in the original, the more noisy
they will appear in the low-contrast version.

Therefore, it has been my experience that a lens which has low
contrast at wide apertures is more suitable for available light
people photography than a high-contrast lens. That's one reason why I
prefer the 105 DC over the 100mm ZF for this type of work.
Click to expand...
Ok, interesting. I never noticed this, and I didn't think this would happen, either, as "contrasty" usually refers to microcontrast, and not to larger areas of deep shadows. I'll keep my eyes open to see whether I missed something. I usually associated low microcontrast with dull pictures, but never with less noise. :-)

BG
 
Peter Kayaert said:
Hi

I have a D700 and I am interested in the 28 mm F/1.4 Nikkor lens. I
would like it for low/available light usage but as it comes (second
hand) at such a high price I would like it to perform equally good as
main landscape lens (landscape being one of my main interests).

Can you people give some feedback on real life usage of this lens?
Click to expand...
Since we all shoot different subject matter we probably have different preferences and priorities when it comes to lens selection. I mostly shoot people so rendering is very important to me, the 28/1.4 is among a handful which I consider as beautiful Nikkors. Its a great lens and very well suited for landscape photography too, but you have to understand that there's more to it than just ultimate sharpness where you'll find other alternatives.
--
david
http://www.pbase.com/ddk
 
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