MisterHairy
Senior Member
I have been quite the antagonist against the bulk and cost of the 58/1.4G lens since its release. Only a little bit on this forum but more within our company and amongst the imaging community that we work within. I see little purpose, reason or benefit (to the user) of its inflated size and still feel that the price at release was speculative at best.
However, I just snagged a second hand one (very good price) for my own personal use and it is a very impressive lens indeed, optically. Wide open, it is (in spite of its reputation) really very sharp over much of the frame at the plane of focus and when stopped down a bit, it is crazy sharp. Just insanely sharp actually on my D810. The blur characteristic is extremely pleasant, as already noted by all of its proponents, and the transition from in focus to out of focus is very steep but not too abrupt so the look, although a little unnatural, is very very pleasing, even on faddish wafer thin DOF shots which, until now, I have always resisted.
AF on my D810 seems to be very accurate and is certainly quick enough for my uses, which includes grabs of the kids running about. Right now, I am struggling to understand why the seller wanted to get rid of it.
I still think that the size is just plain daft though; it gives the impression that Nikon padded it out to increase its perceived value but after using it, the price starts to become more digestible, particularly now that it new prices have dropped a few hundred. If you can find a nice used one, I'd say run, not walk, to get it.
No pics yet I'm afraid though; all shots thus far have been private and my family don't need to be shared across this forum. I simply wanted to add my own voice to the choir of folk who sing the praises of this lens. It really is something quite special. Even if it is a proper fatty.
However, I just snagged a second hand one (very good price) for my own personal use and it is a very impressive lens indeed, optically. Wide open, it is (in spite of its reputation) really very sharp over much of the frame at the plane of focus and when stopped down a bit, it is crazy sharp. Just insanely sharp actually on my D810. The blur characteristic is extremely pleasant, as already noted by all of its proponents, and the transition from in focus to out of focus is very steep but not too abrupt so the look, although a little unnatural, is very very pleasing, even on faddish wafer thin DOF shots which, until now, I have always resisted.
AF on my D810 seems to be very accurate and is certainly quick enough for my uses, which includes grabs of the kids running about. Right now, I am struggling to understand why the seller wanted to get rid of it.
I still think that the size is just plain daft though; it gives the impression that Nikon padded it out to increase its perceived value but after using it, the price starts to become more digestible, particularly now that it new prices have dropped a few hundred. If you can find a nice used one, I'd say run, not walk, to get it.
No pics yet I'm afraid though; all shots thus far have been private and my family don't need to be shared across this forum. I simply wanted to add my own voice to the choir of folk who sing the praises of this lens. It really is something quite special. Even if it is a proper fatty.
