Rodney Campbell's Blog

I’ve been thinking about getting a fast 85mm portrait and low light lens for some time now. I already have the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens which I really love but there are times when I feel that it isn’t quite long enough (even on a crop sensor body) and I notice a hint of the types of things you see with wide angle distortion and I yearn for a little more longer focal length compression. I notice this most when taking really close head and shoulders and even just partial face compositions. This is probably because whilst shooting on crop you may get the angle of view of a 75mm lens the 50mm lens is still a 50mm lens and still acts like a 50 (just with the image cropped).

There are an abundance of fast (f/1.8 or faster) 85mm lenses available for Nikon bodies including the ultimate Nikon 85/1.4G, the older 85/1.4D, the Sigma 85/1.4, the very affordable manual Samyang 85/1.4, the new Nikon 85/1.8G (the subject of this first look) and the older 85/1.8D.

Whilst I (like anyone) would have loved the new Nikon 85/1.4G – it’s a two thousand dollar lens ($1500 grey) and even the old 85/1.4D is over $1000 grey and I just couldn’t justify dropping that sort of cash on what is a specialty lens for me. The reviews of the 85/1.8G looked very promising with all the hallmarks of a great lens without the extra 2/3rds of a stop of speed.

I’ve been watching the prices on the new Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G for a while and I almost bought it at just over $500 but when I saw it for $470 from a shop I could visit close by in North Sydney (grey market) I decided it was time.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

One of my daughters plays netball on friday evenings and I literally dropped by the store and bought the lens on the way to the game :). Her game is after sunset and they play outdoors under lights so it was a good opportunity to try out the low light performance and I have to say it focuses very surely and quickly in very low light (certainly better than my 50/1.4 which is no slouch). Here’s a shot of my daughter on the sidelines just before her game (5:40PM) – shot at 1/200 @ f/2 at ISO 2500 – it doesn’t look it but it was essentially dark with just the court lights providing some illumination. It was candid and the kids are always moving so it was just a quick frame and shoot and whilst I didn’t quite get the focus exactly on the eye I’m pleased with the result

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/200 sec at f/2, ISO 2500

After her game we went to see her older sister dance in a flash mob and I took some wide open at ISO 6400 shots in near darkness and got some usable results

A few days later I had the opportunity to take some shots for our schools band festival concert performance so I had another opportunity to test out the lens in much better conditions – outdoors in good shaded light [1/250 @ f/2 at ISO 100]

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/250 sec at f/2, ISO 100

Lastly whilst it’s not a typical street photographers focal length I took my camera with just this lens into the office one day and did a little wandering at lunchtime to try it out

Firstly a little flower bokeh – shot wide open at f/1.8 near the minimum focusing distance (which is 80cm) – I found this quite long for shooting these small flowers but the depth of field even at this range is pretty tiny.

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/320 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

One of my favourite rows of trees in Hyde Park [1/320 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 100]

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

and finally perhaps a more typical “street” image [1/250 sec @ f/2 and ISO 100]

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/250 sec at f/2, ISO 100

Impressions so far:
– it’s very light and feels relatively cheaply made – i.e. all polycarb shell – I suspect that’s reasonably typical of a lot of newer Nikkor lenses
– it does however look just like a smaller version of the 85/1.4G
– it has a reversible bayonet hood (note not petal shaped) – sure it’s cheap plastic but still yay!
– size wise it’s actually quite a nice fit with my D7000 – focal length aside I could easily see this as the sort of lens you could comfortably walk around with
– it appears to be extremely sharp – I’ll need to do some more testing with other real world subjects at some stage and update
– it focuses very responsively and quickly even in extremely low light
– even with just 7 rounded aperture blades the bokeh so far looks like it’s going to be very nice – smooth and buttery – again I’ll try some other testing with things like oof specular highlights to see how they are rendered
– it looks like it has a weather shielded bayonet mount which is a nice touch
– the relatively long 80cm minimum focus distance may be an issue for some – for it’s intended purpose as a portrait lens this shouldn’t be a problem however
– it vignettes at or near wide open even on crop – easily fixed in Lightroom (which has the profile for the lens already built in to the latest version (LR4.1) but for the intended use I actually like the little vignette it gives
– theres some definite chroma happening in some shots – again easily fixed in Lightroom
– it’s early days but very happy with the addition to the lens cupboard so far

After our sunrise session at Mrs Macquaries Chair I headed to the nearby Botanic Gardens for an 8AM morning shoot with my local camera club

I found a number of Digitalis (Foxglove) plants in full bloom however they all had the flowers atop a long and not very stable stem which swayed erratically in the breeze – it wasn’t till I found these foxy ladies which were resting against the hedge next to it that I could try some focus stacking on a more stationary subject. Even better these were still covered in large droplets of water.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

The result of 39 images focus stacked [1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 100] using the LED macro ring light and the tri-grip diffuser overhead to soften the sunlight

Foxy Ladies

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 100

and for comparison the single frame – 1/125 sec at f/11 and ISO 800

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/11, ISO 800

Here is another composition which is more backlit – shot from the other side of the flower head – 36 images focus stacked [1/320 sec at f/4, ISO 100] again using the LED macro ring light and the tri-grip diffuser overhead to soften the sunlight

Foxy Ladies

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/320 sec at f/4, ISO 100

and for comparison the single frame – 1/125 sec at f/16 and ISO 640

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/16, ISO 640

Kath and Gerry joined me for another early morning – this time at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on Sydney Harbour. It was a brisk 5:45AM start and we were left once again with cloud free skies.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

We made the best of it as we could – we started to get some smattering of low cloud on the horizon and a tick over 10 minutes before sunrise we started having this crazy pink and blue banding in the sky like a fan or pin wheel coming out from where the sun was about to rise and a minute or so later it started happening in the opposite direction over the city – like huge pink searchlights pointing up into the sky. I don’t know exactly what causes this effect but it only lasted a few more minutes so it was a bit of a rush to put together a composition and include the cool sky and here we have (6:20AM with Lee 0.9 ND Grad + Heliopan CPL)…

FANtastic

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 13 mm, 15 sec at f/16, ISO 100

Unfortunately the rest of the sunrise compositions aren’t worth anything…

After the sun rose we tried some panoramics of the city and harbour – I found 12-24 too short (at the long end) and the 70-200 far too long (even at the 70 end) so I settled on my 17-50. This was stitched from 17 vertical captures with approx 50% overlap shot at 45mm at 1/10 sec @ f/11 (although I cropped out the last 4 or 5 frames worth on the right).

NIKON D7000 + 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm, 1/10 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Lastly I switched back to the UWA and borrowed Kaths new Lee BigStopper to give it a run (thanks Kath :)). This one looked good even on the back of the camera (even with and possibly because of the natural vignette) and not a lot was required in post to produce this 160 second long exposure (7:18AM with the whole kitchen sink – 12mm + Lee BigStopper + Lee 0.9 ND Grad + Heliopan CPL)

Harbour Blue

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 12 mm, 161 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Literally…

I had an overnight stay at Taronga Zoo last night (as part of a school excursion). One of the activities we had was a late night zoo safari where we walk around the zoo in the dark. Since many of the animals are sleeping or are nocturnal we can’t have any lights, nor are we allowed to use flash photography because it can blind the animals. So the guides carry these red (almost look like IR) torches which emit a relatively weak red glow. Photography in almost absolute darkness is interesting to say the least but I took my camera and new 85/1.8G along just in case.

At the Tiger enclosure there were two tigers lying in the bamboo very very (less than 30cm) from the glass so when the kids walked up in the dark and started peering through the glass panels into the pitch black enclosure to see if they could find any animals they got quite a surprise when the red glow started to make out these two tigers only a foot away from their faces.

Here I’ve just about tested out the limits of my D7000 with this shot at ISO 6400 1/60th sec @ f/1.8. I had the lens hood hard up against the glass and our guide was kind enough to angle their red light closely towards the tiger to give me as much light as possible. The colouring and crop here is straight out of camera with just a few minor post processing adjustments.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Red Tiger

NIKON D7000 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/60 sec at f/1.8, ISO 6400

Found this cactus covered in hard translucent spines in the succulent garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens and nestled within it’s heart were these tiny buds. A helpful friend held a tri-grip diffuser overhead whilst I composed and took the shots for focus stacking. No issues with this “flower” swaying in the breeze 🙂 – I was lying on the ground with the tripod legs spayed out horizontally and these buds were probably only a few centimetres above the ground level.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

The result of stacking 12 frames [1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 110]

Spikasaurus

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 110

and for comparison a single image taken at 1/4 sec at f/22 ISO 100

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/4 sec at f/22, ISO 100

I also found this Green Village hiding in a Purple Land (the heart of a Bromeliad I think) – this shot pretty much straight out of camera

Green Village in Purple Land

NIKON D7000 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/3 sec at f/3.2, ISO 100