Nikon AF-S NIKKOR f/1.8G ED Lens - 85 mm

For the price, this is absolutely unbeatable. Sure, a couple of hundred pounds is nothing to sneeze at, but in the world of premium DSLR lenses, getting such an optically fantastic lens for this price is amazing. I own some of Nikon's premium lenses that cost 5x what this does, that don't put out images as sharp or contrasty, it's truly professional level image quality at (just about still) consumer level prices.If you own a full frame camera, this will give you crystal clear images corner to corner, fast focus, and a wonderfully thin depth of field for excellent subject isolation, and the bokeh is lovely. Sure there are lenses that will give you slightly smoother out of focus backgrounds, but again, they cost a lot more than this does.If you're looking for a high quality lens in the 85mm region, for general or portrait use, you'd be wise to put your money down on this one.

I recently bought this lens from Amazon to complement my AF-S 50mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.8. It replaces my old AIS 35mm f2, which is a very characterful lens (and wonderful for portraits) but not really sharp anywhere. I considered the new Tamron and Sigma as alternatives but ultimately stayed with Nikon. I was not quite sure what to expect; some commentators thought it was great, others just average. I think it is a great lens. The vignetting is far less than what I thought it might be, it is very sharp even wide open and into the corners (I use a FX D700, all taken as RAW and developed in Nikon NXD or DXOptics 10, depending on requirements), the colours are stunning, and the distortion is modest and easily corrected anyway. In addition it is quite light and small. I have many other Nikkor lenses for comparison and would rate this as very good. Recommended!

Just picked up this lens this morning and have been shooting with it all day. Fantastic piece of kit, I have used several pieces of Pro glass during the time I have been shooting and this Lens is definitely up there with the best. Super Sharp, Beautiful rendition of Bokeh. This lens is plastic but the way it has been put together makes it just feel solid. Focus ring is beautifully smooth much nicer than the one on the 35mm f1.8g Definitely a pro lens minus the gold ring. Its amazing and the images it produces are simply astounding. If your in the market for a fast telephoto and have all the flexibility in your work to move around freely then I highly recommend this lens. A really stunner of a lens!

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G LensI have the Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens which I use on my FF D700. This is a superb lens, but solid (read heavy) on a large-ish body like the d700, and tiring to carry around all day. Anyway I wanted something more compact and manageable to mount on my d5100, and having achieved such positive results with the larger f1.8 I just bought this lens. (I also use the Nikon 35mm f1.8 on this camera with again first class results).It arrived today and I've been experimenting with it - all with excellent images so far. OK, you won't achieve the pronounced bokeh effect with f1.8 as you would with f1.4 but it's still a fast lens and I've used it in some low light situations with much better results than I would have expected.I'll possibly try it on my full frame d700 soon, but on my d5100 I have to say I'm looking forward to giving this lens a full run over the coming days/ weeks.Price-wise it's obviously a long way off the eye-watering price of the Nikon 85mm f1.4 but as in all things in life you get what you pay for...I have a number of zoom lenses but I tend to use prime lenses more these days, so if you want a "walking around" lens for your Nikon DX, my advice would be not to hesitate - go out and buy this lens!

I loved this one, good for low light situations.

This is a spectacular lens ..... I would post pix but any capture taken with a modicom of ability would appear sharp at the size allowed on the Amazon site ... this 85 mm 1.8 is SHARP, I use Pro monitors & it really does stand up to scrutiny ..... the build is about the same as my 50 mm 1.8 & my 35 mm 1.8 ... I have the 17-55 mm pro lens but that cost the earth & this is sharper ..yes , it is not as flexible but that is the 17-55 mm's strong point ... indispensible at weddings ! It has quickly become my most used lens ........ but you really do have to be very careful with focusing ....... not cheap but if you can't afford it . save up ! ........ don't waste good money on inferior lenses ..... not much else to say , it is THE Portrait lens as all the reviews say ....I did look at the Pro version 1.4 but came to the conclusion that unless you really needed 1.4 & a metal body this was the the wise buy , check the reviews yourself hope this helps anyone in doubt

Still experimenting the new toy, in terms of quality I think it's a good investment, but still an expensive one, at least for me (350Pounds/423Euros).I use mine on the Nikon D90 and at f/1.8 quality is already impressive, very clear in the focus zone and a nice “bokeh” in the out-of-focus zone (in front and behind the motive).Didn’t noticed any problems with autofocus speed as reported by some users, in fact the autofocus seems to be quite fast.Only remark: why didn’t Nikon Europe did the same rebates as Nikon US did (-100$USD in this lens)?I think that (for now) I have my “prime” lens selection complete, 50 1.8 + 85 1.8 + 105 Macro 2.8. Well, if Nikon comes out with a “Nikon AF-S 16 (or18)mm f/1.8G” at a reasonable price, who knows?