- Portable medium telephoto lens that is ideal for indoor and outdoor portraits
- Rear Focusing system for fast and smooth optical performance
- Subtle blurring of background for beautifully natural and evocative portraits
- High-speed f1.8 aperture
- Compact and lightweight at 13.2 ounces
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Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
Manufacturer Description
Lens-making is an art--Nikon artisans craft Nikkor optics from the finest materials, taking pride in adding their intellect and technique to bring the world's finest lenses to life. They push the leading edge of lens-making in their effort to provide the "glass" that makes the world's greatest pictures.
AF Nikkor lenses work with Nikon SLRs for optimal performance, even the very latest. The Nikon 85mm f1.8D AF Nikkor is a compact and portable medium telephoto lens ideal for indoor or outdoor portraits. An excellent choice for your first telephoto lens, it features subtle blurring of background for beautifully natural and evocative portraits, Rear Focusing system for fast and smooth optical performance, and weighs 13.2 ounces.
Nikon Super Integrated Coating ensures exceptional performance
To enhance the performance of its optical lens elements, Nikon employs an exclusive multilayer lens coating that helps reduce ghost and flare to a negligible level. Nikon Super Integrated Coating achieves a number of objectives, including minimized reflection in the wider wavelength range and superior color balance and reproduction. Nikon Super Integrated Coating is especially effective for lenses with a large number of elements, like our Zoom-Nikkors. Also, Nikon's multilayer coating process is tailored to the design of each particular lens. The number of coatings applied to each lens element is carefully calculated to match the lens type and glass used, and also to assure the uniform color balance that characterizes Nikkor lenses. This results in lenses that meet much higher standards than the rest of the industry.
Rear Focusing
With Nikon's Rear Focusing (RF) system, all the lens elements are divided into specific lens groups, with only the rear lens group moving for focusing. This makes autofocusing operation smoother and faster.
Distance information
D-type and G-type Nikkors relay subject-to-camera distance information to AF Nikon camera bodies. This then makes possible advances like 3D Matrix Metering and 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash. Note: D-type and G-type Nikkors provide distance information to the following cameras: Auto exposure; F6, F5, F100, F90X, F80, F75, F70, F65, F60, F55, F50, Pronea S, Pronea 600i, D2 series, D1 series, D100, and D70s/D70. Flash control; F6, F5, F100, F90X, F80, F75, F70, D2 series, D1 series, D100, and D70s/D70 cameras.
What's in the Box:
Lens, 62mm snap-on front lens cap, rear lens cap LF-1, screw-in hood HN-23.
Product Description
85mm lens for Nikon SLR cameras
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
88 of 89 people found the following review helpful
A exceptional portrait lens for both digital and film, the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D is usably sharp wide open and tack sharp by the time you stop down even just a bit. Relatively small and very light, it feels just right in my hand. Steve McCurry is one of my favorite photographers and I was happy to discover that many of his great shots were taken with this lens.
Also, if you shoot on a manual focus body like the F3, you'll like the solid but smooth feel of the focus ring.
The 85mm comes with a metal, screw-on hood. My preference is the plastic bayonet mounts, but I find that I don't need the hood that often since this lens doesn't tend to flare.
Two minor complaints about this lens: first, the bokeh is not exceptional. That's OK; I'm not a bokeh hound. But when I see the creamy out of focus specular highlights that the 85mm f/1.4 produces, sometimes I dream about spending the extra money.
Second, I wish it were AF-S. But even without AF-S, it focuses faster than you'd expect.
Finally, the construction is solid. I've used it heavily for two years in deserts, jungles, and glaciers (ok, and in less glamorous places like around the apartment) and it still looks brand new.
In short, my favorite lens. Absolutely worth every penny.
Also, if you shoot on a manual focus body like the F3, you'll like the solid but smooth feel of the focus ring.
The 85mm comes with a metal, screw-on hood. My preference is the plastic bayonet mounts, but I find that I don't need the hood that often since this lens doesn't tend to flare.
Two minor complaints about this lens: first, the bokeh is not exceptional. That's OK; I'm not a bokeh hound. But when I see the creamy out of focus specular highlights that the 85mm f/1.4 produces, sometimes I dream about spending the extra money.
Second, I wish it were AF-S. But even without AF-S, it focuses faster than you'd expect.
Finally, the construction is solid. I've used it heavily for two years in deserts, jungles, and glaciers (ok, and in less glamorous places like around the apartment) and it still looks brand new.
In short, my favorite lens. Absolutely worth every penny.
119 of 125 people found the following review helpful
I like the 85mm focal length very much. On a Nikon crop-size DSLR, the 85mm focal length is a very useful short-to-medium telephoto length, giving a nice field of view with just enough distance compression to get a pleasant telephoto perspective. This lens' wide aperture gives plenty of control of depth of field, allowing you to isolate your subject and get just the right amount of defocus elsewhere in the frame. I tend to prefer to use it at f/2.8 or so, although having the ability to go to f/1.8 is certainly useful at times.
A few notes on specific performance issues, some of which seem to be in disagreement with others here:
- I would not characterize the lens as very sharp wide open. I've sampled three of these lenses, two "AF" models and one "AF-D" model. The AF-D was the best. Like any lens I've used, it loses sharpness at wider apertures, and I would characterize it as soft at f/1.8, still moderately soft at f/2.8, good at f/4, sharp at f/5.6 and very sharp at f/8. There is a definite difference in sharpness at each aperture up through f/8. This is not necessarily bad. A bit of softness at f/1.8-f/2.8 might be desirable for portraits and some other types of photos, and the lens is very sharp where you would usually use it for landscapes and general photography - f/5.6-f/8 or so. At wider apertures, the contrast between a blurred background and relatively sharp subject remains striking and is a very pleasant effect that will allow you to get exceptional images.
- This is not a high-contrast lens, due at least partly to a lack of ED glass. This is appropriate and probably contributes to its reputation as a good portrait lens - skin tones are pleasantly rendered and the overall effect is slightly subtler and gentler compared to Nikon's most contrasty lenses. I can shoot the same scene with this lens and then with my 16-85mm (consumer DX zoom), and colors that leap off the screen with the 16-85 are significantly mellowed with the 85/1.8.
- I don't see any loss of contrast at wider apertures. This is good. The 50mm f/1.8 loses a lot of contrast wide open, for example (and mine is considerably softer than the 85mm at wide apertures).
- I would not say the quality of bokeh is particularly pleasing. It can be distracting at times, and I see color effects in the blurred areas (chromatic aberration), which occurs because different wavelengths of light are blurred differently by the lens (some very expensive lenses are "apochromatic," meaning that they correct for this). This does not in my opinion detract significantly from my images, since the whole idea of defocus is to attract the viewer's eye to the subject rather than away from it and so consequently one does not tend to study an out-of-focus background unless actually evaluating it specifically; but this might be one of the reasons the f/1.4 lens is a more popular choice among those willing to spend three times the money. This is speculation on my part as I have not tried the f/1.4.
- Focus is very quick and as far as I can tell completely accurate. I do use a simple test chart to test focus with all my lenses and this lens focuses well within its depth of field even wide open.
This lens is very good for tight indoor shots as well as outdoor photography. At near-wide-open it can be used indoors with fairly low available light and make very pleasing shots of tight groupings of people from a reasonable distance. A slower lens will tend to bring the background into the photo more than is desirable, which can be distracting in the final image.
It is not a good only lens and perhaps not even the first prime lens one should buy. It is a very good lens to have after all the basic focal ranges are covered, and perhaps after a "normal" prime, and it is a very good lens for taking pictures of people. In addition to this lens I highly recommend Nikon's very affordable 35mm f/2 (2/25/09 note: Nikon has recently announced an even more affordable 35mm f/1.8 lens for DX which will probably prove to be an even better choice for DX users), which is very sharp indeed and in my opinion a far better lens than the 50mm f/1.8. I do however prefer the 85mm as a matter of pure personal taste: it is my personal favorite fixed-length lens.
I wish I could give it 4-1/2 stars as it is a good, good lens, but can not justify giving a full five. I don't think anybody would regret buying it, however. With a bit of help from the user it is capable of making some truly fine images.
Other Lenses:
I've had the opportunity to own and use many different Nikon lenses and have posted my impressions of some of them here on Amazon. For those interested, here are short summaries. I have used all these lenses on Nikon DX-sized DSLRs, most recently my current D90. Refer to the full reviews for further detail.
Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AF-D: *** Competent, sharp lens is a good fit as a bargain DX "normal" prime. Slow f/2.8 max aperture poor. Very inexpensive in used market.
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM: *** Poor focusing consistency and below average large-aperture acuity combine for disappointing real-world performance. Fast max aperture, very capable if used with appropriate care.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-G: ****1/2 Terrific lens at a bargain price. Not without flaws, but excellent in all important respects. A pleasure to use.
Nikon 35mm f/2 AF-D: **** Sharp, especially at large apertures, moderate contrast. Classic "normal" lens for DX but consider new 35mm f/1.8 AF-S instead.
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D: *** My sample was unacceptably poor at large apertures. Perhaps a below-average sample. Focal length not ideally suited to DX.
Nikon 16-85mm VR ***** Very sharp at all settings, excellent contrast, very useful zoom range including true wide-angle at 16mm. Excellent VR. Best-kept secret for DX users.
Nikon 28-200mm AF-G *** Of two samples, one was excellent and one poor, so watch for sample variations. Very good contrast. Not ideal hand-held due to lack of VR. Not ideal for tripod use due to design.
Nikon 55-200mm VR **** Very good lens, very good sharpness and contrast, no fatal flaws. Cheap feel and feature-challenged, but has effective VR. A bargain.
Nikon 70-300mm VR *** My sample had very poor performance above 200mm, good to very good elsewhere. Good contrast, generally very good focus performance. Good sports/action lens. Not good where critical sharpness is desired. Possibly a below-average sample.
A few notes on specific performance issues, some of which seem to be in disagreement with others here:
- I would not characterize the lens as very sharp wide open. I've sampled three of these lenses, two "AF" models and one "AF-D" model. The AF-D was the best. Like any lens I've used, it loses sharpness at wider apertures, and I would characterize it as soft at f/1.8, still moderately soft at f/2.8, good at f/4, sharp at f/5.6 and very sharp at f/8. There is a definite difference in sharpness at each aperture up through f/8. This is not necessarily bad. A bit of softness at f/1.8-f/2.8 might be desirable for portraits and some other types of photos, and the lens is very sharp where you would usually use it for landscapes and general photography - f/5.6-f/8 or so. At wider apertures, the contrast between a blurred background and relatively sharp subject remains striking and is a very pleasant effect that will allow you to get exceptional images.
- This is not a high-contrast lens, due at least partly to a lack of ED glass. This is appropriate and probably contributes to its reputation as a good portrait lens - skin tones are pleasantly rendered and the overall effect is slightly subtler and gentler compared to Nikon's most contrasty lenses. I can shoot the same scene with this lens and then with my 16-85mm (consumer DX zoom), and colors that leap off the screen with the 16-85 are significantly mellowed with the 85/1.8.
- I don't see any loss of contrast at wider apertures. This is good. The 50mm f/1.8 loses a lot of contrast wide open, for example (and mine is considerably softer than the 85mm at wide apertures).
- I would not say the quality of bokeh is particularly pleasing. It can be distracting at times, and I see color effects in the blurred areas (chromatic aberration), which occurs because different wavelengths of light are blurred differently by the lens (some very expensive lenses are "apochromatic," meaning that they correct for this). This does not in my opinion detract significantly from my images, since the whole idea of defocus is to attract the viewer's eye to the subject rather than away from it and so consequently one does not tend to study an out-of-focus background unless actually evaluating it specifically; but this might be one of the reasons the f/1.4 lens is a more popular choice among those willing to spend three times the money. This is speculation on my part as I have not tried the f/1.4.
- Focus is very quick and as far as I can tell completely accurate. I do use a simple test chart to test focus with all my lenses and this lens focuses well within its depth of field even wide open.
This lens is very good for tight indoor shots as well as outdoor photography. At near-wide-open it can be used indoors with fairly low available light and make very pleasing shots of tight groupings of people from a reasonable distance. A slower lens will tend to bring the background into the photo more than is desirable, which can be distracting in the final image.
It is not a good only lens and perhaps not even the first prime lens one should buy. It is a very good lens to have after all the basic focal ranges are covered, and perhaps after a "normal" prime, and it is a very good lens for taking pictures of people. In addition to this lens I highly recommend Nikon's very affordable 35mm f/2 (2/25/09 note: Nikon has recently announced an even more affordable 35mm f/1.8 lens for DX which will probably prove to be an even better choice for DX users), which is very sharp indeed and in my opinion a far better lens than the 50mm f/1.8. I do however prefer the 85mm as a matter of pure personal taste: it is my personal favorite fixed-length lens.
I wish I could give it 4-1/2 stars as it is a good, good lens, but can not justify giving a full five. I don't think anybody would regret buying it, however. With a bit of help from the user it is capable of making some truly fine images.
Other Lenses:
I've had the opportunity to own and use many different Nikon lenses and have posted my impressions of some of them here on Amazon. For those interested, here are short summaries. I have used all these lenses on Nikon DX-sized DSLRs, most recently my current D90. Refer to the full reviews for further detail.
Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AF-D: *** Competent, sharp lens is a good fit as a bargain DX "normal" prime. Slow f/2.8 max aperture poor. Very inexpensive in used market.
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM: *** Poor focusing consistency and below average large-aperture acuity combine for disappointing real-world performance. Fast max aperture, very capable if used with appropriate care.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-G: ****1/2 Terrific lens at a bargain price. Not without flaws, but excellent in all important respects. A pleasure to use.
Nikon 35mm f/2 AF-D: **** Sharp, especially at large apertures, moderate contrast. Classic "normal" lens for DX but consider new 35mm f/1.8 AF-S instead.
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D: *** My sample was unacceptably poor at large apertures. Perhaps a below-average sample. Focal length not ideally suited to DX.
Nikon 16-85mm VR ***** Very sharp at all settings, excellent contrast, very useful zoom range including true wide-angle at 16mm. Excellent VR. Best-kept secret for DX users.
Nikon 28-200mm AF-G *** Of two samples, one was excellent and one poor, so watch for sample variations. Very good contrast. Not ideal hand-held due to lack of VR. Not ideal for tripod use due to design.
Nikon 55-200mm VR **** Very good lens, very good sharpness and contrast, no fatal flaws. Cheap feel and feature-challenged, but has effective VR. A bargain.
Nikon 70-300mm VR *** My sample had very poor performance above 200mm, good to very good elsewhere. Good contrast, generally very good focus performance. Good sports/action lens. Not good where critical sharpness is desired. Possibly a below-average sample.
86 of 92 people found the following review helpful
If you don't need the speed or can't afford the expensive 85mm f1.4 Nikkor lens or both, then this lens may be the right one for you. It took Nikon a while to produce a superb compact 85mm lens, but this time they finally got it right. Without a doubt, this is a fine portrait lens for photographing head-and-shoulder portraits (The only lens which is optically better is Nikon's legendary 105mm f2.5 Nikkor lens, and its close optical twin, the 105mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor.). Since the 105mm f2.5 Nikkor lens doesn't have an autofocus version, then this might be the perfect moderate telephoto lens for owners of Nikon autofocus SLR cameras. Regardless, this lens has a well-earned reputation for excellent contrast and resolution.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nothing But Mush
I purchased the lens in late March and figured "How can you go wrong with one that has sold some 400,000 units?" Well you can... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Henchard
great bokeh
this lens is sooo creamy. not great for inside since you have to be kind of far away which is why i only gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Read more
Published 2 months ago by messina h
There is nothing wrong with the Bokeh, this lens is great.
You're going to get mixed opinons on this, let me just state for the record...
This lens is capable of lovely bokeh. Read more
This lens is capable of lovely bokeh. Read more
Published 3 months ago by rensuchan
for the price, this IS the best glass I have used.
If you are considering it..go for it. I have over a dozen nikkor lenses. The only lens I think is better is 55mm f/1.2mm (manual focus). I admit that I have not used 85mm f/1. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mukesh Nyati
Great Portrait Lens
I bought this lens a few years ago when I decided I needed a fast prime portrait lens. I have never regretted that purchase! Read more
Published 4 months ago by BenjaminR
Nikon 85mm lens
This is a very nice lens the focus is very fast and sharp. I like the 85mm it takes very nice portrait photos very sharp pictures I would recommend this lens to anyone that is... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sandy Stretch
Sold my 1.8D for another option
The 1.8D IS a very good lens, but just sold it. I was about to buy the NEW sharper and more contrasty 1.8G for my D7000, I was very exited about ordering it because the 1. Read more
Published 4 months ago by am
Great portrait lens.
If you demand sharpness from a lens, then this is the one. This lens is used on a D5000, so manual focus only for me. Focusing is a breeze with this lens even with bad eyesight. Read more
Published 5 months ago by CP Frank
excellent!
a first class professional quality lens.sharp,fast,incredible image quality.made in japan metal construction.a really great nikon prime lens,with excellent performance. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. COLLETTE
Sharp but heavy, slow focus and terrible bokeh!
This is a lens of extremes. It's sharp (a bit too sharp for portraits), but as others have stated, its heavy and slow to focus. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Rob NYC
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