N-Photo - The Nikon Magazine - UK (2019-12)

big attraction of this lens is
its smallness. Compact
and lightweight, it’s easy to
pop into a spare corner of
your camera bag for when you need it.
It’s refreshingly inexpensive for an
own-brand Nikon lens as well,
undercutting everything else in the
group for price. Even so, it has a
high-quality optical path based on nine
elements, although there are no
aspherical or ED (Extra-low
Dispersion) elements.
Build quality is pretty good,
complete with a rubber weather-seal
on the mounting plate and a fast,
ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system.
However, it’s the only lens in the group
with seven diaphragm blades, rather
than the more usual nine that you tend
to find in 85mm primes.

Performance
This lens beats the Tamron f/1.8 for
sharpness across most of the frame,
apart from in the extreme corners at
very wide apertures. Bokeh is
impressively smooth and, despite only
having seven diaphragm blades, points
of light remain fairly well-rounded
when stopping down a little.

ell known for its manual-

focus lenses, South Korean

manufacturer Samyang

only makes two autofocus

lenses for Nikon cameras, the other

being the AF 14mm f/2.8 F. Build

quality feels solid and robust, complete

with weather-seals. It’s small and light

for an 85mm f/1.4 lens, and not much

bigger or heavier than the Nikon f/1.8.

The optical design incorporates a

hybrid aspherical element and Ultra

Multi Coating, while autofocus is driven

by a Dual LSM (Linear Supersonic

Motor), similar to the linear ‘pulse’

motors used in a few recent Nikon

lenses. As such, manual focusing and

override of autofocus is courtesy of

an electronically coupled control ring.

Performance

Autofocus proved quick and reliable in

our tests, while ‘fly by wire’ manual

focusing is smooth and precise.

Centre-sharpness is a bit lacklustre at

f/1.4, but gets into its stride at f/2. But

sharpness is disappointing towards

the edges. Bokeh is smooth when

shooting wide open, and remains good

when stopping down a little, thanks to

a well-rounded nine-blade diaphragm.

Nikon

AF-S 85mm f/1.8G

£429/$477

Small, light and cheap to make you cheerful

Samyang

AF 85mm f/1.4 F

£599/$699

A rare Samyang autofocus lens for Nikon

Sharpness

This little Nikon really punches

above its weight when it

comes to sharpness, even at

its widest aperture.

Sharpness

The corners remain very soft

throughout the entire aperture

range, although centre-

sharpness is generally good.

Fringing

Both lateral and axial

chromatic aberrations are

minimal, the latter helped by

the modest aperture rating.

Fringing

It’s the worst lens in the

group for lateral chromatic

aberration, and bokeh

fringing can be noticeable.

Distortion

There’s a slight touch of

pincushion distortion, but it’s

hardly an issue in portraiture

photography.

Distortion

There’s not much in the way

of pincushion distortion but,

technically, it is the worst

in the group.

N-Photo verdict N-Photo verdict

Simple but effective,
this lens delivers
excellent image quality
in all respects and is
comfortably compact.

The Samyang wasn’t

the best in our tests

but, in real-world

shooting, it’s capable

of pleasing portraiture.

Features Features

Build &

handling

Build &

handling

Performance Performance

Value Value

4

Overall

4

Overall

AW

PORTRAIT LENSES