Nikon AF NIKKOR 85mm F 1 4D IF Review | 54 Data compared

The Opticallimits review highlights the Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.4D as a classic, beautifully crafted pro-grade portrait lens featuring an ultra-large aperture and a heavy price tag of around €1200/US$. Tested on a modern APS-C DSLR (Nikon D200), the lens delivers a full-frame field-of-view equivalent of 127.5mm, keeping it firmly within its intended portrait scope. Notable pros include its exceptional, metal-based build quality with a signature crinkle finish, an ultra-smooth rubberized focus ring, and a true internal focusing (IF) design that keeps the lens length constant and stops the 77mm front element from rotating—making it highly compatible with polarizers. Furthermore, its rear-focusing system ensures pretty fast autofocus speeds, and the 9 rounded aperture blades promise excellent depth-of-field performance. On the downside, prominent cons involve the lens's lack of an internal autofocus motor, meaning it must rely on a slotted drive screw driven by the camera body. This mechanical setup results in a moderate amount of audible noise during autofocus operations. Additionally, consumers face a steep threefold financial premium just to acquire that extra f-stop over its smaller sibling, the AF 85mm...

The Nikon AF 85mm f/1.4D IF, affectionately dubbed the "Cream Machine," is a specialized, screw-driven autofocus portrait lens that excels in low-light environments and selective-focus photography. The reviewer notes that the lens delivers exceptional center sharpness right from its maximum wide-open setting of f/1.4, generating a "magical" quality with incredibly smooth, creamy background blur and highly round bokeh circles owing to its 9 curved aperture blades. Built with an old-fashioned crinkle-paint finish and a robust metal construction, the lens also includes a massive, protective screw-on metal lens hood. Its fast aperture provides excellent motion-freezing shutter speeds without the intimidating physical presence of a large f/2.8 zoom lens, making it an ideal tool for candid people, wedding, and stage photography. Despite its optical strengths, the lens has several distinct drawbacks, most notably significant longitudinal chromatic aberration (red/green color fringing) in out-of-focus areas at f/1.4, which can be irritating and difficult to correct. Mechanically, the screw-driven autofocus system is somewhat noisy, and the physical AF/MF mechanical selector ring is awkward to locate and operate while looking through the viewfinder. Furthermore, the tight-fitting...

The Nikon 85 mm f/1.4 AF-D IF is highly praised as a dream prime lens for ambitious portrait photographers, offering a build quality that shows zero weaknesses when stopped down to f/2.8. A major benefit of this lens is its fantastically natural bokeh, which outperforms the 50mm f/1.4 thanks to nine rounded aperture blades that create perfectly circular openings. Additionally, because it lacks a modern ultrasonic motor, it boasts a remarkably compact build while maintaining fast and quiet autofocus performance. Optically, it delivers virtually distortion-free images (only 0.15% distortion) and features highly controlled vignetting that disappears completely by f/2. On the downside, the lens experiences minor sharpness and contrast falloffs at the outer edges when shooting wide open at extreme apertures between f/1.4 and f/2.0. High-contrast scenes at these wide apertures can also occasionally cause lateral and axial chromatic aberrations, resulting in slight color shifts in the unfocused highlight areas. Finally, the reviewer notes that the lens still commands a very high price tag on the market despite being older and having a newer successor, the AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.4G,...

The Nikon AF 85mm f/1.4 D is praised as an older but exceptional portrait lens manufactured between 1995 and 2010, affectionately dubbed the "Cream Machine" for its perfect, buttery bokeh. Its robust, high-quality mechanical build features a durable metal construction and a matching metal lens hood. Performance-wise, the lens offers outstanding resolution, extreme sharpness, and a wide f/1.4 aperture that provides a superb 2/3-stop light advantage over f/1.8 alternatives, making it incredibly effective for isolating subjects from backgrounds. Additionally, its 85mm focal length is highly valued for rendering human facial proportions flawlessly without distortion. On the downside, the lens exhibits a few mechanical and optical limitations due to its older design. Its ergonomics are somewhat outdated, featuring a cumbersome screw-in lens hood and a slow, inconvenient ring-and-button switch system for toggling between autofocus and manual focus. Optically, the reviewer notes minor edge and corner softness when shooting wide open at f/1.4. However, because its modern replacement (the 85mm f/1.4G) has been released, buyers can now frequently find the "D" variant at highly affordable secondhand prices.