Lens review

Nikon Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.4G

7. Coma and astigmatism

In the APS-C/DX sensor’s corner the coma is just noticeable by f/1.4 and it disappears completely on stopping down the lens to f/2.0. A bit different situation we can observe in the full frame sensor’s corner. The coma is high there and the stopping down helps little to reduce its level. Such a performance is very similar to that of the Canon EF 85 mm f/1.2 L. What’s interesting, the cheap Samyang 1.4/85 on full frame corrects the coma a bit better.

The Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.4G is one of the lenses I’ve had the pleasure of testing so far with better astigmatism correction. Not only the average difference between the horizontal and vertical MTF50 function values amounted to less than 2% but also the astigmatism wasn’t visible even on the edge of the frame which is a very rare and exceptional phenomenon.