DSLR Photography Forum

Hi guys just picked up this lens. (demo from my retailer, got 100usd rebate and free shipping)

I didnt plan to get it, but the price was to good to pass up.

I havent had to much time testing it, hopefully i will be able to test it outdoors tomorrow. The weather is plain horrible here, windy and snowing..

Anyway,first thing i wanted to see it the performance wideopen. Thus far it seems to focus correctly (been reading alot of stuff about bad af on this lens)


Here is a test shot of my wonderful wife
Iso:100, 1/250 S F/1,4

(bare strobe behind a lastolite skylite frame (1x2m) with a 1 1/4 diffuser fabric)



So from the few test shots iv taken thus far, it seems to perform alright, and the sharpness surpassed my expectations.

/Paul L.

What a stunning 'test shot'. Looks very sharp.
Im really impressed by this shot overall. Was this spontaneous or planned? The black wall and the white chair and clothing works a treat to emphasis the colour in her face. Great lighting and a beautiful subject... Her expression makes me wonder whats she listening to?
Make sure you show us more from the new lens.
Shane

Thanx Shane.

I planned it, the wife didnt she was sitting listening to her mp3 player, i setup the gear around her and snapped away.

The skylite does great job diffusing a single light source. Im very pleased with it, and plan on using it this weekend for a session if the weather allows it.

Will post a few more images tomorrow when i will try it outdoors hopefully.

Thanx for lookng.

/Paul L.

Looks sharp. That was really at f/1.4???

Yes thats what the exif says anway. Also its cropped at the top (portrait framing)

/Paul L.

wow nice

G'day Paul, good to see ya (so to speak)

the new lens looks the goods...........very nice

looking forward to seeing some more

Hi Russ, yea iv been occupied with alot of things lately.

Will see if i can manage to produce something worth showing today.

Thanx for looking.

/Paul L.

I would also like to see some more from this lens Paul - thanks for being a guinea pig for us

Bugger! i found out that the manual focus doesnt really work, and i have gotten a few lens error msg on my d2x. Seems this demo wasnt working 100% :-(

Im returning it today, oh well. I might just get a brand new later on.But i want to see if nikon comes out with a new WA F/1,4 prime, since the 28mm/1,4 is out of production.

But i got to say, that i was suprised by its performance.

Postive:
Sharp wide open, fairly good build quality.
Pleasing "bokeh" to my eyes anyway.
Silent foucus

Negative:
Overexposed by 1/3
Wa distortion (not that you cant get rid of it, but it does exhibit a little more then it should i think)
DC (only for digital)

If your really need a fast "normal" lens on digital i would really recommend this one.
BUT make sure you can test your copy, numerious reports shows that there seems to be quite a varation in QC.

For the price nothing can beat it.

/Paul L.

Great user review, Paul. I've gotten lazy in my old age and don't use many primes. maybe, I should reconsider.