Evin Grant
05-09-2007, 05:37 PM
28mm f1.4 AFD Nikkor (Discontinued)
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/AFNikkor/AF-Nikkor_28mm/nikonimage.jpg
History:
Introduced in 1993 the 28mm f1.4 was one of Nikon's first truly professional auto focus lenses. Designed to be as tough as the AI and AIS series MF leses and have ultra high performance it was one of the first Nikon lenses to incorperate an Aspherical element. It was not cheap but those who needed it loved the oportunities that such a fast wide angle afforded. Comprised of 11 elements in 8 groups with an Aspherical lens element at the 9th position; close range correction with floating lens element design and internal focusing this truly was the Cadillac of primes.
Sharpness set at 10% in Adobe ACR.
All photos taken with a Nikon D2x and cropped to apropriate Red 4K equiv. Analysis photos at 100%.
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/mw.jpg
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/100%25.jpg
Performance:
This is my favorite Nikkor hands down, so bare with me here....
This lens is SHARP! At 1.4 this lens gives probably the best performance of any fast (still) prime made today. With practically no chromatic abberations or purple fringing this optical power house was obviously designed with the digital age in sight. It shows slightly less micro-contrast wide open and is optimum at f2.8 but the addition of some sharpening shows it's not really recording more resolution when stopping down. Diffraction becomes a factor just slightly at f5.6 but is not a problem till f16. The bigest problem with this lens is going to be focusing the razor thin DOF of f1.4.
Bokeh:
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/bokehtest.gif
The rounded nine blade aperture makes this lens a smooth operator.
Breathing:
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/breathtest.gif
The IF floating element design helps keep breathing down at all but the closest distances, better than most still lenses but behind the most modern cinema primes.
Build and adaptability to cinema shooting:
This is a heavy, all metal beast that can take whatever you can throw at it. The focus draw is adequate but not ideal. Another issue on my copy was that the original calibration for film shooting put infinity beyond the reachable focus point for a 12MP digital camera. I had it serviced so it focused past infinity and could be used on my D2x. This was not expensive but I now need to use the IR focusing mark as my primary. It's totally worth the slght inconvienience.
Application:
AVAILABLE LIGHT! If you need to shoot WFO this is the one to call! It can be used as a standard prime but it's expensive and hefty for that alone.
Value:
This lens was discontinued last year and consequently the demand has boosted the used price to astronomical levels. It sold new for around $1600 and now fetches between $2K-$3K on e-bay. However there is really no other optic in this focal range that can match it's performance at f1.4 so for those who will use it (me included) it's a bargain.
Uncompressed Tiffs, 27MB each (Please be patient)
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/tiff/
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/AFNikkor/AF-Nikkor_28mm/nikonimage.jpg
History:
Introduced in 1993 the 28mm f1.4 was one of Nikon's first truly professional auto focus lenses. Designed to be as tough as the AI and AIS series MF leses and have ultra high performance it was one of the first Nikon lenses to incorperate an Aspherical element. It was not cheap but those who needed it loved the oportunities that such a fast wide angle afforded. Comprised of 11 elements in 8 groups with an Aspherical lens element at the 9th position; close range correction with floating lens element design and internal focusing this truly was the Cadillac of primes.
Sharpness set at 10% in Adobe ACR.
All photos taken with a Nikon D2x and cropped to apropriate Red 4K equiv. Analysis photos at 100%.
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/mw.jpg
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/100%25.jpg
Performance:
This is my favorite Nikkor hands down, so bare with me here....
This lens is SHARP! At 1.4 this lens gives probably the best performance of any fast (still) prime made today. With practically no chromatic abberations or purple fringing this optical power house was obviously designed with the digital age in sight. It shows slightly less micro-contrast wide open and is optimum at f2.8 but the addition of some sharpening shows it's not really recording more resolution when stopping down. Diffraction becomes a factor just slightly at f5.6 but is not a problem till f16. The bigest problem with this lens is going to be focusing the razor thin DOF of f1.4.
Bokeh:
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/bokehtest.gif
The rounded nine blade aperture makes this lens a smooth operator.
Breathing:
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/breathtest.gif
The IF floating element design helps keep breathing down at all but the closest distances, better than most still lenses but behind the most modern cinema primes.
Build and adaptability to cinema shooting:
This is a heavy, all metal beast that can take whatever you can throw at it. The focus draw is adequate but not ideal. Another issue on my copy was that the original calibration for film shooting put infinity beyond the reachable focus point for a 12MP digital camera. I had it serviced so it focused past infinity and could be used on my D2x. This was not expensive but I now need to use the IR focusing mark as my primary. It's totally worth the slght inconvienience.
Application:
AVAILABLE LIGHT! If you need to shoot WFO this is the one to call! It can be used as a standard prime but it's expensive and hefty for that alone.
Value:
This lens was discontinued last year and consequently the demand has boosted the used price to astronomical levels. It sold new for around $1600 and now fetches between $2K-$3K on e-bay. However there is really no other optic in this focal range that can match it's performance at f1.4 so for those who will use it (me included) it's a bargain.
Uncompressed Tiffs, 27MB each (Please be patient)
http://www.reduser.net/evin/28mm1.4Nikkor/tiff/