So recently I got my hands on the Nikon 85mm f/1.8S lens which is the entry-level prime lens for portraiture. I already own the F Mount version of the same type of lens which is Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens. That G-Type lens is the Nikon sharpest 85mm lens, better than f/1.4 G version …. Period.
But …. I am afraid I have to change my statement now.
The moment I hit the first frame from that S-line lens for the Z Mount and saw the result at the back of the camera screen, following things happens in my mind.
- Damn! (Someone said this somewhere in my mind)
- That lens is sharp …. Really Sharp. Edge to edge practically speaking.
- Colors coming out from that lens is a thing of beauty near to perfectly natural.
- The best thing is the BOKEH (out of focus area rendition) which is creamy like you have never seen before.
- Micro Contrast is off the chart.
Now the readers of this blog from other brands for sure going to say …. He is hardcore Nikon user no wonder he is praising and stuff like that. Well, I was ones told by a fellow photographer “Put your money where your mouth is”. So, I am following his statement close to my heart and always putting my own money where my mouth is by comparing the stuff in real life rather than talk. I did the testing of this lens with its F Mount version, and I can assure you that when you are going to use this lens, all points that I mentioned above is going to happen exactly like this …. Even at your end regardless you are Nikon shooter or not.
As I own the F- Mount 85mm f/1.8G lens, I thought without going through any technical details, let’s compare both F & Z mount versions and see which one is suitable for you.
| 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm f/1.8S | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 350gm | 470gm |
| Elements | 9 | 12 |
| Group | 9 | 8 |
| Price | $426 | $797 |
From a practical point of view, I can confirm this that the S-line version or the Z mount version is significantly heavier and by having more glass elements inside it, it is stopping more light. How do I know that? Well, while I was testing both lenses on Aperture Priority on Z6 at base ISO 100, the resulting Shutter Speed on 85mm S version was around 1/3 slower to compensate for the same amount of light. You will see later in the images what I am talking about. So, let’s have some side by side images and comparison.
But I had this thing in mind that to get camera focal plane oriented parallel to the surface I am shooting they should be near to the parallel with each other else I won’t be getting the true result. For that, I did this.
Now I know this is not 100% foolproof test, but at least I did some DIY and came up with this solution to eliminate the focal plane alignment issue. So, after doing all this, I fired a different frame from f/1.8 to the f/16. But I came across another problem in the end after f/5.6. What problem was it? Will explain to you in a minute. The comparison was made indoor under natural window light to check the lens performance. For that, I did the following, Â
- Put the camera on Aperture Priority. This is my standard practise mode whenever I test any camera or lens as this gives an accurate representation and value of this camera/lens how it behaves under the same light when I do it side by side between 2 of these items. You will see how S lens behaves just because of this later in the sample images.
- ISO was set and lock to 100 as I want the cleanest images as possible to see the true sharpness of the lens.
- I also dialed the 2 seconds exposure delay to reduce the shutter release vibration, which potentially causes any camera shake.
Now, what happened after doing all this above that, due to the aperture priority & fixed ISO 100 value, the camera starts dragging the resultant shutter speed into many seconds as I am closing down the aperture. Due to this, the S-line lenses start showing some very micro blur from f/8 onwards due to its heavyweight (due to more glass elements). Now, this thing will be gone entirely if I can shoot both lenses outdoor under bright light at higher shutter speed but finding a wall with texture to compare edge to edge is not in my disposal when I was doing this test. But rest assure I can tell you that at any given aperture value S-line lens is exceeding far ahead then G version. Let’s start seeing some sample images to verify this statement. Following image is what I shot. You need to focus on the red circle area, which I compare for both lenses.
Shot at f/1.8 centre of the frame. Note that the left side is always will be 85mm f/1.8G and the right side will always be 85mm f/1.8S. Do check that S-line shutter speed is 1/3 stop slower because it contains more glass elements inside due to the new design which not only make it optically superior than its predecessor but also make it stoplight more than its predecessor which is causing shutter speed to be slow down by 1/3 stop approx. Â
This is shot at f/5.6, upper left corner. After that, I had to stop the testing further, I started getting micro blur on both lenses due to longer shutter speed.
As you can see, 85mm f/1.8 S line is leading from an overall perspective. Below is the sample image which I shot indoor. This is straight out of the camera image using Z6 Eye-AF (version 3.0).
I also did a focus speed testing of both lenses and made a video for it which you can find and see using this link. In that video the 85mm f/1.8S lens focus way faster and quitter then its F mount cousin. You can also visit our YouTube channel VUE for more photography related stuff.
We hope you find this blog useful as a source for comparing both lenses, which are equally great in their capacity. For us, I always admire down to my heart the 85mm f/1.8G version, and it was by far most the best 85mm I ever used Period. Infect I ranked that G version lens better than its 85mm f/1.4G lens for several reasons. But after using this 85mm f/1.8S line lens for the Z-Mount, it is obvious now that how incredible this S-line series of lenses is. All Nikon Z-Mount lenses are nothing less than perfection. They are edged to edge sharp. Color and out of focus area rendition are at its best what Nikon is famous for.
Now it is time to wrap up this blog. I hope you find it useful. For more info and such stuff, stay tune at Facebook group “VUE”. Thanks a ton, and we will see you all later in the next blog.
Till then …. Later.
