Nikkor 85mm f1.8

I was introduced to Nikkor's 85mm f1.8 lens through Shelton Muller at one of his most enjoyable workshops (SheltonShops as they shall be called from here on in). He lent me his well used one and I was an instant admirer. I had never had a prime of this focal length or one with such a small aperture. The low light possibilities suddenly opened up and whole raft of ideas came to mind - the first of which was "I have got to get me one of these!".

I managed to get one and did a few low light shots one night of it. But was struggling getting a chance to drag it out of the bag for a proper shoot.


Anyway, as I was cleaning up my gear and organising my camera bags I noticed the gorgeous afternoon light coming through our front window and thought this is a good time to get the 85mm out and give it a whirl. I managed to convince Kylie to pose for a few frames and came up with this:

You have to be dead on with the focusing (when using it at f1.8) and it is something I am going to have to work on with regards to portraits as the eyes are the most important and if you move off the focus spot the whole feeling of the image is gone. Not the greatest portrait of Kylie (hello stare-y eyes!) but the light was gorgeous and gave me a chance to get the camera out.

I tried to get my daughter Abby to pose for a couple after her mum had enough and walked away but she just wouldn't sit still so most missed the focus mark.

Will post some more when i've had a play with this lens some more.