Details on the 28mm f/1.4E has been revealed!

[Roland Vink]

I had a feeling that the flare caused by FP/DO elements meant that Canon and Nikon would not use them on top tier telephoto lenses. They are used instead on slower telephotos, such as the AFS 300/4 PF and Canon 400/4 DO.

PF would be highly useful on a lens like a 400/5.6, if Nikon ever decides to make one...

[Akira]

I had a feeling that the flare caused by FP/DO elements meant that Canon and Nikon would not use them on top tier telephoto lenses. They are used instead on slower telephotos, such as the AFS 300/4 PF and Canon 400/4 DO.

PF would be highly useful on a lens like a 400/5.6, if Nikon ever decides to make one...

The 300/2.8 is one of the main "battle fields" of the leading camera manufacturers like Nikon, Canon and now Sony.  So, I wouldn't be surprised if they would employ their challenging technology to the design of this category.  The conventional technology doesn't seem to improve a 300/2.8 any further at least in terms of the optical quality.  They should need some ground-breaking breakthrough.

I would bet that the key is the drastic reduction of weight and size.

Now that all the super-teles of Nikon and Canon have been renewed, 300/2.8s are well due to be renovated.

A compact 400/5.6 seems nice, though.

[David H. Hartman]

Oh yes, I would have loved to see a new 180/2.8.

Why not a 180mm f/1.4?

Dave 😈

[richardHaw]

if it doesn what it claimed then this will be a dream lens for astrophotography! 
the NOCT of the wide lenses

[Roland Vink]

The 300/2.8 is one of the main "battle fields" of the leading camera manufacturers like Nikon, Canon and now Sony.  So, I wouldn't be surprised if they would employ their challenging technology to the design of this category.  The conventional technology doesn't seem to improve a 300/2.8 any further at least in terms of the optical quality.  They should need some ground-breaking breakthrough.

Nikon at least can reduce the weight of their 300/2.8 by employing fluorite elements, as they have done with the larger telephotos.

Using a PF lens might further reduce weight and size, but there might be a penalty in optical quality which I don't think would be accepted in this class of lens.

[Macro_Cosmos]

Nikon at least can reduce the weight of their 300/2.8 by employing fluorite elements, as they have done with the larger telephotos.

Using a PF lens might further reduce weight and size, but there might be a penalty in optical quality which I don't think would be accepted in this class of lens.

Yeah, I too don't think Nikon will use PF glass in their new 300/2.8. It will very very likely be similar to the 400/2.8 FL ED VR blahblah.

[Macro_Cosmos]

Seems like a bit of CA in the centre, due to the highlights caused by the bulb. Looks like an easy fix as well.
Really interesting shot nonetheless. This 28/1.4 could replace my 24 and 35 altogether. Hope it's great!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Lateral CA is unlikely to show up in the dead centre of the frame ... however, some artificial light sources have such a discontinuous output spectrum that the Bayer technology cannot handle the colours properly and some bleeding of colours are often seen.

The 28/1.4 certainly looks interesting and the 28 focal class has a devoted following anyway. These lenses don't just sit as intermediary between 24 and 35, they have an independent existence.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I had a feeling that the flare caused by FP/DO elements meant that Canon and Nikon would not use them on top tier telephoto lenses. They are used instead on slower telephotos, such as the AFS 300/4 PF and Canon 400/4 DO.

The are are also bokeh issues; the 300/4 PF is not that great in areas in front of the focused subject. I think the fast tele primes are used by people who are very demanding in terms of all aspects of image quality and the weight savings on fast lenses would be less pronounced than on smaller aperture versions.

I do use the 300 PF a lot; it has its advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes the results are excellent, but conventional refractive optics designs are better when it comes to dim, low contrast light, in my experience.

I would expect a fluorite version of the 300/2.8 in the near future.

PF would be highly useful on a lens like a 400/5.6, if Nikon ever decides to make one...

Or a 500/5.6 maybe. I think 300 and 400 are too close to each other to use as a pair but 300 and 500 would be great.

[David H. Hartman]

The 28/1.4 certainly looks interesting and the 28 focal class has a devoted following anyway. These lenses don't just sit as intermediary between 24 and 35, they have an independent existence.

I found with candid photographs of family in close quarters a 35mm could be not quite wide enough and a 24mm used too close gave that fiddler crab effect so I usually backed up a bit and cropped the 24mm back to a 28mm angle of view. I was usually shooting Tri-X and paid a penalty in grain. This and your review of the 28/2.0 indicating a special performance in flare and ghost overcame an old bias against the 28mm focal length.

Sometimes a 28mm lens is the best tool for the job. The 28mm is a valid focal length in it's own right.

Dave Hartman

[benveniste]

Back in 1978 when I was building my second Nikon system with multi-coated AI Nikkors they cost about $225 (1978 USD) each. Today's Nikkor primes should cost about $850.00. Should I be upset at a price of 2K for one stop and AF?

After adjusting for inflation, at least in the US the new 28mm f/1.4E is about 10% less expensive than the 28mm f/1.4D was when it was discontinued.

[Macro_Cosmos]

After adjusting for inflation, at least in the US the new 28mm f/1.4E is about 10% less expensive than the 28mm f/1.4D was when it was discontinued.

Yeah, I agree.
The legendary (due to glass sniffing collectors) 28/1.4D range from $1500 to $5000 on fleabay.
It's a good lens, but I'm for sure not paying $3000 for it!
I did miss a somewhat used one for $700 though, oh well. Stuff happens.

[chambeshi]

Picked up the link on Nikon Rumours. Here's a review with photos from Morocco

http://marinkovic-weddings.com/nikon-af-s-nikkor-28mm-f1-4e-ed-test-and-review/