Nikkor 58mm f/1.4 AFS The New Noct-Nikkor

[Erik Lund]

By chance I got a opportunity to pick up a used Nikkor 58mm f/1.4 AFS at a most reasonable price
Since we are on a little NikonGear trip to Slovenia I have used this to test the New Noct-Nikkor

It is really able to separate fore, middle and back ground really well even at large distance.

Also the ability to throw the background int a nice Bokeh wide open is similar the color transitions are really smooth and nice.
So far really pleased with the New Noct-Nikkor incarnation! 

[Erik Lund]

[tommiejeep]

Erik, very nice. Love the colours.   I've not used the lens for serious landscape but agree with you on the separation.  I went to pick up my son and while waiting had a great sky and one lonesome , battered tree in the foreground.  I turned out rather well for a opportunistic image , but I was shooting at f4
Tom

[Jan Anne]

Tom, pease don't hesitate to add your pics to this topic so we get an impression from multiple angles.

[Jacques]

A couple of images from my early days with the lens

[Erik Lund]

Very very nice images, very graphical the last one!

[Martin Zimelka]

Good to see Nikon Gear is back

I'm trying to find any excuse to buy this lens, however, the nearest importer/distributor has only ONE for the entire South Africa, and it costs a damn fortune, over and above the expensive 1700 USD price... B&H doesn't ship Nikon gear to Namibia or RSA. Rental isn't an option either   I'm still very much on the fence based on it's formidable expense, locally.
Anyways, most reviews and forums don't have much coverage regarding how this lens performs for landscapes. I realise the lens might have some curvature of field, but it's unclear to me how it performs at medium to far distances, and Erik's top most post is probably the best landscape shot I've seen taken with this lens...

I've heard a mixed bag of comments about edge performance; Some say it's great, some say corners don't get  very crisp... sample variation? User error? I would tend to trust the opinions of users here more than anywhere else.

Also, I suspect the camera or lens used in DPR's 58/1.4 review is likely got a skew mount or something, as the left and right sides don't strike me as performing symmetrically.

Does the field curvature run inwards towards the edges? Is there a mid-zone slump?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Erik must answer most of your questions. I have used two samples of this lens, and found both to be very similar in their performance.

Unfortunately, the AFS 58 costs even more in Norway than from B+H, unless you can deduct VAT.  I'm going to south Africa end of August this year, by the way, so can bring a lens with me if you are desperate.

[Martin Zimelka]

Erik must answer most of your questions. I have used two samples of this lens, and found both to be very similar in their performance.

Unfortunately, the AFS 58 costs even more in Norway than from B+H, unless you can deduct VAT.  I'm going to south Africa end of August this year, by the way, so can bring a lens with me if you are desperate.

Thank you for the kind offer, Bjørn.
The lens is priced at nearly 2300 Euro equivalence here... which is hard to swallow 
I'm flying down to Cape Town from Namibia on the 15th Aug and returning 30th Aug. As is my uncle from Basel, so I might just need to find a reputable swiss photographic shop for him to visit. I'm a bit worried about lens issues, as I seem to attract faulty equipment like a magnet...

I'm looking forward to Erik's reply 

[Airy]

At my favourite shop in Brussels, one staff who also owned the 58/1.2 showed me test shots made at night with both Noct version. The new one beat the old hands down in terms of contrast, coma, flare. Day pics and conventional tests rarely do justice to night lenses. The old Noct was not a test champion either (except for CA wide open). I hope Erik can share his nightlife experience here.

[stenrasmussen]

Yes Erik, tell us about your nights out in CPH 

[Erik Lund]

Thanks for the comments!

Night out shots from Copenhagen must wait

Here are the first image in the series I shot of the church with the castle in the back ground, before I started to include the leaves for foreground.
Shot at 1.4 on D3X...
No PP at all, no CA correction or the like, except a normal sharpening
First the whole image resized
Center of the frame at 100%
then the far sides of the frame at 100% on the left the floaters for the regatta are clearly defined all the way to the edge not much else to add, it's a impressive capture wide open, sore the Zeiss Othus is capable of surpassing this lens in numbers, but does it add anything...
Very pleasing rendering IMHO!
Obviously there is no issue at all with field curvature in this capture, on close to the near focus limit there is a nice curved convex field curvature very similar to the old Noct Nikkor!
Up really close on a small extension tube the image breaks up slightly in the corners and at the edge of the frame but it does so in a very nice transition.
I tend to shoot wide open or stopped down to f/5.6 for a nice dof over the image plane.

If you need corner to corner flat field close up and medium distances the by all means go with the Micro Nikkor 60mm AFS f/2.8 it's a tool made for it also with very nice background rendering.

[tommiejeep]

Erik, I certainly agree on the 60 2.8, I have the G.   I was never really happy with the 50 1.4 D or G and I'm not really a 50mm shooter.  The 60 2.8 is a very good lens, small and sharp with little distortion.  Makes a great travel lens.  I normally take the 58 1.4G out in the evenings with family, friends and some social events or on rainy days with interesting light.
Cheers,
Tom

[Fons Baerken]

One of my favourite lenses, here a casual portrait from last night iso 2540 @1.4 on Df

[chris dees]

I like this lens a lot, but I still struggle with the AF.
I have a lot more keepers with my 85 than with the 58.

My favourite subject, all at 1.4:
1 - fixing the bike
2 - making fun with/of granddad 
3 - taking the window in stead of the door
4 - too tired to eat