Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850

[MEPER]

Great but past analogue times...

I officially said goodbye HERE to the analog times (in my own photoblog)

https://www.fotogemeinschaft.de/the-long-good-bye-abgesang-auf-die-analogfotografie/358/

What have you done with your Nikkor 105/2.5 mounted on the F4?   .....that is your portrait lens!

I came relative late into the darkroom but had some few fun years with Ilfochrome......took a lot of time and money.....but I learned to work in 100% darkness......

[richardHaw]

https://richardhaw.com/2016/01/09/project-nikkor-85mm-f2-ai-s/

[f4-fan]

What have you done with your Nikkor 105/2.5 mounted on the F4?   .....that is your portrait lens!

I came relative late into the darkroom but had some few fun years with Ilfochrome......took a lot of time and money.....but I learned to work in 100% darkness......

As I have said before: I sold all Ai/Ai-s Nikkors.

I used some Nikkors (always adapted on digital Canon 5D I/II/III or analogue Nikons): My 'Problem' are the 46 MP of the D850...

Micro Nikkor Auto 55mm 3.5 (adapted on 22MP Canon really great surreal sharpness and good Bokeh; optical on 46MP D850 not bad but not so good as on 22MP - Bad Ai-Adaption destroyd some Parts of my D850)
Micro Nikkor 105mm f/4 (great cheap Makro on Canon 5D )
Micro Nikkor 55mm 2.8 Ai-s (good allrounder on 5D)
AF Micro Nikkor 55mm 2.8 Ai-s
Nikon 105, f/2.5 Ai/Ais (Ais Version of my lenses was optical better; Bokeh not perfect)
Nikon 105mm f/1.8 Ai-s (for me on 5D better than the 2.5 Version; Bokeh better...)
Nikon 50mm Ai-S 1.8 (my Version was bad on Canon)
Nikon 85mm 1.4 Ai-s (second best Portrait lens with Canon 5D MK 2)
Nikon 180mm 2.8 ED (Ai-S) (great Bokeh and great colors on 22 MP; for D850 perhaps not ideal without VR...)
AF Nikkor 180 mm 1:2,8D IF-ED (older Ai-s ED was optical better for me on 5D MK 2)
+++

Canon 85mm 1.2 II (better than all mentioned Nikkors; NOT better than the new Nikkor 105mm 1.4)
Zeiss Distagon 35mm 1.4 (better than all Nikkors)
Zeiss Milvus 35mm 1.4 (best manual 35mm; perfect Bokeh, Rendering and Sharpness; close-up limit 30cm therefore also great atmosheric images in the middle close-up range; great for portraits that include the living and working environment )
Zeiss Makroplanar 100mm 2.0 (ZE on Canon 22MP) for me better than all above mentioned Nikon Makros (Colors, Sharpness, Universality, 3D Effekt..., Bokeh etc.)

And yes - I also had a lot fun with searching the ultimative Film-developer-Kombination, which I never found... 
Microdol, D-76, Perceptol, ... Ilford, Tri-X etc... Scanning...



 

[F2F3F6]

So many choices for Nikon shooters ! My opinion on a few ones I had (or have kept*)
1,8/85K Ai-modified*: a bit soft wide open and prone to flare; getting better at 2,8 and really (very) good from 4-5,6 to 11. Nice handling, long and precise focus throw.
2/85: even softer (until 5,6-8) and somehow nervous bokeh. I had the Ais. Good at medium apertures and very good handling (compact as a 50mm) but not so good contrast, nor bokeh.
2,5/105 P, P-C* or Ai/Ais: better bokeh and very good from 4. I had a few of them, always good or very good. Bokeh can be very good (depends on what is behind the subject)...
1,4/85 Ais: nice contrast from 2-2,8 but a bit soft at 1,4-2
1,4/85AFD*: my preferred 85, very good wide ope (1,4-4), very creamy bokeh...alas a bit CA on highlights at 1,4 until 2,8 (IF design). Not too bulky, good
2/105 AFD-DC*: also a very good performer; perhaps a bit better bokeh than 2,5/105 (but CA on highlights, like 1,4/85AFD)

1,4/85G and 105E AFS: not yet tried, 105 seems a bit bulky (but not so compared to the Sigma !); very good advices and opinions here on NG and on many blogs/ forums...

Some pictures: on Df: 1)  2,5/105 P-C at f:4; 2)  2,5/105 P-C at f:5,6 (close);3) 3,5/135 Ai at f:3,5; 4) 3,5/135 Ai at f:4 cropped; On D700: 5) 2/105DC at 2,8; 6) 2/105 DC at 3,2

[MEPER]

I like picture no. 4 best…...the BW picture of the birds. Both sharp and nice bokeh…..and that was the 135/3.5...…

[Jack Dahlgren]

As I have said before: I sold all Ai/Ai-s Nikkors.

I used some Nikkors (always adapted on digital Canon 5D I/II/III or analogue Nikons): My 'Problem' are the 46 MP of the D850...

Micro Nikkor Auto 55mm 3.5 (adapted on 22MP Canon really great surreal sharpness and good Bokeh; optical on 46MP D850 not bad but not so good as on 22MP - Bad Ai-Adaption destroyd some Parts of my D850)
Micro Nikkor 105mm f/4 (great cheap Makro on Canon 5D )
Micro Nikkor 55mm 2.8 Ai-s (good allrounder on 5D)
AF Micro Nikkor 55mm 2.8 Ai-s
Nikon 105, f/2.5 Ai/Ais (Ais Version of my lenses was optical better; Bokeh not perfect)
Nikon 105mm f/1.8 Ai-s (for me on 5D better than the 2.5 Version; Bokeh better...)
Nikon 50mm Ai-S 1.8 (my Version was bad on Canon)
Nikon 85mm 1.4 Ai-s (second best Portrait lens with Canon 5D MK 2)
Nikon 180mm 2.8 ED (Ai-S) (great Bokeh and great colors on 22 MP; for D850 perhaps not ideal without VR...)
AF Nikkor 180 mm 1:2,8D IF-ED (older Ai-s ED was optical better for me on 5D MK 2)
+++

Canon 85mm 1.2 II (better than all mentioned Nikkors; NOT better than the new Nikkor 105mm 1.4)
Zeiss Distagon 35mm 1.4 (better than all Nikkors)
Zeiss Milvus 35mm 1.4 (best manual 35mm; perfect Bokeh and Sharpness)
Zeiss Makroplanar 100mm 2.0 (ZE on Canon 22MP) for me better than all above mentioned Nikon Makros (Colors, Sharpness, Universality, 3D Effekt..., Bokeh etc.)

And yes - I also had a lot fun with searching the ultimative Film-developer-Kombination, which I never found... 
Microdol, D-76, Perceptol, ... Ilford, Tri-X etc... Scanning...

I wonder if you might be better off with a Z6 if you are doing a lot of macro work and like to use other lenses. It gives a lot more flexibility to adapt lenses. The lenses for the Z cameras are quite good. Some would say better than the nikkor which came before.

[simsurace]

My 'Problem' are the 46 MP of the D850...
optical on 46MP D850 not bad but not so good as on 22MP

Did you compare at the same output size?

[Fons Baerken]

No mention of the 70, 80-200mm f/2.8 zooms.

[the solitaire]

Fons, for someone as critical on lens performance as F4 fan here, I did not mention the zooms because they do really lack compared to the primes.

I found the 80-200 f4 Ai-S good on the D800, but resolution stays behind compared to the primes listed here. I can take a perfectly sharp photo, but at 100% magnification it still seems slightly soft.

I have not tried the 70-200 f4, but that would be the first candidate to meet the criteria listed.

The 80-200 f2,8 AF and AF-D and AF-D two ring are not exactly sharp wide open. They are T3,5 wide open though. I found bokeh of the 135 f3,5 more pleasing then that of the AF and AF-D lenses, and even that does not seem to satisfy our OP here.

As for the 70-200's. I always find them a mixed bag. Best bokeh can be had at closer range, but exactly that is where the VRII version acts more like a 135mm then a 200mm.

So for the "I want a 85 f1,2 for Nikon" crowd, I figured the zooms didn't really need to be mentioned. That said, the zooms perform excellent on D3's, D4's and Df's and I sold my perfectly sharp 200mm f4 Nikkor-Q.C in favor of the 80-200 f4 Ai-S because I could not discern enough of a difference between the two to keep both

[Fons Baerken]

Just because i have seen many fine portraits with the above mentioned zooms, anyway.

[F2F3F6]

I like picture no. 4 best…...the BW picture of the birds. Both sharp and nice bokeh…..and that was the 135/3.5...…

Thank you MEPER ! Yes the humble 3,5/135 Ai...and cropped (it represents 50% of the picture)!

[MEPER]

I wonder if you can generalize that all Nikkor-Q's has nice bokeh…..may not be the sharpest lenses…….but sharp enough…..especially in the center which is fine for portraits.
Tessars also render nice "out of focus" …..as far as I remember…...

[Nasos Kosmas]

I don’t know what actually searching for
I did some testing with my D750 and the 80-200 2.8AF compared with the 85 1.8 G  and the results were more pleasant with the zoom just because of the less sharpness of the zoom
With the zoom I noticed that shooting in 135-140 mm f 5.6  the final result was very good in terms of limited depth of field
The only issue is that zoom  lens physical dimension is a little scary for the others except the photographer

[Erik Lund]

Actually the 80-200mm AF-S 2.8 could do the job for sure.


It has the AF speed and accuracy also plenty sharp and bokeh is great.


Thinking VR is needed, surely that is a mistake, the D850 needs a fast shutter speed to avoid motion blur, that can not be ignored if any consistentensy is needed.


The jump from F4 with film to D850 is huge!


Sorry to hear your trouble with badly AI modified lenses, must have been very badly done 
Well it's apparently a well known issue that many of us have seen over the years, however dur to other reasons

[the solitaire]

The 80-200 AF-S f2,8 is the only one I have not tried. At the time I bought my AF-D I found the price of the AF-S prohibiting. On the D300 and D3 the AF-D f2,8 zoom performed excellent. On the D800, it was sharp up until about the 170mm setting of the zoom ring. From there on it was not sharp wide open. It was at f4 again.

As for badly modified non-Ai lenses, fortunately I never had issues with that because I modified my own lenses and made sure to remove enough material to prevent pressure or rubbing.