Nikon 85mm f1.4
- Thread starter ezhang
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It's not really sunny with harsh sunlight, if so then the flare problem may not be that serious because you can avoid the sun. It looks more like flare due to scattered light. The 35/1.4 is the same also. All it need is some stray scattered light that shines on the front element, you will get a flare problem. TS already mentioned sky is overcast.
Bright cloudy conditions is quite a difficult condition because light comes from everywhere. A lens hood would definitely help. Plus the lack of shadows can make everything look quite flat.
Din notice it was shot at ISO500 though. But again it should not matter because at f/1.4 the lens is still sensitive to flare because if the lighting is diffused everywhere, the amount striking the front element of the lens and the amount of light striking the subjects would be quite similar, so the flare would still be quite constant. In this case, yes, reducing the ISO and using flash would help.
In the first image in #3, exposure actually looks ok just that the the colours seemed a little washed out. Won't say the lighting is exactly good, but it should be adequate, just that it is one of those typical boring low contrast kind of lighting due to an overcast sky.
Always learn to use a hood with fast lenses. It definitely helps. If you want to simulate the situation you can try use a large softbox overhead same distance from the subject and the lens in the studio, then shoot one with a hood, one without and compare the contrast, even though the softbox is not in view. ;p The situation would not be that drastic if you only have the light pointed towards the subject. I'm wondering if TS is using a filter on the lens as well.
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Kimura_papaya
New Member
what i am trying to explain here is, if u shoot at F1.4, obviously u get very contrast image if you are closer enough to your subject. but relatively, the risk to blur ur subject is high as well bcos DOF is shallow relatively.
if u read careful my explaination, i mentioned every nikon lens has its character, when shooting at F4.0 to 8.0 range, the performances is ensured sharp.
chill man, we are just exchanging info.
chisiang
Senior Member
ok... I think a lot of those who commented really don't know much.
Those commented on shallow DOF is tricky for AF:
DOF is not solely determined by the aperture alone. The focal length and distance to subject will affect DOF. Since it is a prime, focal length is out of questions. At the distance from the group photo or the solo subject, there are able distance for DOF. A really really shallow DOF is when the eye lash appear sharp, but the nose is out of focus.
For those who commented on wasting time with the F1.4 and rather get a F1.8:
I think a lens to you is just numbers on the aperture settings. You forgot about the constructions and the elements of the lens. For a very brief basic comparison, the F1.8 has only got 6 elements organised in 6 groups, while the F1.4 has 9 elements arranged in 8 groups. I think those who read too much of those stuff from Ken Rockwell falls into this category... "why spend three times as much for 2/3 stop?"
And finally, for TS, the reason why your photos' colours appeared washed out, is embarrassingly because they are over exposed, and possibly made worst by the in cam D-Lightings.
The face are blown out of highlights. And the first sign of overexposure will be that the black robs they wore became a dark blue rob. A quick check on highlights and histogram should confirm this in your camera.
Don't get discouraged. Keep practising. Nobody is born to use the F1.4. :sweat:
Those commented on shallow DOF is tricky for AF:
DOF is not solely determined by the aperture alone. The focal length and distance to subject will affect DOF. Since it is a prime, focal length is out of questions. At the distance from the group photo or the solo subject, there are able distance for DOF. A really really shallow DOF is when the eye lash appear sharp, but the nose is out of focus.
For those who commented on wasting time with the F1.4 and rather get a F1.8:
I think a lens to you is just numbers on the aperture settings. You forgot about the constructions and the elements of the lens. For a very brief basic comparison, the F1.8 has only got 6 elements organised in 6 groups, while the F1.4 has 9 elements arranged in 8 groups. I think those who read too much of those stuff from Ken Rockwell falls into this category... "why spend three times as much for 2/3 stop?"
And finally, for TS, the reason why your photos' colours appeared washed out, is embarrassingly because they are over exposed, and possibly made worst by the in cam D-Lightings.
The face are blown out of highlights. And the first sign of overexposure will be that the black robs they wore became a dark blue rob. A quick check on highlights and histogram should confirm this in your camera.
Don't get discouraged. Keep practising. Nobody is born to use the F1.4. :sweat:
Kimura_papaya
New Member
god one :thumbsup:
finally, some one who offers encourage after hitting out ...:thumbsup:
for moment, i thought i was witnessing some kind of dragon slaying movie
actually, i was really wondering if a hood will make that much of a difference, considering the 85mm hood is miserably small.
Hood would definitely help although we can get away without hood sometimes.
In fact even a simple lousy filter can make a difference.
I think it should help. Most of the time flare is caused by light hitting the tangent or close to the tangent of the lens surface, illuminating the irregularities of the surface itself. Not so much for light striking in normal to the surface because those will get refracted and absorbed by the tube if it's not within the angle of view of the lens. The angle of view of the 85mm is quite narrow, so if a larger hood is required, Nikon would have made it larger.
Everytime I scroll back to the images, the first thing that screams at me is flare....
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Yes, a cheap filter can make a big difference (in the negative aspect) in this kind of condition.. that's why I'm wondering if TS had a filter on.
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Yup, had the 85mm hood on and also had a simple Hoya Pro1 clear filter on.
Hood is especially important if the front element is huge.
Hmmm.. With hood and filter and the image still looks flary... :think: Did you use D-Lighting?
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lsisaxon,
c?he had the hood on.
that's why i think with /without hood, the difference, is insignificant.
psychobiologist
Senior Member
you must have been standing very far away to shoot this :bsmilie:
expect loss of contrast wide open anyway, there isnt many lenses that can give you good contrast on the len's widest.
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