The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G is an eye-wateringly expensive standard prime lens that delivers very appealing image quality. The sharpness when shooting wide-open, even in the centre, isn't as good as we'd expected though, requiring you to stop-down to f/2.8 to obtain satisfactorily sharp...

I have for long stayed away from 50mm-ish lenses, considered them useful, relatively low cost, high speed (I also have a 1.4/50 Ai manual, and had a 1.8/50mm AF copy) workhorses Bread an butter lenses, but really not very useful for more 'artistic' pictures (I a.o.

Maybe no the sharpest wide open; but 'sharpness' isn't the only thing that counts/should count when looking at a picture (if so it would be much easier to take a great picture) Beautiful image rendering; equally; if not more stunning 'bokeh

Expensive; and rumored to become even more so ! Feels very light; especially considering the size; but fortunately the built quality really is no issue when shooting with it out in the field (or on the beach

The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G ($1,699.95) is a modern update on the classic Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 manual focus lens. Like the older lens, it's designed with a specialized purpose in mind: to minimize sagittal coma (illustrated below).

Design minimizes sagittal coma; Even illumination across the frame; Capable of a very shallow depth of field

Not that sharp at wider apertures; Some barrel distortion; No optical stabilization; Expensive

Gary Wolstenholme reviews this unique 58mm f/1.4G lens from Nikon designed for low light shooting.

Very good sharpness in the centre at f/1.4; Excellent sharpness when stopped down; Beautifully rendered out of focus backgrounds; Good control of coma flare; Very good contrast; Silent focusing

Large for a standard lens; Very expensive; Not the fastest focusing lens

While I hope to create a full Nikon 58mm f/1.4G AF-S Lens evaluation, my first priority is to include results from this lens in the lens comparison tools. This page currently exists because it is required by the database and content management systems for the posting of those standard test results.

This standard lens from Nikon costs around ￡1560 and sports a bright f/1.4 maximum aperture, silent focusing and nano-crystal coatings to help control ghosting and flare. The 58mm focal length is reminiscent of the old AI 'Noct' Nikkor that was designed specifically for shooting in low light with a...

I got my hands on one of the Nikon 58mm f/1.4g lenses. Check out some sample images and advice here. http://vigorotaku.blogspot.com/2013/12/nikon-58mm-14g.html Nikon 58mm f/1.4g at Vigorotaku.com I hope that you find this...

Excellent color rendition and bokeh

I got my hands on one of the Nikon 58mm f/1.4g lenses

A bit strange successor it is as the difference in aperture fastness is really conspicuous. Still there are some that claim that currently, with so high and still useful ISO values available in reflex cameras, the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.2 can be negligible.

high image quality in the frame centre from f/2.8; very good control of the lateral chromatic aberration; not bothersome distortion; very good coma correction in the corners of APS-C/DX; nice blur images; moderate vignetting; sensible work against bright light

too much plastics in the casing for a top-of-the-range 50 mm device which is supposed to be a successor of the Noct-Nikkor; weak image quality in the frame centre near the maximum relative aperture; very weak image quality on the edge of the frame; longitudinal chromatic aberration could have been...

This new 58mm f/1.4 G is one of Nikon's best 50mm-range lenses, but no better than the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G for one-quarter the price. This 58mm is a poser lens, intended to fill a vacant price point at the top of Nikon's lens line.

The problem with the 58mm f/1.4G really boils down to something simple: price/performance ratio. At US$1700 for a "normal" lens, you expect something outstanding, well beyond what you can get from the much lower priced f/1.4 and f/1.8 50mm lenses that are ubiquitous in the F mount.