180mm Advise

[Chris399]

What are your thoughts in Nikons 180mm 2.8 AF ED lens. Quality, Sharpness, etc?

Picture taken through dirty window - The lens seems to have some front focus

Thanks

Chris

 

[Markw]

A+.

Mark

 

[SamSpade1941]

A+.

Mark

This , one of the best lenses ever made. I traded I had the non AF version and remember thinking I was going to have to trade one of my kidneys for it. Awesome glass , awesome focal length I like it better than the 200 . Come to think of it . Just awesome..

 

[Chris399]

I will post pics to night of one I have located and intend to buy.

Thanks for the feedback

Chris

 

[Chris399]

Decided to buy the lens. Added a picture to orginal post.

 

[Heitz]

do you say that the lens has a front focus or the camera has a front focus? I don't quite get it because I have a lens that will back focus on a D800 but not otherwise. Anyway my impression is that this pic is either slow shutter speed or wide open -- its slightly soft

 

[Overread]

I'd get some shots without the window in the way; bad glass between the sensor and the subject has been shown to cause some problems with AF from time to time (general case where you find this is when people have very low grade UV filters fitted). A 45degree angle to a flat test subject (eg a ruler) would be ideal - giving you a chance to not only see where the focus lands, but also gauge how bad any focusing errors are.

Remember all camera+lens setups are a combination of the two elements, so many times both can be within their manufacture tolerances, but slight differences result in the combined setup having a lower than expected quality; even though neither unit itself is defective (this is why lens corrections often require that the body(ies) are sent in with the lens).

Note newer camera bodies are getting AF micro adjust features so that you can adjust for minor back or front focusing errors yourself without having to send a lens into the camera company for repair.

 

[Chris399]

Heitz and Overread

I think both of you are correct. Yes, shot the lens wide open 2.8 and therefore the softness. I did focus, or tried, on the eye. In retrospect I would have been better off upping the ISO and stepping down the aperture. I have a 50mm lens that on my D700 needed to be adjusted so I will work on this one as well. Overall, for the price I am quite pleased with this addition.

Thanks for all of the help

Chris.

 

[Derrel]

Slow to focus in AF...also, uses old, kludgy Auto/Manual focus switch which needs to be disengaged in order to focus by hand. Very "1984" design ethos. Desperately needs a design refresh.

Tends to have purple fringing around the outlines of some objects which are seen against strong backlighting, or on the surface of bright surfaces, like water, metallic chrome, etc,etc. I own two of them...one AF, the other AF-D, both immaculate, both have the SAME issues. On the plus side--very lightweight and compact for the length, very good image quality. Again--NOT a speed demon in terms of focusing...