On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 12:15:48 GMT, clixSpamless@xeropix.com wrote:

>Opinions please. Is there a significant performance difference between a

>1.8 lens and a 1.4 lens that would make it worth the difference in price?

>Lenses in question: Nikon 85mm f1.8D and Nikon 85mm f1.4D. Thank you.

The difference is in the amount of light potentially

passed by the lens (here only 2/3rds of one stop) - and

faster lenses are more difficult to make for equal

image quality, so the slower lens is often both better

and cheaper (and lighter and smaller), unless marketing

decisions make the cheaper lens worse in image quality...

The 85mm f1.8 AF Nikkor is one of the few very best

lenses around, being sharp to the corners even wide open,

even at most focus distances (with a good sample - though

there is little sample variation with this lens...).

See for more: www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html.