The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G is optimized to eliminate certain optical aberrations, but its sharpness is disappointing.

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

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

The AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G is an unusual lens, both in terms of its slightly eccentric focal length and its optical design philosophy. It's not especially sharp for a lens that's designed to be used at large apertures, but this is offset by the excellence of its images in almost every other...

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  Produces lovely-looking images almost all the time, Very low chromatic aberration, Lower-than-usual vignetting, Minimal coma, Lovely bokeh, Generally resistant to flare, Relatively fast, near-silent autofocus, Decent construction but lightweight

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  Decidedly soft wide open, especially on DX format cameras, Relatively bulky (compared to Nikkor 50mm F1.4s), Inconsistent autofocus, Very expensive

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...

Overall, the Nikon 58mm Æ’/1.4G AF-S Nikkor is a bit of a strange beast. Compared to its 50mm cousins, the 58mm Æ’/1.4G lens is very large and very expensive. And despite the very high $1,700 price tag, we found the image quality results a bit disappointing for a lens at this price point.

Perhaps I am naive but I admit when Zeiss announced their Otus 1.4/55 and Nikon – the Nikkor AF-S 58 mm f/1.4G I though we were going to deal with two lenses which were a match for each other.

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  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.

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  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...

Unfortunately, those expecting a lens that will slay all comers in a battle of the test charts, may be disappointed by the seemingly 'quite good' performance of this lens. Those simply looking for the highest level of sharpness in the centre of the frame at fast apertures, will do better spending...

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  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

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

At first, I have been as skeptical about this lens and it's price tag as many others. But now, after having used it for quite a few months I can say this:- The 58/1.4 is my first choice of lens whenever it makes sense to use it: portraits, events and street photography.

I was super skeptical about this lens. I owned the 50 f/1.8 for a few hundred bucks, why pay $1,300 more for 8mm more and 1/3 stop more light? It took 6-months to pull the trigger but the people who said there's just something about this lens beyond those two points (which weren't convincing), were...

First, this is a pricey lens. No doubt about that, but there are few lenses out there that can create such as this one with such a large aperture. The bokeh and the transition from perfectly to perfectly out of focus is thin and amazing. The lightness of this lens will throw you off as well.

Seriously, buy this lens.I used to swear by 50mm and now I swear by 58mmThe extra 8mm is a world of difference. If you are a portrait or wedding shooter, you should really consider this lens.

I have been on the fence for the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G lens for a while, but my only regret is that I didn't get it sooner. After some very minor AF tuning on my D750, it is by far my favorite lens.

I am really impressed with this lens. The design is flawless and the bokeh rivals zeiss (which I am a big fan of). The glass design is so beautifully crafted to give you a 3D look whilst using a wide open aperture.

This lens is amazing for street photography and even portraits of babies and children. Although it is optimized more for pleasing images over sharpness, it is still plenty sharp. While this lens is expensive, one look at images of children makes it obvious what the money went towards.

I'm a full-time commercial fashion photographer and wanted a focal length shorter than 85mm and longer than 50mm .. i thought this was it .. I shoot fashion mostly at f2.8-4.0 and I'm constantly walking around my subjects and moving with them.

Honestly still feeling this one out. It's fast and isn't dramatically soft as some other reviews reflect.It's definitely a unique lens - kind of like an 85mm and a 35mm had an artistic baby. I need to get out and play with it some more but admittedly since buying it I've kept it on my camera.

This lens will never nail the focus for me like it's cousin, the 85mm. Tried calibrating the focus according to the chart, brought it my local Nikon service and they send it to Nikon for adjusting, but still the same.