Will the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D stick around?

By Mike Zawadzki, Technical Specialist

 Last night was very exciting.  It was great to be featured on NikonRumors.com and I hope to be able to review all of the New Nikon products soon.  We'll see what Nikon can do for us.  However in the mean time one thing I speculated on last night was the remaining life on the (still current) Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D lens.  Even though it is an older lens and only works with higher-end Nikon DSLR bodies, it is still a favorite among wedding and portrait photographers.  How long will it stick around?  Right now it is priced at $1,220, while the new AF-S 85mm f/1.4G will start selling at $1,699.

In the recent past Nikon has released the AF-S 50mm f/1.4G and the AF-S 60mm f/2.8G N Micro while retaining the older AF 50mm f/1.4D and 60mm f/2.8D Micro as active products.  While I can't make any promises, it certainly makes sense for Nikon to keep the older version around as a less expensive alternative.  And they are also at different enough price points for different kinds of customers.  It will be interesting to compare the two lenses and I anticipate the older version will be able to hold it's own.  However I also expect the new AF-S 85mm f/1.4G N to focus faster and have slightly better sharpness and contrast when shot wide open at f/1.4.  However if the older version is discontinued, buy one while you still can because the prices probably increase.  Stay tuned...