Ive been shooting with my D850 for years now and honestly I thought my kit was pretty much set but Ive been doing more studio work lately for a fashion brand in Chicago and Im starting to get really picky about sharpness. Ive been using the old 85mm f/1.4G which is great for that creamy look but man when I zoom in on these high res files the eyes just arent as tack sharp as I want them to be especially compared to some of the Z mount stuff my buddy is shooting.
Im not ready to switch to mirrorless yet because I have way too much glass invested but I need something that can actually resolve all those megapixels. I got a budget of about $1500 maybe $1800 if its really worth it for this upcoming winter catalog shoot I have in December. I was looking at these options:
- Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art
- Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Art
- Tamron 85mm f/1.8 SP VC
- Maybe the Nikon 105mm f/1.4E?
I've heard the Sigmas are absolute bricks to carry around all day which kind of scares me but if the glass is that much better I might just deal with the wrist pain. The Tamron has the stabilization which sounds nice for handheld stuff but is it actually sharper than my current Nikon 85? I just need that clinical edge-to-edge sharpness for these large prints. What do you guys think is actually the king of F-mount portrait glass right now?
The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G unfortunately just wasnt designed for 45.7-megapixel sensors. I had issues with spherical aberration wide open that really ruins the fine skin texture in high-end fashion work. If you need maximum resolving power, the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Nikon F is the only logical choice despite the weight. It is basically a lab instrument. The MTF performance is significantly higher than your current glass, especially near the edges where the older Nikons fall off. I found the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED is beautiful for portraits, but unfortunately it isnt as clinical as the Sigma Art series. It still has some character that might not satisfy your requirement for edge-to-edge sharpness in large prints. Get the 105mm Art. Its a brick, but it is the only way to actually resolve all those pixels on your D850.
