The Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G
I did it. I tried not to...but this lens is that good. I bucked up and bought the 58G.
I received a loaner from B&H to test and review for SLR Lounge, which I kept for a month and shot extensively. It had some focusing issues out of the box which led to a lot of frustration for the first week or so, but with the focusing fixed, I found myself slowly learning just how special this lens really is. The biggest problem...the price. In order for me to even consider buying this lens at $1700, it would have to really be something special.
I sent the lens back to B&H, one week later, fighting the urge to buy one...I rented one from Borrowlenses.com for a week of shooting. I tried my best to not love this lens, but the more I shot with it, in all different conditions...the more I loved it. I would throw my other lenses on and they just didn't have the same look. Theres something special about the images that this lens produces, and something I have never seen from any other lens. Two days ago, I placed my order, and now I am the very happy owner of my own 58mm f/1.4G.
The funny thing is, it will probably rarely be mounted on my D800E, it seems to be the perfect match for the Nikon Df. One reason is the size and weight, it just has a nice balance to it when mounted on the Df. The 2nd reason is, when using it on my D800E, the images don't seem to have the same magic. This lens and the sensor of the Df just seem to work perfect together.
Shot wide open, the 58mm f/1.4G has a very unique look, the smoothest bokeh I've seen, and a shallow DOF that rivals the f/1.2 lenses of the Canon L series. I wont go into anymore about my love for this lens since I wrote in two seperate reviews, take a look