Nikon brings back well-respected 58mm prime lens

First launched in 1977, the Nikon 58mm f/1.2 Noct-Nikkor, which was discontinued in 1997, continues to attract second-hand buyers on eBay with the lens retailing at more than double its original price – putting it out of reach for many photographers.

No more, says Nikon, which is releasing later this month the AF-S NIKKOR 58mm f/1.4G, a homage to its celebrated ancestor. “Meticulously crafted to deliver exceptional imaging performance, this fast new prime lens is in a class of its own,” says Nikon.

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“The design concept pays homage to Nikon’s legendary Noct-Nikkor lens, while the brand new optical construction enables astounding sharpness, contrast, and resolution,” it adds. “With outstanding resolving capability, exquisite bokeh, and unbeatable performance when shooting wide-open, this is a distinctive lens for those pursuing the holy grail of low-light photography or who want a lens with a truly unique signature.”

Nikon says that the lens reduces sagittal coma flare “across the entire frame with the result that point light sources such as city lights are reproduced as fine rounded points, even at the periphery of the image, enabling unparalleled nightscapes.”

The corporation has also measured “the degree of resolution and bokeh across individual planes of the image (between foreground, focus plane, and background), to achieve the perfect balance of resolution and lens aberrations, resulting in a ‘three dimensional’ look that cannot be measured with MTF curves,” it claims. “The benefits extend to movies, too: when pulling focus, bokeh transitions incredibly smoothly, providing a unique advantage when it comes to filming atmospheric scenes.”

The lens will be available on 31 October, retailing at £1600.

Visit www.nikon.co.uk.