Nikon has announced the new Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G Lens, with an RRP of: £469.99 / €554.00, and an expected sales start date of the 22nd March 2012 (tbc). We went hands on with the new lens ...

The manual focus ring is covered in textured rubber, which makes it comfortable to grip and turn. A small window shows the set focus distance in feet and meters, along with the magnification factor.

The lens is consistently sharp, edge to edge being very even. Both centre and edge are very good from f/5.6 to f/16 and it is only beyond there that it softens. f/22 and f/32 are not as crisp, but ...

A camera is only as good as the lens mounted on the front of it — and Nikon’s 100+ year history has a tendency to lean towards excellent optics. From getting up close to the tiniest subjects to ...