We told you yesterday that an announcement on the rumored Nikkor 58mm F/1.4G could come as soon as today and what do you know, tonight Nikon announced their new D5300 consumer dslr as well as the rumored 58mm F/1.4G that we mentioned.

Nikon D5300

First off lets get the D5300 talk out of the way since it is pretty standard. The D5300 comes with WiFi connectivity, shoots 5fps, and has a 39-point AF system. Basically Nikon just released a stripped down D7100 in the D5200 body, just as the D5200 was just a stripped D7000 in a smaller body. It will make a great beginners dslr, but for anyone that wants a serious dslr the D5300 – just as its predecessor the D5200 was not – is not a serious option in my humble opinion.

If you are interested in more information on the Nikon D5300 you can find the full press release from Nikon here.

Now for the announcement that I was waiting for, the Nikkor 58mm F/1.4G. Many of you, as well as I, pointed out at 58mm was an odd focal length for a new F/1.4 prime lens considering the 50mm F/1.4G is still a fairly new lens. The key difference here between the two lenses, besides the obvious 8mm difference in focal length, is the superior quality of the 58mm F/1.4G. But as with anything, that superior quality comes at a pretty steep price increase.

Nikkor 58mm F/1.4G

Nikon’s new Nikkor 58mm F/1.4G will be available at the end of this month and will retail for $1,699 US. For comparisons sake, the Nikon 50mm F/1.4G is currently available for around $400, that is an enormous $1399 difference in price. Nikon is hoping that the highly superior optics and build quality on the 58mm are enough to sway you that direction, a hope that I think will fall on deaf ears.

That said, here are the specs on the new 58mm F/1.4G:

  • Filter Size: 72 mm
  • Focal Length: 58mm
  • Minimum Focus Distance: 0.58 m
  • Nano Crystal Coating: Yes
  • 9 elements in 6 groups
  • Max Aperture: f/1.4
  • Min Aperture: f/16
  • Weight: 385 g

Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-58mm-f1.4G-lens-MTF-chart Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-58mm-f1.4G-lens-construction

UPDATE: The Nikon D5300 and Nikkor 58mm F/1.4 are now available for pre-order through B&H. If you would like to pre-order the D5300 you can find that information here, or if you are interested in the 58mm F/1.4 you can find that here.

So what are your thoughts on these two announcements from Nikon? Is the D5300 more than what I make it out to be? Is the 58mm F/1.4G the best thing since sliced bread? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.