TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Fine tune the MFA for the lens, and then, if the problem persists, consider reducing the shutter speed and increasing the fstop a little. No way you need 1/2500. 1/500 or at most 1/1000 will be plenty adequate, and increasing the fstop (decreasing the aperture) to maybe f4 will still isolate the subject and give you enough DOF to get the whole dog in focus.

Ob1 Loc: Utah

I shoot with a Sony G master 85 1.4 lens, my go to portrait lens. It is simply amazing but the DOF is so shallow that 10 feet is the minimum distance to get a clear facial image. 15-20 feet works better, I would try that with the smallest focal point on your camera. There is no way the entire muzzle will be in focus unless you are at least 20 feet. You might want to check a dof calculator. That will get you a little closer. This is always fun to experiment with. Lens fine tuning is always a good thing to do but it takes a great deal of time. Have fun, a great exercise, you will love the lens once you get it figured out.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

You have made me feel better already! I realize that 1.4 is quite shallow so I will try backing away further and see what happens. I'm looking at the Focus Pyramid to calibrate my lens? It is cheap but looks like it could help.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

The lens is good. Its a DOF problem....If you insist on f.20 then it will be soft.......the ground is sharp at the front feet and his head is good. It gets soft in the back......Did you spot focus on the eyes.....The photo is good, just a shallow DOF....it looks sharp at the focus point....Try manual focus. move back to 20 feet away and the DOF will be 2 feet, or go to f4.. Its a DOF problem.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

its not the lens......its a DOF problem......try f4. Or back up to 20 feet.

CO

UHH members have given great advice. There's one other thing to consider. At f/2 the lens is not in its sharpest range. LensTip.com does extensive lens testing. Here are their test results for image resolution for the Nikon 85mm f/1.4. It's the best around f/4 to f/5.6 where it resolves about 45 line pairs per millimeter.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

I really did want most of the picture soft except the head so I realize DOF is going to be shallow. I tried backing up 20ft and the face is still soft but the grass in front is sharp so I will try the lens calibration route.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

That will be educational for you. I kinda went through the same thing with my Sigma Art 85 f/1.4. It ended with my adjusting technique and setting the lens back to factory specs. I recognize there are many avenues to follow with this. I’m simply stating my chosen path, but I learned from the process.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Shoot at F2.8 or 4 and you will see shallow depth of field. Try it and prove me wrong.

Bill_de Loc: US

I recently did a fine tune that became necessary after Nikon worked on the lens. It was front focusing and after going through the procedure as outlined by Steve Perry. It worked.

But, when I put the lens on another camera that did not have "AUTO" fine tune I found it just as easy to go into the menu and go one increment at a time until my normal subjects were coming out right. If the sharp focus is closer to the camera than the eye you are focusing on just keep going + 1 until the eye is sharp. It is just an adjustment in the menu that it easily changed and can be turned on and off. It makes no changes to the lens itself.

After each shot, zoom in on the LCD screen and move the image around to see what is actually in focus.

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Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

Try this: 1 use manual focus, 2 on the back, push that little LV button, 3 Next button up, turn to L and push the OK until the image is at 100%. Check your focus there against auto focus. You may just be focusing at the wrong location.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Auto focus on the yes? Are you spot focusing or using evaluative? Just got what lens? Not enough information to really help. I would find an online DOF calculator, plug in camera, specific lens and distance from object and understand how thin your DOF is.

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

This app is very helpful for the iPhone........https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simple-dof-calculator/id301222730?mt=8. My best results for portraiture with my 50MM f1.8 are f2.5-2.8 at 10', filling the frame at f1.8 at 4-6' makes our dog's eyes in focus but not his nose on my D7100.

JPL

I do not know what is the problem or how to solve it. But I have some experience with focus points. They are often too large to focus on something like a dogs eye when the nose is very close to the path from you to the eye. Meaning the camera will be focusing on the nose when you think you are focusing on the eye. I do not know how the D750 handles this problem but some of my Nikon cameras do this all the time. It is one of the reasons I like the Sony full frame mirrorless so well, there I can focus accurately with high precision of the focus.

Maybe you should try not to focus on the eye but somethin a bit further from the nose at the same distance as the eye, maybe the ear of the dog and hope you get more luck.

On the second picture it would have been better to try focus on the tip of the nose, since the ear is probably disturbing the focus system in focus on the eye. And the nose is about the same distance from the camera as the eye.

And then you must remember to use only one focus point in a situation like this, if you are using multiple focus points you will focus on what is nearest to the camera.

I doubt this is a DOF problem since you should have about 14 centimeters or almost 6 inches in focus if you manage to focus on the eyes. Maybe the lens is just far off or the camera has too large focus points to avoid focusing on something else than the eyes at that distance.

One thing to check is if you get better results if you are closer to the dog. Try a closeup at 5 feet away, focus on they eyes and check the results. The eyes will fill the focus point much better so if you are still not getting the focus right it is probably something else than the focus point.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

This is only my observation. In the first shot the focus appears to be on the nose. In the second shot the focus in on the left ear. You tell us that you focused on the eyes and if that is indeed what you did your lens is off and most probably needs AF calibration.
What I would do is to take the lens, if under warranty, to a Nikon authorized service station with your camera to have it calibrated. You have an enough high shutter speed in both shots to justify sharpness.
Although AF can be calibrated by you, assuming you know how to do it, I would prefer having a reputable technician do the job. His instruments are going to be better than yours and his calibration will be to factory specifications.