Home > Consumer Reviews > Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens
Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens
See it at Amazon.com for $889.95Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share136 of 141 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent lens and great value too.
(5 out of 5) by projectmgr on Mar 28, 2006 (san mateo, ca)Ok, I have had this lens a couple of months now.
What at first seemed like a very good lens is now one I consider
exceptional. In fact it is now my favorite for several reasons.
First of all this lens consistently produces beautiful, even toned and complimentory Bokeh to my images. Bokeh is that term used to describe the elements of a photograph that are out of focus.
This lens has an extremely short depth of field and performs best on close subjects after f/5.6.
My observation of the VR function is this.... that Nikon intended that feature to be more useful when this lens is used for portraits. Up close and for sure when using the wider apertures depth of field is so brief that you need to stop down to capture the breadth of a bumble bee or the center of a flower completely in focus.
In either application this is destined to be a favorite Nikkor lens for many of us. For me it is already!
Focus is very fast and quiet. Build quality is solid! Hefty when held alone or nicely balanced on the D200 with MB200 battery dual battery holder.
I like the lens shade a lot and the packaging is as always, first rate. Comes with 5 year extended warranty, velvet pouch and front and rear caps.
If I could only take one lens this would be it without hesitation.
Matches up extremely well with the SB800 flash units.
I predict this will become a legendary portrait lens.
Good luck!
What at first seemed like a very good lens is now one I consider
exceptional. In fact it is now my favorite for several reasons.
First of all this lens consistently produces beautiful, even toned and complimentory Bokeh to my images. Bokeh is that term used to describe the elements of a photograph that are out of focus.
This lens has an extremely short depth of field and performs best on close subjects after f/5.6.
My observation of the VR function is this.... that Nikon intended that feature to be more useful when this lens is used for portraits. Up close and for sure when using the wider apertures depth of field is so brief that you need to stop down to capture the breadth of a bumble bee or the center of a flower completely in focus.
In either application this is destined to be a favorite Nikkor lens for many of us. For me it is already!
Focus is very fast and quiet. Build quality is solid! Hefty when held alone or nicely balanced on the D200 with MB200 battery dual battery holder.
I like the lens shade a lot and the packaging is as always, first rate. Comes with 5 year extended warranty, velvet pouch and front and rear caps.
If I could only take one lens this would be it without hesitation.
Matches up extremely well with the SB800 flash units.
I predict this will become a legendary portrait lens.
Good luck!
71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
Serious Flower Power
(5 out of 5) by Girard C. V. Dulay on May 31, 2006 (Philippines)Pros: Excellent image quality, excellent build, excellent VR implementation
Cons: pricey, shortens focal length when focusing close, max aperture goes down to f/4.8 at closest focusing distance
Impressively, the Nikon 105/2.8 VR shows center and corner sharpness through the entire aperture range. The sweet spot is said to be between f/5.6 to f/11, but inspecting 100% crops did not reveal much loss of sharpness at the larger apertures. This probably has a good deal to do with the ED glass element and Nano Crystal coating showing its worth, but it is also probable that the lens outresolves the 6-megapixel APS-C sensor on the test body (a Nikon D50), so any decrease in sharpness is not as apparent.
Likewise, color and contrast are also consistently well rendered through the range of apertures. The only flaws in this gem are flaring and chromatic aberration, which shows up in high contrast scenes from maximum aperture (f/2.8) and is minimized by f/5.6. This is, however, typical of many large aperture lenses at maximum aperture.
Bokeh is one of the best traits of this lens, pretty much up there with some of the best Nikkor lenses, like the 85/1.4 AF-D. Out of focus areas are smooth, and the 9-bladed diaphragm helps to render out of focus point lights as circles rather than harsh geometric shapes.
My complete review, with sample photos and more detail on VR effect, AF and effective aperture, is on my webpage, check it out!
Cons: pricey, shortens focal length when focusing close, max aperture goes down to f/4.8 at closest focusing distance
Impressively, the Nikon 105/2.8 VR shows center and corner sharpness through the entire aperture range. The sweet spot is said to be between f/5.6 to f/11, but inspecting 100% crops did not reveal much loss of sharpness at the larger apertures. This probably has a good deal to do with the ED glass element and Nano Crystal coating showing its worth, but it is also probable that the lens outresolves the 6-megapixel APS-C sensor on the test body (a Nikon D50), so any decrease in sharpness is not as apparent.
Likewise, color and contrast are also consistently well rendered through the range of apertures. The only flaws in this gem are flaring and chromatic aberration, which shows up in high contrast scenes from maximum aperture (f/2.8) and is minimized by f/5.6. This is, however, typical of many large aperture lenses at maximum aperture.
Bokeh is one of the best traits of this lens, pretty much up there with some of the best Nikkor lenses, like the 85/1.4 AF-D. Out of focus areas are smooth, and the 9-bladed diaphragm helps to render out of focus point lights as circles rather than harsh geometric shapes.
My complete review, with sample photos and more detail on VR effect, AF and effective aperture, is on my webpage, check it out!
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
The reason for switch!
(5 out of 5) by R. Lanthier on Feb 20, 2008 (Vienna, VA United States)Late last summer, I wondered why Canon and Nikon had such control over the DSLR market. I had been a Konica Minolta 5D user. I went to a camera store and tried the Canon 30D and a bunch of lenses... okay... Nice... Then tried with the D200 with among others the 105VR. I love to shoot macro/close-up and shooting with this lens just blew me away in the store. I knew then that I had to change and began the task of selling off all my gear and making the move to Nikon.
The 105VR is such a a useful lens. VR is not that useful at macro level focusing. But this lens also doubles as a very good short tele, and VR is VERY helpful in those situations!
In this crop of lenses for Nikon mount (Tamron 90, Sigma 105, & Tokina 100) there is two areas where it excels: 1) the 105VR is constant length and when you are this close to things, it makes a difference; 2) AF-S (quiet focusing). The others really do extend quite a bit, you'll be surprised it you are not used to it. Optically it is superb as sharp or sharper than the competition. Solid construction, large snap on shade. This lens is a winner.
The 105VR is such a a useful lens. VR is not that useful at macro level focusing. But this lens also doubles as a very good short tele, and VR is VERY helpful in those situations!
In this crop of lenses for Nikon mount (Tamron 90, Sigma 105, & Tokina 100) there is two areas where it excels: 1) the 105VR is constant length and when you are this close to things, it makes a difference; 2) AF-S (quiet focusing). The others really do extend quite a bit, you'll be surprised it you are not used to it. Optically it is superb as sharp or sharper than the competition. Solid construction, large snap on shade. This lens is a winner.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
Too Pricy for the Non-Professional? NO!
(5 out of 5) by VTcamski on Mar 30, 2008 (Vermont)I ordered this lens and developed buyer's remorse while awaiting delivery. It is expensive, I'm an amateur, and I thought maybe I was spoiling myself beyond justification. When it arrived, I popped it on my D40x (just to see what it could do before returning it) and snapped off a few pictures of my daughter.
Wow. One look at those casually set up shots and I knew this lens wasn't going anywhere. The detail is so acute, the skin tones so alive, the bokeh so elegantly superior to my other lenses that I feel like I've suddenly elevated my whole game. We had a classic Vermont ice storm the next day, and I went out and shot close ups (twigs encased in ice, frozen buds, etc.) and the results were equally impressive.
It's a beefy lens, but one I don't want to be without, so it's time to upgrade my camera bag.
The price may give you pause, but the results won't. It's an excellent value.
Wow. One look at those casually set up shots and I knew this lens wasn't going anywhere. The detail is so acute, the skin tones so alive, the bokeh so elegantly superior to my other lenses that I feel like I've suddenly elevated my whole game. We had a classic Vermont ice storm the next day, and I went out and shot close ups (twigs encased in ice, frozen buds, etc.) and the results were equally impressive.
It's a beefy lens, but one I don't want to be without, so it's time to upgrade my camera bag.
The price may give you pause, but the results won't. It's an excellent value.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
Fantastic macro lens.
(5 out of 5) by Cajie B on Apr 11, 2008 (Kuwait)I wanted a macro lens. After doing a bit of research, there was no mistaking that this was one of the best that Nikon has to offer in terms of macro photography. There are a few things you need to be aware of this lens though.
1. Variable aperture. This was a shock to me. All my fast lenses (read: fixed aperture lenses) stay fast regardless of zoom or focus distance. So when I open my 80-200 f2.8 wide to it's max aperture of 2.8, it remains 2.8 unless I explicity change it. Not so with this baby. The max aperture is determined by "focus distance", so the closer you focus, the harder it is to achieve the stated f2.8 aperture. It's really a sort of a variable aperture lens.
2. Very painstaking to focus. This is a AF-S (silent wave motor) lens. All my previous experiences with AF-S lenses is that they focus silently and very very fast. This is not true for macro lenses. Because it's focusing range is so great, I found that the lens was hunting like crazy (very silently, of course). There is a focus-limit selector that you can set if you know the focus range is more than 0.5 meters (this limits the focusing from 0.5 meters to infinity but prevents macro focusing). The focus-limit switch speeds up the focusing a bit; but don't expect to whip up this lens and take the "candid moment" shot.
3. Shallow DOF. My Sigma 30mm f1.4 has a very shallow depth-of-field but then again, it's not a macro lens and cannot focus very close. This little baby has such a shallow DOF that even a tiny change in distance from camera to subject will throw the focus off.
Of course, none of these are limitations. They are basically features attributed to macro lenses. You just have to get adjusted to it.
And this is the best of the bunch. If you want to dabble in macro photography and are thinking of buying a macro lens, just go ahead and pick up one. Money well spent.
1. Variable aperture. This was a shock to me. All my fast lenses (read: fixed aperture lenses) stay fast regardless of zoom or focus distance. So when I open my 80-200 f2.8 wide to it's max aperture of 2.8, it remains 2.8 unless I explicity change it. Not so with this baby. The max aperture is determined by "focus distance", so the closer you focus, the harder it is to achieve the stated f2.8 aperture. It's really a sort of a variable aperture lens.
2. Very painstaking to focus. This is a AF-S (silent wave motor) lens. All my previous experiences with AF-S lenses is that they focus silently and very very fast. This is not true for macro lenses. Because it's focusing range is so great, I found that the lens was hunting like crazy (very silently, of course). There is a focus-limit selector that you can set if you know the focus range is more than 0.5 meters (this limits the focusing from 0.5 meters to infinity but prevents macro focusing). The focus-limit switch speeds up the focusing a bit; but don't expect to whip up this lens and take the "candid moment" shot.
3. Shallow DOF. My Sigma 30mm f1.4 has a very shallow depth-of-field but then again, it's not a macro lens and cannot focus very close. This little baby has such a shallow DOF that even a tiny change in distance from camera to subject will throw the focus off.
Of course, none of these are limitations. They are basically features attributed to macro lenses. You just have to get adjusted to it.
And this is the best of the bunch. If you want to dabble in macro photography and are thinking of buying a macro lens, just go ahead and pick up one. Money well spent.