manual focus 105mm's

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drdrew
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p.1 #1 · manual focus 105mm's

looking for a 105 for landscape....think sharp stopped down. dont want or need autofocus. so the contenders are the 105/2.5, the 105/4 micro, or the 105/2.8 micro. thoughts? lighter weight would be a plus but not at the expense of performance. thanks!

Aug 16, 2012 at 01:48 PM

Matt OHarver
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p.1 #2 · manual focus 105mm's

The best no doubt, and very light is the 105MM F2.5 AIS

MJO_7483 by MattOphotog, on Flickr

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:02 PM

jhinkey
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p.1 #3 · manual focus 105mm's

105/2.5 AIS on my D800 continues to be my most used landscape lens. It has very even sharpness across the frame and at f/4 or f/5.6 is sharp enough for the D800. It's only fault is that it does not do super well with flare when pointed into the sun (or the sun is just out of the frame).

It would be great if Nikon would re-release this lens with updated coatings, but, alas, if they did so it would likely be AFS and they'd try to mess with the optical design resulting in an expensive, bloated lens without a built-in hood (which I use all the time).

The AI version has slightly better bokeh when stopped down due to curved aperture blades, but it does not have the built-in hood otherwise the optics are the same as the AIS.

2013 © jhinkey

NIKON D800 105 mm f/5.6 1/640 sec 200 ISO 0.0 EV

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:37 PM

DTOB
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p.1 #4 · manual focus 105mm's

The AI has curved blades while the AIS does not? Wonder what kind of thinking was behind that change...

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:41 PM

viczig
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p.1 #5 · manual focus 105mm's

I own a Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 macro lens that's hands down the sharpest manual focus Nikon lens I've owned and I own the 105mm 2.5, 28mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.8. Down side is it's somewhat heavy and hard to find in Nikon mount.

Vic

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:44 PM

Foggy14
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p.1 #6 · manual focus 105mm's

Drew, while I can't comment on the two macro lenses you mentioned, I can echo the positive comments from Matt and John on the 105mm 2.5 AIS.

High quality optics, light weight, and the built-in hood does a nice job taming flare. It's great with my film body and I'm getting more use out of it with my D800 than I expected.

Aug 16, 2012 at 03:58 PM

rankamateur
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p.1 #7 · manual focus 105mm's

Forget the 105 F4 Macro. I have it and would never consider it for landscape over my 105 2.5

Aug 16, 2012 at 04:13 PM

sandycrane
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p.1 #8 · manual focus 105mm's

The 105/2.5 for landscape. It is one of Nikon's best MF lenses. The 105/4 is a great lens for closeups.

Aug 16, 2012 at 04:19 PM

asiostygius
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p.1 #9 · manual focus 105mm's

Agreed with others here, the 105mm f/2.5 is an excellent lens, not just for portraits.

Clouds over the city - 105mm f/2.5 ais HDR - B&W version by labecoaves, on Flickr

D3 + Nikkor 105 f/2.5 ais + 3 exposures (-2, 0, +2 EV). Around 33% cropped.
Late afternoon sun revealed some contrasting clouds. I tried to avoid an overdone HDR.

Another storm is coming! Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 ai-s HDR by labecoaves, on Flickr

D300+ Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 ai-s @ f5.6; ISO 200;
3 exposures of 1/50s (-1EV), 1/25s(0EV) and 1/13s (+1EV); tripod + cable release.

Aug 16, 2012 at 04:42 PM

asiostygius
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p.1 #10 · manual focus 105mm's

HOWEVER, last month I acquired a 105mm f/2.8 ais micro, and while at close up range I had no surprise confirming the micro lens to be better (since it is made for that) than 105/2.5 + tubes, I was more than surprised to see also that at infinity the micro had better borders than the 105/2.5 ais.

General view of test scenario - 105mmf2.5ais at f5.6 (shadowed areas are the tested ones):

Test scene general view 105mmf2.5ais at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

Darkened areas were the cropped ones for the comparisons below.
All shots with a D3 + tripod + MC30 cable = 5s of MLU. Focusing for both was optimized through Live View. The focus was at the centre (white house).

Below itt will be a torture - the several cropped areas - sorry for that.
There we go:

CENTRE at f2.8

CENTRE at f2.8 by labecoaves, on Flickr

CENTRE at f/5.6

CENTRE at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

TOP LEFT at f2.8

TOP LEFT at f2.8 by labecoaves, on Flickr

TOP LEFT at f5.6

TOP LEFT at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

TOP RIGHT at f2.8

TOP RIGHT at f2.8 by labecoaves, on Flickr

TOP RIGHT at f5.6

TOP RIGHT at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

BOTTOM LEFT at f2.8

BOTTOM LEFT at f2.8 by labecoaves, on Flickr

BOTTOM LEFT at f5.6

BOTTOM LEFT at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

BOTTOM RIGHT at f2.8

BOTTOM RIGHT at f2.8 by labecoaves, on Flickr

BOTTOM RIGHT at f5.6

BOTTOM RIGHT at f5.6 by labecoaves, on Flickr

This is it. For me both lenses are similar at infinity and at f/8-f-16(not shown here), but the micro version is better at f/2.8-4 and slighly better at f/5.6 (mostly at borders).

These results must be considered very cautiously , since my N = 1 for both lenses using just a N= 1 body (D3).
Anyway you have two excellent choices, no chance to go wrong:
105/2.5 - classic lens, good all around performance, for landscapes even performance between centre-border at f8-f11; cheaper and lighter.
105/2.8 micro - beautifully built, very good allround performance, in your case with the "bonus" of good macro at 1:2 without tubes, surprisingly good performance at infinity.

Aug 16, 2012 at 05:22 PM

pr4photos
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p.1 #11 · manual focus 105mm's

I've got the 105 2.8 micro and I can't say I have tried it on a landscape. Its a great lens for products, I know that

Aug 16, 2012 at 05:50 PM

drdrew
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p.1 #12 · manual focus 105mm's

hey this is all great info thank you guys!!! anyone know if there is a large weight diff between the 2.5 and 2.8

Aug 16, 2012 at 07:14 PM

jhinkey
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p.1 #13 · manual focus 105mm's

drdrew wrote:
hey this is all great info thank you guys!!! anyone know if there is a large weight diff between the 2.5 and 2.8

See for yourself - this site is your very very good friend:

http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/specs.html

- John

Aug 16, 2012 at 07:45 PM

drdrew
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p.1 #14 · manual focus 105mm's

thanks again

Aug 16, 2012 at 08:37 PM

sandycrane
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p.1 #15 · manual focus 105mm's

asiostygius wrote:
HOWEVER, last month I acquired a 105mm f/2.8 ais micro, and while at close up range I had no surprise confirming the micro lens to be better (since it is made for that) than 105/2.5 + tubes, I was more than surprised to see also that at infinity the micro had better borders than the 105/2.5 ais.

Nicely done!

Aug 17, 2012 at 11:44 AM

asiostygius
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p.1 #16 · manual focus 105mm's

Thank you sandycrane.

Aug 17, 2012 at 02:37 PM

CGrindahl
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p.1 #17 · manual focus 105mm's

I have to laugh at finding the usual suspects jumping in to comment on this thread.

This is what we do every day on the Manual Focus Nikon Glass thread and John, Matt and Jose are there just about every day. Sandy drops by from time to time. You guys are amazing!

The 105 f/2.5 AI-s is a great lens for landscape shooting. You simply can't go wrong with it regardless of how you use it.

Aug 17, 2012 at 03:41 PM

Smiert Spionam
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p.1 #18 · manual focus 105mm's

Great info in here already, so I'll just add:

The difference in aperture blade design between the AI and AIS versions of the 105/2.5 is fairly subtle. The blades on each are curved, but the AI version is more so. The practical difference is that at moderate f-stops (around f/4) you *may* have slightly smoother out-of-focus highlights with the AI version, since they will seem slightly less polygonal than the AIS. It's irrelevant wide open to f/2.8, when both have an effectively round aperture. It's also irrelevant stopped further down.

For me, the built-in-hood of the AIS is a significant convenience, but others might prefer the AI. There's no real wrong choice either way.

Aug 17, 2012 at 04:10 PM

henryp
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p.1 #19 · manual focus 105mm's

asiostygius wrote:
Agreed with others here, the 105mm f/2.5 is an excellent lens, not just for portraits.

Apparently there's some difference of opinion on this.

Henry Posner
henryp@bhphoto.com
B&H Photo-Video

Aug 17, 2012 at 05:15 PM

saph
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p.1 #20 · manual focus 105mm's

Smiert Spionam wrote:
Great info in here already, so I'll just add:

The difference in aperture blade design between the AI and AIS versions of the 105/2.5 is fairly subtle. The blades on each are curved, but the AI version is more so. The practical difference is that at moderate f-stops (around f/4) you *may* have slightly smoother out-of-focus highlights with the AI version, since they will seem slightly less polygonal than the AIS. It's irrelevant wide open to f/2.8, when both have an effectively round aperture. It's also irrelevant stopped further down.

For me, the built-in-hood of the AIS is a significant convenience, but others might prefer the AI. There's no real wrong choice either way.

Agreed with Smiert. the screw-on hood on the AI version of the 105 2.5 is a bit clunky.

I believe the other difference is that the AI focus ring is a bit stiffer while the AIS (although I haven't used the latter) has a softer action. That may make somewhat of a difference depending on usage.

Aug 17, 2012 at 06:24 PM

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