A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

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Archive 2010 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

luminosity
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p.2 #1 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

epuja wrote:
luminosity wrote:
jhinkey wrote:
epuja wrote:
Very nice shots and great lens. Anyone have any samples with the 105/1.8?
When I was hunting for the /2.5 version I came across the /1.8 and at $450 it was a little too rich for my blood at the time. It's also a lot larger lens, but some have reported liking it better than the /2.5 version. I haven't seen one up for sale here in Seattle in quite a while, but I keep a lookout for one in case a good deal comes along.

John

What "some" is that? I've never read a bad word about the 2.5. The 1.8, however, has a mixed reputation.

That's interesting - i've been pondering getting one of the 105's for my Canon body.. does this imply i should specifically look for the 2.5 and not the 1.8?

Yes. The 105/2.5 is as sure a bet as there is in the lens world. I've never heard of a bad copy.

Aug 16, 2010 at 05:42 AM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #2 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

luminosity wrote:
epuja wrote:

That's interesting - i've been pondering getting one of the 105's for my Canon body.. does this imply i should specifically look for the 2.5 and not the 1.8?

Yes. The 105/2.5 is as sure a bet as there is in the lens world. I've never heard of a bad copy.

It is comforting to know that Nikon made 163,738 copies of the AI-s version of this lens and 157,333 copies of the AI version. The AI-s was last made in 2005. You should have no problem finding one... E-Bay has them by the dozens...

Aug 16, 2010 at 05:51 AM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #3 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Have to add one more photo taken this afternoon before heading to bed. These flowers were quite challenging to capture because a sporadic breeze tossed them about quite a bit. Grabbing the shot hand held while manually focusing the lens kept me on my toes. I'm pleased with this capture...

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Edited on Aug 26, 2010 at 05:10 AM · View previous versions

Aug 16, 2010 at 07:08 AM

Jammy Straub
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p.2 #4 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

luminosity wrote:
What "some" is that? I've never read a bad word about the 2.5. The 1.8, however, has a mixed reputation.

The 1.8 is a completely different lens with a completely different look. Lower resolution wide open, spherical aberration (glow), and lots of boke character. The 2.5 looks 'cleaner'. Subjectively the 2.5 seems embraced by the straight photography crowd and the 1.8 by the artsy boke crowd.

105mm f/2.5 pool:
http://flickriver.com/groups/nikkor_105mm/pool/interesting/

105mm f/1.8 pool:
http://flickriver.com/groups/531978@N20/pool/interesting/

Aug 16, 2010 at 07:25 AM

ISO1600
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p.2 #5 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

D700, iso1600 @ f2.5

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Aug 16, 2010 at 10:20 AM

camerapapi
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p.2 #6 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

The 105mm f2.5 (mine is the P version, the original that I bought in 1967) had some changes over the years. The version with the included hood was the last one, it had a different optical formula and many claim it was the best.
This was the lens that Steve McCurry used in 1984 in a refugee camp in Afghanistan to shoot the famous portrait of "The Afghan Girl" with Kodachrome 64 that made it to the cover of Life.
My lens has seen a good part of the world and has traveled frequently with me throughout this US. Because mine has no multicoating, when shooting against the light I get bright reflections but otherwise, its performance is superb.
I believe its sharpest aperture is about f5.6.
It is a surprise to me that Nikon, now that FX is so popular, has not come up with a newer version.

William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.

Aug 16, 2010 at 10:37 AM

ecidi
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p.2 #7 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

The 2.5 ais is also my fav lens.

2013 © ecidi

Aug 16, 2010 at 11:02 AM

Kingfishphoto
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p.2 #8 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Heres several new and one older images with my 105P, AID by John White.
1. Kutztown PA. German Fest.

2013 © Kingfishphoto

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:01 PM

Kingfishphoto
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p.2 #9 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

2. Elf.

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:02 PM

Kingfishphoto
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p.2 #10 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

3. After the rain.

2013 © Kingfishphoto

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:04 PM

billkoe
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p.2 #11 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Sadly, I sold mine some time ago. What was I thinking?

Bill
photo-synthesis

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:17 PM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #12 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Shot yesterday early evening with the sun about to drop behind a hill... the golden hour, at least in downtown San Anselmo that loses the sun behind Bald Hill each evening. Jammy's Flickriver thread on the f/1.8 stirs NAS for me but I love this version as well.

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Edited on Aug 26, 2010 at 05:11 AM · View previous versions

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:20 PM

Todd Adamson
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p.2 #13 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

luminosity wrote:
What "some" is that? I've never read a bad word about the 2.5. The 1.8, however, has a mixed reputation.

He whose name shall not be spoken.

Killer shot, Curtis! Especially for handheld.

I've been over and over that lens spec site.

I still haven't found anything to tell be if curved aperture blades affect the bokeh in any way.

I was bidding on a "mint" 105/2.5 AI last night on eBay, but somebody beat me. Which one o' you bastards is the guilty party??

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:21 PM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #14 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Todd Adamson wrote:
...I've been over and over that lens spec site.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this to a pro who has a studio, but I don't OWN a tripod. Everything I shoot is hand held... for better or worse as the case may be. As i've gotten more serious about manual focus glass I've spent time researching tripods and ballheads but haven't gotten there yet. I've been having too much time shooting MF.

With regard to E-Bay, I hope you're availing yourself of one of the snipe services. A friend pointed me in that direction and once I got the hang of it and learned how to use E-Bay resources to research prices of closed bids, I was quite successful. The best part about "sniping" is you set up the limits of your bid and the service takes care of the rest. I certainly don't win every bid, but occasionally I'll use the service to drop in a lowball bid on the off chance I'll steal an item. I did that a month ago and bought a pristine 70-210 f/4-5.6D for a hundred bucks for a friend.

With regard to aperture blades... good luck figuring that one out...

Aug 16, 2010 at 03:31 PM

NightOwl Cat
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p.2 #15 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

I got the AI version from Craiglist last year.

Aug 16, 2010 at 04:15 PM

taz_k
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p.2 #16 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

It's probably my favourite lens as well. Really nice bokeh.

Aug 16, 2010 at 04:16 PM

Todd Adamson
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p.2 #17 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

CGrindahl wrote:
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this to a pro who has a studio, but I don't OWN a tripod. Everything I shoot is hand held... for better or worse as the case may be. As i've gotten more serious about manual focus glass I've spent time researching tripods and ballheads but haven't gotten there yet. I've been having too much time shooting MF.

No worries, Curtis. The first 2 years after I opened a studio I was shooting handheld. I recently made a detailed post in the People forum about how I came around to using a 'pod, and why I think they are so essential to getting the BEST possible shots. But that post was apparently deleted due to an "altercation" with another member (who happens to be an extreme tool).

I was going to copy and repost, but it's gone (I PM'ed Fred to see if could be recovered).

Anyway, I will just say it's definitely worth the trouble of getting a decent pod and a good ballhead. It's not necessarily as expensive as some would have you believe. And for macro work, having an Arca-Swiss style setup with an L-plate (or better yet, a tripod collar) is sooo nice.

EDIT: this is a bit of a hijack, so I'll shut up about tripods for now.

But feel free to PM me if you have any questions about my own setup.

Aug 16, 2010 at 04:38 PM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #18 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Todd - I'll be in touch re: tripods and ball heads. I can always benefit from real world experience of others on the path.

Everyone knows that having a camera at hand makes it possible to take photos... duh! I've been keeping the D700 with the 105 mounted in my car as I go about my day. Forgive me, but as a retired person I have a great deal of flexibility with how I spend my day, hence I can keep dropping photos on this thread. I took a short detour this morning and stopped at the storage lot behind the Acura and Honda dealerships. I figured there would something fun to shoot. I'll never own one of these, but BMWs are still quite lovely and a pleasure to shoot with this lens. This image is RAW, resized and converted to JPEG in PS with NO processing.

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Edited on Oct 07, 2010 at 03:11 AM · View previous versions

Aug 16, 2010 at 07:38 PM

CGrindahl
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p.2 #19 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

Before I head out for a bicycle ride I'll drop one more photo from the Honda/Acura storage lot. Again, RAW downsized, converted to JPEG with NO post processing. I call this "In my Element."

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Edited on Feb 01, 2011 at 06:09 PM · View previous versions

Aug 16, 2010 at 08:49 PM

Avi B
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p.2 #20 · A Little Love for the 105 f/2.5

A couple that I had up in the Best Nikon shots thread with the 105/2.5, taken in Rajasthan in India.

D2Xs SOOC at f/2.8, resized for web

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D2Xs SOOC at f/4, resized for web

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Aug 17, 2010 at 12:54 AM

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