Focal Lengths
I find the 85 better than the 105 for shooting indoors (homes) unless you're in a very large room. Depending on the indoor environment even 85 can be too long (homes) and I find 60-68 works better. But if you're in commercial buildings 105 isn't always too long. For my style of shooting I don't get to use the 105 all that much indoors. Outdoors the focal length problems go away.
Rendering
I'm not as big a fan of the 105 as most people. Yes it is sharp, but I find it's bokeh objectionable. The DOF for a close-focused subject is just too narrow, and the falloff in DOF is just too rapid, with the result that it always blows out backgrounds with swirl. I don't like swirl, so I stop down to get rid of it, which defeats the purpose of buying the lens in the first place.
I really like the 85/1.4G. A lot. When shot wide open the bokeh is stellar and DOF problems don't jump out and smack you in the face the way that the 105/1.4E does. I think the rendering of the 85 is more subtle while the 105 just smacks you in the face. Some like that, but I don't.
I like 35 and 85 as a good pairing. Never too long, never too short.
May 17, 2024 at 07:58 PM
Previous versions of coralnut's message #16550155 « 85 1.4G vs 105 1.4E ? »
