Portraits with Macro 105 AFD

I have taken some portraits with my F100, 105 AFD Macro and Ilford HP5 (400

ISO B&W). I have used Rodinal to develop the film.

Unfortunatly, the portraits have too much grain. Is the 105 AFD suitable to

take portraits? Is there something wrong with the HP? Thank you.

Grainy results have nothing to do with the lens.

 

Rodinal is a pretty gritty developer, and many people consider HP5+ and Rodinal a bad combination at any rate. Too much agitation, reticulation because of temperature changes, or scanner-induced 'grain' could be other factors. If you'd post this in the B&W film forum, with a sample shot and crop, I think you'll get more usefull answers. Cheers

The lens you used may need a bit of soft-focus filtering to keep the sharpness toned down, but the grain is generally 'good' with ISO 400 B&W film. As noted above, the lens does not do anything to the 'grain' of your negatives.

You committed 2 no-no's...

 

1) Use a different developer is you want fine grain.

 

2) You cross-posted this (B&W and Nikon).

Thank you for the comments. I will work with a new developer.

For the F100 the 105/2.5 AIS, AI or AI(ed) IC makes a far

better portrait lens. If you have big bucks the new 105/2.8G ED-IF

AF-S VR is very promising. The 105/2.0D DC AF has a great

reputation at a price. <br>

<br>

The 105/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor is the worst 105mm Nikkor you can

select for portraits because of the harsh background rendition.

For macro it has poor free working distance due to the CRC

designed coupled with it ability to achieve 1:1 without using an

extension tube. There is a price for going to 1:1 without tubes.

The 105/4.0 AIS or AI is a better macro lens as is the 105/2.8

AIS Micro-Nikkor. Many people bought the 105/2.8 AF and AF-D due

to the focal length and reputation of the 105/2.5 AIS, AI and IC.

These lenses are very dissimilar.<br>

<br>

Here is the best place on the internet for subjective evaluations

of Nikkor lenses...<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_short.html"

target="_new"><u>Medium Long Lenses For Nikon 'F' Mount</u></a><br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_spec.html"

target="_new"><u>Special-Purpose Lenses For Nikon 'F' Mount</u></a><br>

<br>

Here is the start page to Bjorn Rorslett's website...<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/" target="_new"><u>http://www.naturfotograf.com/</u></a><br>

<br>

Im sorry, I call it as I see it. I own the 105/2.5 AIS, 105/2.8

AIS Micro and 105/4.0 AI Micro. I would like to own the 105/2.0D

DC AF and 105/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR. I lost interest in the 105/2.8

AF Nikkor in about 2 minutes when I first checked it out at Lee-Mac

Camera in Pasadena, CA. <br>

<br>

Best,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.<br>

<br>

---<br>

<br>

<em>Unfortunatly, the portraits have too much grain.

--Henry Alive<br>

</em><br>

Ive used Rodinal on Tri-X and it develops very high

acutance, that is it looks sharp due to edge contrast, but the

gain is coarse and harsh, in a word gritty. I have not used it in

years and would not use it on a small format like 35mm.<br>

<br>

<em>Is there something wrong with the HP? --Henry

Alive<br>

</em><br>

HP5 Plus? Years ago I felt that Tri-X had a smoother, more

consistent grain structure. I doubt that this is true today. The

answer is no, your problem is clearly the developer.<br>

<br>

Best,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.

"There is a price for going to 1:1 without tubes."

 

 

 

I am lost. Why does 1:1 have anything to do with portraits?

"There is a price for going to 1:1 without tubes."

I am lost. Why does 1:1 have anything to do with portraits?

 

.................

 

The 1:1 does not have anything to do with portraits, but as Dave pointed out, the lens is really aimed at high magnification photography, not portraits. The lens has number of solutions aimed at being very useful in keeping small objects on the media as sharp as possible, but it has nothing in it that would help the bokeh. It just isn't built for the job...

 

In this range the 105 DC is your friend here, or even better yet, get the 85 1.8 for much less and have a great portrait time!