Nikon 105mm f/2.5mm Ai-S

[icuneko]

Jim A.'s portrait of the young girl above is a very good example of

what the 105 can deliver, here in B&W. I had one 20 some years ago (

now have the 85 f/2 MF as it's smaller but just as good) and it too

showed excellent in-focus contrast, tonal range, and resolution with

creamy-smooth out-of-focus subject blur, i.e., bokeh. Get one!

[johninjapan2000]

Jim: that's a lovely image. Really brings my native Midwest back to me (though that may not be where it was taken, of course).

[paul_baker1]

Here's another.

[paul_baker1]

And a 100% crop from a portion of it.

[michaelging]

Jim,that is a great photo.

[cjfraser]

The 105 is a great lens, as many posts above attest. But - sorry if this is redundant, I didn't notice any mention of this point above - depending on what you plan to be shooting, in DX format it might be a bit long. So be sure to consider the 85mm f1.4 as an alternative.

[denton_hoyer]

This Nikkor is probably one of the best lenses for "wide field" astrophotography. See this shot:

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3916020

 

What is remarkable is that this lens is sharp on a star field (think pinpoint lights) clear to the edge at wide open. I've shot many lenses wide open and they almost all show coma or severe chroma at the field edge. So, this lens performs well at infinity, not just portrait distance.

 

Perhaps an equally good lens is the Nikkor 180f2.8, but it's just a bit too long for unguided astrophotograhy.

 

Just my two cents. I'm shooting both these lenses on my RebelXT with the NEOS adapter. Of course, I shoot them using my F2 as well!

 

Denton

[todd_phillips1]

I have a 105 AIS in "press corps ugly" condition that I found on a dealers table for $10. There's enough dust on the inside to fill a vaccuum cleaner bag...and it STILL takes great shots. Razor sharp and the dust shows no effect on slides or prints up to 8x10 (haven't enlarged beyond this with this lens). I also have a NGK Sonnar design in excellent condition. I like the results with it as well.

[photo5]

I was lucky to find a non-AI version of this lens (the 1975 version with the rubber focusing ring) on the auction site for $49.99 plus $5 shipping. It looked to be in super shape with the Passed sticker still on and not rubbed or damaged, a sure sign of a lens that has had light use. I'll probably get it AI'd at aiconversions.com.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[russ_butner___portland__or]

I actually aske McCurry about the lens for his "Afghan Girl" shot. It was indeed, the Nikkor 105 f/2.5 lens.

 

Russ

[lex_jenkins]

Thanks, Russ. You're the only person I've heard so far who's actually spoken with McCurry about this specific topic.

[elio_di_claudio]

<p>The 105 2.5 PC/AI/AIS Gauss Xenotar is not a collectible lens. I tried mine two months ago on a D3x in an official demonstration along the cream of Nikon, Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses. In the past I compared the 105 2.5 AI in shooting with Leica Summicron-R and Elmarit 90, plus I use it at home along the 85 1.4 AFD and the Micro 70-180 AFD, ZF 50 1.4, Ultron 40 SL II, Micro 60 AFD, etc.... As I saw, it is by far the best Nikon short tele, fixed or zoom, of all times, especially as ultimate resolution, macro-contrast, flare and distortion, lateral chromatic aberration (<0.03% worst case), uniformity at all stops from f/2.8 and over and neutral color rendition (AI). In these fields it outperforms even Leicas easily.<br>

It impressed many people on digital, with a lot of aliasing on the 24 Mp sensor and a razor-sharp definition from f/2.8. On the D700, photos at f/2.5 are indistinguishable on raw from those taken at smaller apertures, except for the slight vignetting. Bokeh is symmetric in front and beyond the subject, no double lines, as an engineer might want. Some recent APO lenses "can" slightly reduce the longitudinal CA at f/2.5-2.8, the slight spherocromatism and improve microcontrast at low-medium frequencies over 105's ones.<br />But this "improvement" always has an heavy drawback: loss of resolution due to high frequency masking and "fat" edges, clearly evident on 5400 dpi scanning, much more sensitive than the D3x sensor. The sharpening must be exaggerated for good results, amplifying noise and grain. Use it in color or B&W, film or digital, always coupled with precise bodies (at this time I "approved" only FMx/FEx/FA/F6/D3x/D3s/D700/D80, please avoid amateur plastics and less precise and shaking prone pro cameras).<br>

The drawing of the 105 AI is mostly indistinguishable from the Zeiss ZF 100/2, which is its natural successor, with a broader versatility. Used 105s are usually in bad shape.</p>