NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: Airy on May 25, 2019, 20:50:57

Title: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 25, 2019, 20:50:57

This lens suffers from the deserved reputation of the 105/2.5. In fact, wide open, it is not so good, but usable under the right circumstances: avoiding high contrast edges, processing in B&W... f/1.8 is marginally useful for isolating distant subjects.
Stopped down, sharpness is excellent, at least as good as the 105/2.5, and the field is flatter. Also, as mentioned in other threads, the 105/1.8 does not flare a lot and, especially, withstands light sources in the image field, making it an excellent lens for stage shooting.

Today I went on a stroll with that lens only. My copy is optically ok, but the helicoid is not sufficiently lubricated, leaving me with some dry friction and making the manual focus process disagreeable. That's one reason why I do not use it as often as I should.

All shot with my 5-years old Df. May it live forever.
First three, f/4, f/4, f/1.8

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 25, 2019, 20:52:27

Second series, f/2.8, 1.8 close to minimum focussing distance (about 1m), f/8.

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 25, 2019, 20:54:36

Both f/1.8. The outlining, however slight, results in a not-so-good bokeh, despite the 9 blades (that come to play at narrower apertures of course)

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 25, 2019, 20:58:36

For street shots, it is a great lens. f/4, 8, 5.6, 4

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Jacques Pochoy on May 26, 2019, 08:49:01

Great shots ! It's good to know that the f/1.8 105mm can also be useful, even at f/1.8...  :)

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: John Geerts on May 26, 2019, 09:26:15

Impressive shots with this great lens, Airy.

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Thomas Stellwag on May 26, 2019, 14:47:35

great series,

I like my 1.8 more than my 2.5´s because of the diameter and the mass...for me it fits better to the camera
with the results wide open, I am satisfied

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Akira on May 26, 2019, 18:40:58

I like the delicate rendition of 105/1.8 in your hands.  The bokeh doesn't appear that harsh to me.

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Frank Fremerey on May 26, 2019, 22:53:30

you are a good photographer. You can take next to any lens and produce great pictures. Today I decided: the 1.4/105E will stay the 2/200VR1 will go.

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: chambeshi on May 27, 2019, 19:40:47

Thanks for your great images and highlighting this classic Nikkor. I've used a 105 f2.5AIS since 1984, but latterly been on the lookout for a decent 105 f1.8AIS at a  decent price. Scarce in UK - at least IME

kind regards

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 27, 2019, 20:35:17

Visit Paris :)

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: PeterN on May 29, 2019, 07:59:21

Thank you for sharing your impressions about the capabilities of this lens.
I do like the muted rendering.
It must be a pleasure to use this lens with the Df

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Airy on May 30, 2019, 00:17:16

The muted rendering is probably not a lens feature. I set my Df on "Neutral", so there is no saturation push. That's just my personal taste.
And yes, it is a nice fit.

Title: Re: Strolling with the 105/1.8
Post by: Imagelover on June 01, 2019, 19:50:19

Here is an image from June 2018, Kristiansund town, Norway, early in the morning with Nikon D3X and AIS Nikkor 105mm f1.8 at aperture f16 on a tripod and with a Nikon polarizer. ISO 50. I used this aperture to get great DOF.