Plena?

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Well in the 135 DC and 105 DC there no distinct swirly appearance but there is a strong swirl going on with the 105/1.4 and this may solve it while having very high MTF (compared to 105/1.4 or 85/1.2 the Plena's is very high indeed).

I find the swirl around the outer parts of the frame quite distracting and has been my main complaint about the otherwise excellent 105/1.4. In practice it doesn't bother me as much as it did when the lens was new.

[aerobat]

cough ... 3k here ... I'm gonna contend with the 58mm Neon Not for a while

[Michael Erlewine]

I like the concept and the dual motors. I've put one on order to check it out.  I am a close-up photographer but still have my Zeiss 135mm 2.0, which is tack sharp. I might sell it for this lens.

The flood of light in the corners absent vignetting is special. The bokeh, as well. My guess is that this will be for me a favorite lens.

[Nasos Kosmas]

Seems an excellent lens

https://youtu.be/-Ab8ZfUNyLg?si=tDhFyWm_uDZSmIZV

[MILLIREHM]

No LCD showing the focus distance or DoF scale. It seems Nikon has abandoned this feature, maybe most photographers don't find it to be useful.

NIkon does not appear to have abandoned this feature systematically, and they started early with the 400/2,8 TC having no display. That does not look as a reaction to photographers feedback (who cares, those who dont need it just don't need to use it) but just as yet another erratic behavior of Nikon. Fortunately at least the Z9 displays it now. I sometimes like to manually prefocus long supertele lenses to a given distance, or use the lens for reading the actual distance to the subject.

Given the "Plena" lens I still find the name mischosen and not at all tempting- still not sure whether the lens itself is.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

NIkon does not appear to have abandoned this feature systematically, and they started early with the 400/2,8 TC having no display. That does not look as a reaction to photographers feedback (who cares, those who dont need it just don't need to use it) but just as yet another erratic behavior of Nikon. Fortunately at least the Z9 displays it now. I sometimes like to manually prefocus long supertele lenses to a given distance, or use the lens for reading the actual distance to the subject.

Given the "Plena" lens I still find the name mischosen and not at all tempting- still not sure whether the lens itself is.

Circular out-of-focus discs to the outer areas of the frame and minimal cat's eyes is what I greatly prefer, and 135mm is my favorite focal length. I've been waiting for a better-autofocusing 135mm (than the AF DC 135/2 D F-mount lens) prime literally for decades. This goes to the top of the list for me. Pity that Nikon hasn't been able to achieve a similar effect at shorter focal lengths.

[MILLIREHM]

Circular out-of-focus discs to the outer areas of the frame and minimal cat's eyes is what I greatly prefer, and 135mm is my favorite focal length. I've been waiting for a better-autofocusing 135mm (than the AF DC 135/2 D F-mount lens) prime literally for decades. This goes to the top of the list for me. Pity that Nikon hasn't been able to achieve a similar effect at shorter focal lengths.

OK, you convinced me - i am tempted by the lens :-)

[Roland Vink]

Circular out-of-focus discs to the outer areas of the frame and minimal cat's eyes is what I greatly prefer...

My AIS 105/4 micro has almost zero vignetting wide open and nicely circular out of focus discs. But those discs are only 1/3 the diameter of what is possible with the Plena

[Erik Lund]

My AIS 105/4 micro has almost zero vignetting wide open and nicely circular out of focus discs. But those discs are only 1/3 the diameter of what is possible with the Plena

My thoughts exactly I was looking at my sample of that lens 

[MEPER]

Is there a known list of older Nikkors that can produce round discs background without cat eye effects wide open?

[Michael Erlewine]

What we are discussing is why for my work this could be very important. I can always return it. And I will probably put my Zeiss 135mm 2.0, the original vesion, up for sale provided this new S version is sharp enough, which I am assuming it will be.

I actually find this particular lens very exiting as lenses go. No, it's not quite close enough, but for many things it is, since I am not a macro shooter, but a close-up shooter.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Is there a known list of older Nikkors that can produce round discs background without cat eye effects wide open?

I have not seen any such previous lens, with a wide aperture like this. All the mid teles that I've used produce pronounced cat's eyes (to varying degrees of distractiveness, but they all do it far more than the pics I've seen from the new 135). However, to give a fair test, we need to shoot the same subject in the same conditions.

[Akira]

Is there a known list of older Nikkors that can produce round discs background without cat eye effects wide open?

The new TTArtisan 100mm f2.8 seems to show no cat-eye/lemon shape.  So, chances could be that the old Nikkor-T 105/4.0 would behave similarly, because they share the same simplistic triplet design.

[MEPER]

Interesting to make a standard test setup with some light sources and try out various lenses.
I have the AIS 105/4 micro but not the 3-lens version.
The AF 85/1.4d could also be fun to test regarding this (it is the one I have).

I guess the Z 50/1.8 should quite well also. Used on a DX-body it is an ok "poor mans" portrait lens!

[gabrielpix]

Is there a known list of older Nikkors that can produce round discs background without cat eye effects wide open?

The unassuming little 135mm f/3,5 looks near perfect in these regards - rounded bokeh balls in the periphery, and very slight vignetting.