Candid Portrait Nikkor-P 105mm 2.5.

[Peter]

Love the 105 2.5 lenses I own three P, K and Ais.
I Ai modified my P lens that I picked up from a Pawn shop that couldn't give it away.
Anyone have some images from this lens?
Pete

                         

[Bjørn Rørslett]

All of the 105 mm f/2.5 Nikkors are regarded as legendary classics. Many use them on the Nikon Df, a combination which is really synergetic to both components. One could swear they were made for each other and that the designers of the 105 envisioned the arrival of the Df many years later

[David H. Hartman]

Very nice portrait. Love the light. Love the color.

Dave Hartman

I love the 2x working distance compared to 50~55mm. The 105/2.5 Nikkor-P was my second lens back in 1971. Back then the 105/2.5 Nikkor-P was always sold out. I traded a 135/2.8 in under 24 hours after buy a PR guy's old kit witch I split up keeping only his Nikon F. I had been trying to buy a new 105/2.5 for about a year but found a clean 105/2.5 at my local camera store and grabbed it.

[Peter]

All of the 105 mm f/2.5 Nikkors are regarded as legendary classics. Many use them on the Nikon Df, a combination which is really synergetic to both components. One could swear they were made for each other and that the designers of the 105 envisioned the arrival of the Df many years later

Bjorn,
Yeah I like the look of the Nikon Df and it's workings but it is way out of my range at this time or any time a short distance down the road.
Reason I bought the D700 as I wanted to move away from DX and it didn't break the bank, would be great if it had a metal flip up tab on the aperture ring !!
If anything that I could see upgrading to is the D800 when finances allow it.
Oh Yeah I have been bit by the 105 bug something about the old 35mm Nikkor glass and the lower MP of the D700 go well together, the images sort of have that Old Kodak Transparency film look.
I know the D700 is what some call Old technology lowest Mega Pixels in the FX line along side the D3 and some may feel they are obsolete.
But it still does the job well and has decent dynamics to work with in post. I don't do low light high ISO so for me it's a good tool.
Thanks for the input Bjorn.

Pete

[Peter]

Very nice portrait. Love the light. Love the color.

Dave Hartman

I love the 2x working distance compared to 50~55mm. The 105/2.5 Nikkor-P was my second lens back in 1971. Back then the 105/2.5 Nikkor-P was always sold out. I traded a 135/2.8 in under 24 hours after buy a PR guy's old kit witch I split up keeping only his Nikon F. I had been trying to buy a new 105/2.5 for about a year but found a clean 105/2.5 at my local camera store and grabbed it.

Thanks Dave..
I have never looked at my images on another monitor other than what I am using HP Pavilion 27Xi plugged in HDMI.
So the color is fine?

[Matthew Currie]

The color looks good on my crummy laptop monitor, which probably means it's fine anywhere. 

I have the last pre-AI iteration of the single coated P, I think,  which is a long standing favorite.  I don't have much on this computer to show for it, but aside from being very good and sharp, it's also, for some reason, one of the easiest lenses to focus well on the DX finder.  A bit long on the DX format, I use it somewhat less than I used to, but it's still a favorite.

Here's one from some time ago, D3200, ISO 400, aperture forgotten.

[Olivier]

the AIS version I own is my favorite portrait lens.
I like the images I am seeing here.

[Peter]

The color looks good on my crummy laptop monitor, which probably means it's fine anywhere. 

I have the last pre-AI iteration of the single coated P, I think,  which is a long standing favorite.  I don't have much on this computer to show for it, but aside from being very good and sharp, it's also, for some reason, one of the easiest lenses to focus well on the DX finder.  A bit long on the DX format, I use it somewhat less than I used to, but it's still a favorite.

Here's one from some time ago, D3200, ISO 400, aperture forgotten.

Nice color at my end, sharp too!

[richardHaw]

105mm f/2.5 Ai-S

like what Bjørn said, all of them are great. from the 1st one to the last version.

the character differs a bit depending on version, specially with the earlier ones where there is a gauss and sonnar versions.

[Peter]

The P I own is the black nose gauss, never tried the Planar Sonnar.
Thanks for the catch Richard.

[richardHaw]

The P I own is the black nose gauss, never tried the Planar.

Sonnar 

I like the Sonnar version. very subtle.

[Frank Fremerey]

For me the wheel in front is distracting from this otherwise fine contextual portrait. Also the sack barrow is a distracting element because of its strong color compared to the subdued tones of the main subject

[David H. Hartman]

I remember the first time I looked through a 105 in Grayson's Camera, Glendale, California. It just looked right. The 105 gives a nice natural perspective at 2 to 3 meters to my eye.

Dave

[Peter]

Frank,
I agree but when your shooting a candid shot in a tight room for the moment and the essences of the subject is happening that moment not much you can do.
It's easy in a studio but that would take the relaxed candid realism out of it and makes it contrived.

If I cropped the chair back (wheel) out then the flow of the story would be lost, such as his hands and thus would interfere with the story of him eating lunch and in what seems to be deep thought.

I have seen candid photos on Flicker that had everything going for it and the main subject had there hand or hands just not far enough away from there face to complete the story.
Case in point, there was a beautiful B&W shot of a street juggler entertaining a small crowd juggling glass balls, the crowed was in that fixed on the balls amazed gaze, the juggler head up intensely fixed on his juggling but his had blocked his eyes that would have been the thread to pull together the perfect moment shot if not for the hand blocking his intense look.
I guess you can see my meaning.

I also have the un-cropped version of this photo.

Thanks for your input Frank.

Pete

[Erik Lund]

Great lens and great images Peter.

Frank there is a strange haze over her face/skin, looks strange did you do some pp re that?