Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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136 of 141 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent lens and great value too., March 28, 2006
Ok, I have had this lens a couple of months now.
What at first seemed like a very good lens is now one I consider
exceptional. In fact it is now my favorite for several reasons.
First of all this lens consistently produces beautiful, even toned and complimentory Bokeh to my images. Bokeh is that term used to describe the elements of a photograph that are out of focus.
This lens has an extremely short depth of field and performs best on close subjects after f/5.6.
My observation of the VR function is this.... that Nikon intended that feature to be more useful when this lens is used for portraits. Up close and for sure when using the wider apertures depth of field is so brief that you need to stop down to capture the breadth of a bumble bee or the center of a flower completely in focus.
In either application this is destined to be a favorite Nikkor lens for many of us. For me it is already!
Focus is very fast and quiet. Build quality is solid! Hefty when held alone or nicely balanced on the D200 with MB200 battery dual battery holder.
I like the lens shade a lot and the packaging is as always, first rate. Comes with 5 year extended warranty, velvet pouch and front and rear caps.
If I could only take one lens this would be it without hesitation.
Matches up extremely well with the SB800 flash units.
I predict this will become a legendary portrait lens.
Good luck!
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71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Serious Flower Power, May 31, 2006
Pros: Excellent image quality, excellent build, excellent VR implementation
Cons: pricey, shortens focal length when focusing close, max aperture goes down to f/4.8 at closest focusing distance
Impressively, the Nikon 105/2.8 VR shows center and corner sharpness through the entire aperture range. The sweet spot is said to be between f/5.6 to f/11, but inspecting 100% crops did not reveal much loss of sharpness at the larger apertures. This probably has a good deal to do with the ED glass element and Nano Crystal coating showing its worth, but it is also probable that the lens outresolves the 6-megapixel APS-C sensor on the test body (a Nikon D50), so any decrease in sharpness is not as apparent.
Likewise, color and contrast are also consistently well rendered through the range of apertures. The only flaws in this gem are flaring and chromatic aberration, which shows up in high contrast scenes from maximum aperture (f/2.8) and is minimized by f/5.6. This is, however, typical of many large aperture lenses at maximum aperture.
Bokeh is one of the best traits of this lens, pretty much up there with some of the best Nikkor lenses, like the 85/1.4 AF-D. Out of focus areas are smooth, and the 9-bladed diaphragm helps to render out of focus point lights as circles rather than harsh geometric shapes.
My complete review, with sample photos and more detail on VR effect, AF and effective aperture, is on my webpage, check it out!
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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The reason for switch!, February 19, 2008
Late last summer, I wondered why Canon and Nikon had such control over the DSLR market. I had been a Konica Minolta 5D user. I went to a camera store and tried the Canon 30D and a bunch of lenses... okay... Nice... Then tried with the D200 with among others the 105VR. I love to shoot macro/close-up and shooting with this lens just blew me away in the store. I knew then that I had to change and began the task of selling off all my gear and making the move to Nikon.
The 105VR is such a a useful lens. VR is not that useful at macro level focusing. But this lens also doubles as a very good short tele, and VR is VERY helpful in those situations!
In this crop of lenses for Nikon mount (Tamron 90, Sigma 105, & Tokina 100) there is two areas where it excels: 1) the 105VR is constant length and when you are this close to things, it makes a difference; 2) AF-S (quiet focusing). The others really do extend quite a bit, you'll be surprised it you are not used to it. Optically it is superb as sharp or sharper than the competition. Solid construction, large snap on shade. This lens is a winner.
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