Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G AFS VR

First things first; I didn’t buy this lens to shoot macro subjects but for portraits - even though it can and I will certainly use it for that purpose (macro’s). So my review is primarily focused on using this lens for portraiture handheld and with less emphasis on macro shooting. If however you are heavily into the traditional style of macro photography and if you own the older MF version and use it for macro shooting, I advise you to stick with it. I personally think the older MF version macro series lenses will serve you better with their better support of the PK series rings, the various Nikon bellows, teleconverters and of course the ability to adjust focus while on a tripod without altering the framing. Another big plus of all the older 105’s is that they are lighter and don’t need a tripod collar. The new AFS version is pretty heavy and quite awkward to use on a smaller body or tripod. On the other hand you think you might want to dump your tripod and chase insects handheld or want to use the lens for portraiture as well then read on.

The “lazy” macro style
Some of my first macro shots were done over 10 years ago and back then it was a sin not to use manual focus and a tripod mounted camera. When I first got my hands on the Nikon F4, the SB-24 flash and the AF 105mm macro lens I remember trying to chase insects with my new setup with a very small number of keepers. At the time most of my colleagues didn’t like my “lazy” style and didn’t think much of my results. Modern macro shooters are probably strangers to the use of a tripod and probably find the new AFS macro lenses from Nikon with their VR capabilities and their accompanying ring-flash kit (R1C1) all you need for shooting insects, but macro photography can be so much more. Of course the new Macro lenses by Nikon do offer that possibility with a good degree of success but for serious work in the macro range a tripod is still a must.

Adonis Blue Butterfly shot with: Nikon D200, VR 105mm F/2,8G, f/11 @ 1/160s, ISO 200

My first contact
I fell in love with the 105mm f/2.8G AFS VR when I first got a chance to use it at the Photo Expo in Athens. I had used the legendary MF 105mm f/2.5 lens for a lot of portraits (in the film days – FX format) so my first thoughts was that this maybe the lens to replace my old favorite. Of course, these days I’m shooting in the DX format so this does change a few things (like shooting distance) but after using it for a while at the expo, I just knew it was the right upgrade. The bokeh was smooth and sweet and of course it offered auto-focusing combined with a VR technology to reduce hand shake or other vibrations at the camera end. So even though I already had a proper macro lens as well as the legendary 105mm f/2.5 lens for portraits I went ahead and sold both to help purchase the new VR lens that would replace them. The truth is that I knew the new lens couldn’t actually replace both in every way, but I was willing to lose some benefits offered by the old lenses so I could gain more room in my Lowe-pro bag and have one lens “try” to replace the other two. Am I happy with my decision? Overall yes, but I do miss the quality of the old 105mm f/2.5 lens which strangely had a unique quality that cannot be described and as I have now found out, neither replaced! But the convenience of the new lens and the better opportunities that it presents are a big plus – so yes, I’m happy.

Description
The front of the lens can take 62mm filters which screw into a metal thread thanks to the lenses cast metal alloy casing. This is a pro quality lens that is nearly 40% heavier than its predecessor. It sports the new rubber weather seal that’s found on the back of the lens to help seal the vulnerable connection between lens and camera and the supplied hood, which is as nearly as long as the lens locks on securely. I always use the provided hoods with my all lenses in an attempt to limit the effects of any possible flaring. A panel on the left side of the lens holds three mode switches, one for the focusing range, one for VR control and one for MF/AF. The first one lets you toggle from the full focusing range to a limited range that is from infinity to 0.5 meters. Some may not like this range, but it’s great for most normal subjects especially portraits.
Unlike its predecessors the AFS 105mm f/2.8D VR is an internal focusing based design which means it doesn’t change its physical length when focusing and the front element does not rotate, making it easier to use with a circular polarizer or other attachments such as the R1C1 wireless Macro lighting kit. Unfortunately, the new VR version being a G lens is not compatible with the PK series rings or old bellows. If and when Nikon introduce compatible extension rings, bellows and other accessories then this lens which is so close to being the most advanced macro lens today can actually become just that. And my hunch is we won’t be waiting too long 
All of the Nikkor macro lenses are similar to variable aperture zoom lenses in that the aperture value will vary, in this case according to focus distance and not zoom selection. As you focus in the macro range the camera body will display the effective aperture and not the actual aperture you had originally selected, so reaching the maximum magnification of 1:1 will result in a decrease of the maximum aperture from f/2.8 to f/4.8 (if I’m not mistaken the older lens went to f/5.6).

Feel
The lens is very large for a 100mm optic but it feels good on a large pro body. Compared to my 105mm f/2.5 lens it looks and even feels as though it’s double the size! The ergonomics are good since it fits in the left hand nicely when shooting. The wide focusing ring is nice to the touch and comfortable to use and its action is smooth and very precise. Things are a bit different on a small and lighter body where the 720g of the lens make the whole combination to noise dive. I wouldn’t recommend using this lens on a small camera since its size and weight would overtake the cameras mass and weight and obviously could not be used properly on a tripod.

AF
Some people suggest that autofocus should not be used in macro photography and this is good advice if you are tripod mounted. Autofocus can be employed when in macro mode, especially if you have pre-focused and it works surprisingly well. For a true macro lens the auto-focusing is very fast and silent, though it will on rare occasions hunt when initial focus is way off especially when focusing up close or in low light. For best results you need to partner this lens with a good pro body and of course pre focusing is a good habit (in any kind of photography).
Unfortunately a lot of users get bad results hand held because at such high magnifications they don’t realize that by the time they press the shutter (after they have focused) they have moved the focus plane off the subject. At macro distances the focus plane is so thin that focusing becomes very critical and that a tripod and a steady subject are a must for best results (or otherwise very high shutter speeds – think D3).

VR
The new VR of this lens is a real performer when compared to the original VR employed in the 80-400mm lens or even the second generation VR in the 18-200mm lens. This newer version (even though labeled VR II like the 18-200mm) feels like its light years ahead of any of the previous incarnations. For starters it’s less complicated since you only have one switch (on-off) concerning the VR function. The cameras processing ability of the VR info will decide when and how to activate itself (This does not affect VR action since it doesn’t really matter how soon the lens gets back the commands, since the weakest link is the VR lens movements). The camera can translate any horizontal movement as panning and correct any other movements in the vertical axis. On a side note, VR is not triggered when pressing the AF-ON button on the back of Nikon cameras (as far as I know). Obviously when the lens and camera are mounted on a rock solid platform then VR needs to be switched off, otherwise it may in some cases cause unnecessary shake and actually introduce blur. So if its not rock solid, VR can be used in any other situation whether mounted on a monopod or when in free movement on a tripod or handholding.
The way I use the VR technology is to not think off its existence and continue shooting as if it wasn’t present. A lot of new shooters read the advertised shake free shooting at up to 4 stops slower and go out expecting to shoot at this extreme and obviously are rewarded with lousy results. VR should be seen as a helping hand. We still need to aim for good light and workable shutter speeds. When nature forces the shutter speeds to become longer then we need to master our best hand holding techniques to overcome camera movement. And when you really need it VR will be there to help .

VR up-close
Of course the maximum effectiveness decreases as you focus closer but it is already a god send when shooting portraits and other distant subjects (hand-held). In the macro range the advantages of VR is still in effect, though not as affective as for subjects that are further away. So you can shoot at slower shutter speeds than normal and get some good results if combined with good hand holding technique and if you are using continuous AF to correct for the front to back swaying as you compose the shot. So VR can be used if shooting small critters handheld and it surely will give you the edge compared to others using older lenses when it comes to nailing a clean shot (amongst a burst of 3-5 shots). The number of keepers shooting hand-held will certainly be more compared to shooting without it. VR can amazingly help even in slightly windy conditions though you would want to prevent yourself from shooting in such conditions. So vibration reduction on the AFS 105mm lens is no gimmick, not even when shooting up close

Bokeh
The real difference is the creamy bokeh of the new lens which is outstanding. The new optical design combined with the 9 bladed diaphragms improves the bokeh of this lens. When I first used this lens at the Photo-expo for a couple of portraits and saw the results and the great soft bokeh, I knew that this was the lens for me. The out of focus areas of the image were creamy smooth and spectral highlights were distinguished. Even when stopped down to f/8 or f/11 the transitions between the different coloured out of focus areas are smooth as silk. Any portrait shot wide open or even stopped down to about f/5.6 or f/8 max will produce sharp results with great bokeh. Even in the macro range, the bokeh is magical for producing those mystical flower shots where you focus on some sharp detail on the edge of a petal and the rest of the image just melts to create the perfect surroundings for strengthening the composition.

Nikon D200, VR 105mm F/2,8G, f/2.8 @ 1/60s, Auto-ISO 280, no NR

Optical performance
I love the performance of this lens when doing portraits or other subjects in the 1-5m range. For indoor use with the 1.5x DX crop factor, this 105 becomes more like a 160mm, which is pretty long for tight, indoor portraits. You need plenty of room so shooting a portrait indoors is not recommended with this lens when on a DX format body. Some may recall that the focal length shortens as you focus closer, unfortunately though, this comes into effect when focusing really close (something like ½ meter or less).
14 elements in 12 groups is a complex design. There was a time when less elements and groups meant better performance. But that was at a time when optical engineers designed lenses on paper and polished them by hand. Today, computer aided design methods combined with modern manufacturing techniques provide much better results even with more complex designs. Tests of this lens on the net show the older version as a bit sharper wide open (focused at infinity). My testing has shown that the difference is so small that in practice they are the same as far as sharpness is concerned. On both the D200 and D300 the lens performed superbly delivering sharp results every time no matter what aperture was chosen. From wide open to about f/14 the results are truly excellent. After that diffraction is marginally noticeable and I will safely go as high as f/25 for any of my work (maybe a touch more sharpening than usual may be required).
Well composed subjects and good lighting will be reproduced beautifully with this lens. Now if you go and shoot in harsh lighting conditions against the light wide open, then you may witness some form of chromatic aberration or even some flaring but to my style of shooting this is a non issue and I doubt it will ever come close to becoming visible, let alone a problem.
The overall optical performance is great. The colours, the crispness, the contrast all are excellent throughout the aperture range. Obviously if you sit and measure its MTF performance you will find that wide open it’s softer but the differences are way too small to notice. I use this lens wide open for portraits and still have every pore defined, so I urge you not to worry about sharpness wide open, just try it and you will be happy.

Nikon D200, VR 105mm F/2,8G, f/2.8 @ 1/60s, Auto-ISO 720, no NR

100% crop

Last words
The only real disadvantage with this lens is the small working distance when shooting small critters (For a 1:1 mag the working distance is about 15cm, subject to lens). Other than that, this is one sweet lens.
It obviously has a lot of potential, though one has to realize the limits of the system and not expect the world. Expectations of any system need to be reasonable and the limitations of a system understood for maximum results with the least of frustrations.



IN SUMMARY

Chromatic aberrations
CA’s aren’t a problem with this lens even though they are present. Up to about f/5 there are some traces of purple fringing. The D300 and D3 combined with Capture NX help to remove most traces automatically.

Vignetting
On the DX format cameras there is no light fall off. On full frame cameras, light fall off and some softness in the extreme corners is noticeable at f/2.8.

Distortion
On the DX format cameras there is no distortion noticeable.

Sharpness
Excellent at all apertures with best performance between f/4 and f/16. On the D200 and D300, from f/16 onwards diffraction spoils the finer details so beware.

NOTES
The great bokeh, the VR, and the good performance wide open make this more of a good portrait lens rather than a true macro. Also being a G lens, you can forget about using all your old macro accessories such as extension tubes and bellows etc.

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Other images shot with the 105mm VR lens:
Serranus cabrilla
H2O
Adonis Blue Butterfly