Nikon 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor AI-S

Review Date
October 6, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
TheGreyTiger , Intermediate

Price Paid
$180.00 at Keh.com

Photography Experience
2-5 years , People

Summary
[I own the older version, the one without the built-in hood. I use it with D90, D70 + 35mm N8008]

Very good lens!

However, I'm not sure why everyone is raving about this lens other than its a solid telephoto portrait lens and great find for the price-- one person claiming its a "silver bullet", is crazy. Another other person claiming they spent $2000 for this lens is beyond belief as well.

As of 2009, this is a great used lens to find. I wouldnt pay over $375 for a mint one, and i wouldnt pay more than $250 for a used one. I bought mine heavily used (bargin) through Keh.com for around $180 and was very pleased. The metal showed the wear of a 20-30 year old lens, but the glass was near perfect.

It has a nice shallow depth of field however since theres no autofocus of VR it will usually produce more soft images.

I find its sharper around the f5-f11, wide open produces more buttery soft images.

Strengths
- nice bokeh.

- the price

- solid portrait lens

- solid construction

- goes great with the 50mm f1.8 since both accept the same 52mm filters.

Weaknesses
NO AUTO FOCUS. this may be a deal killer for some esp. older shooters. But if your eyes are still fairly good and you dont mind shooting an extra frame or two to CYA for focus, then its a fair exchange for the price.

It has a moderate weight. I dont understand people sayings its light and short. its not but its not a hulking beast either. With the hood it almost doubles in length.

Similar Products Used
similar Nikkor telephotos of the same length.

Customer Service
never had to deal with.

Review Date
May 14, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Reviewed by
Axle , Intermediate

Price Paid
$0.00 at Gift

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Other

Summary
I recived this lens, along with two others when I was given a Nikon F3, and much to my joy I found out that I could actually use these with my D300. I quickly put this lens into use both on my F3 and D300. It proved amazing to work with on the D300.

It's low profile and the 1.5x mag factor made it perfect for candid street photography. In the field of photo journalism this thing is a classic lens, like street photography I was able to get nice candid shots of the event participants without needing flash (f/4 ISO-1600), and maintain a distance so that they wouldn't 'pose.'

On the F3, it provides a great portrait lens, and use in photo journalistic shooting also, but the 1.5x factor is missed, I guess at this point I'm used to it.

Strengths
Sharp
Fast
Built in Hood
Low Profile

Weaknesses
Manual Focus, while not really a weaknesses, in quick situations a person not used to manual focus may have problems using it.

Limited to Manual or Aperture Priority mode only, which for myself isn't a problem as those are the two I use the most.

Similar Products Used
A wide range of Nikkor Auto Focus Lenses and older Pentax and Minolta Manual Focus lenses.

Review Date
November 14, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by
johanluiten , Intermediate

Price Paid
$250.00 at photo fair

Photography Experience
2-5 years , People

Summary
This is a beautiful lens, crisp, sharp, not to big to handle easily, and the fast f stop makes it possible to make pictures almost during any wheter. I never use a flash and that is possible with f2.5.
For the price this is a great little lens. Ideal for portets.

Strengths
f stop
weight
sharpness

Weaknesses
Not found yet

Similar Products Used
nikon serie E 100mm

Customer Service
never had to use it

Review Date
September 2, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
pgirvan , Intermediate

Price Paid
$150.00 at Camera Shop

Photography Experience
2-5 years , People

Summary
I purchased this lense after shooting some portraits with the same lense at a friend's house. The images I recieve from this lense are superbly sharp and the colors are fantastic. The fairly fast speed of this lense makes it very versitile for even indoor shooting.

Strengths
Fairly fast speed
Incredible sharpness
Amazing color reproduction

Weaknesses
NONE

Similar Products Used
Nikkor 135mm f2.8
Nikkor 43-86mm f3.5
Nikkor 28-50mm f3.5
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Nikon series E 50mm f1.8
Tamaron 80-210mm f3.5-4.5

Customer Service
none needed

Review Date
January 20, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
Michael Smith , Professional

Price Paid
$0.00

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
I bought this in the 1970's and just thought I'd gotten lucky. Razor sharp images, it has minimal refractive glare and no spherical or chromatic aberration. I have blown PAN-X 35mm up to 16x20 with no visible distortions (except grain, no fault of the lens), sharp, sharp, sharp. I just wish that I had a 28mm, 50mm, and 200mm as sharp.

Strengths
Sharp, sharp, sharp, clear and clean.

Weaknesses
Manual.

Customer Service
N/A