AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED

This lens is sharp, contrasty, and beautiful a 2.8 and up. Its not a lens I pull out often but I could use it for portraits more and should. It lets me stand back out of the light for detail shots and the VR helps greatly. Focus ´´Breathing´´ takes some getting used to and I often use manual focus to nail shots because the AF sometimes doesn´t do what I want it to. The VR takes a second to kick in and because its my only VR lens its kind of annoying to me but may not be to you. Otherwise its a necessary and welcome addition. If i shot with this all day, im sure that the issues with this lens would go away because its unique handling takes some learning. I own the 24 1.4g the 85 1.4g the 50 1.4g the 24-70 2.8g and the 80-200 2.8 D and this lens is as good as all of them.

i just want to say that this is the best Closed up Lense i have ever seen and use i totally recomend it worth every cent

I purchased this lens back when I was still shooting with my Nikon D70 so it has been in my bag a long time. I find the lens a great general purpose macro lens that really comes in handy when you don´t want to get ´´that´´ close to your subject.

Even on an FX body, this lens fills the sensor from corner to corner.

I originally got this lens for Micro work, which it excels at but soon discovered its also takes outstanding portraits. The face or faces are in perfect focus and the background is creamy smooth!

I purchased this lens in 12-2007 after having a 60 mm Macro which I loved very much. I purchased the 105 Macro so I could take Macro photos a little further back and not be in the shadow of my subject,especially when using studio strobe. It works great. The only problem I have had is that it hunts and hunts too often. I will be sending this back to Nikon for a third time to hopefully correct this problem.

If you can get past the minor focus-breathing (Only relevant if you do really tight macro shots) then this lens is a winner.

Solid feel, superb optics. Fast A/F. I really love this lens for all my detail work and the unexpected shot happening several yards away.

This Nikkor is the truly professional lens unit. Outer barrel is made of metal, very sturdy, giving pleasant feel to anyone holding it.

Thanks to SWM and IF design, nothing in the exterior moves and and I can use manual focusing even during AF operation, the focusing speed is significantly improved from the older sibling. The only drawback from this design is the change of Field of View when you focus, wider FoV when focusing closer, this would be annoying to the serious close-up shooters, but I don´t bother.

Put that aside, the image quality is superb in terms of resolution and contrast as all Micro-NIKKORs do. You can even use widest aperture and get razor-sharp image that no one could offer. On top of that, it can also handle farther subjects as well, with the smooth out-of-focus area rendition, it could be used in portraiture too.

The VR in this unit is designated as VRII, seriously, I can shoot at 1/20 sec and can get sharp images around half of the attempts. Now I can walk around and just shoot in almost all lighting situations, without tripods.

If you desire to shoot Nature subjects esp. flowers and some larger critters, this is the lens for you.

I´ve been using this lens for a few years on my D70, D200, and D700. It is my favorite portrait lens, but not an everyday walk around lens because of it weight and size.

I echo those who commented on its sharpness and quick focusing ability. In addition to that, the VR feature is an excellent bonus if you shoot free-hand from a distance. The lens also produces true color ranges, espcecially when shooting under natural available light. I´ve blown up portrait images as large as 20´´x26´´ shot with the lens on my D70. The image quality is impressive and unbelievable. It is more impressive on a D700.

The lens works perfectly on both DX and FX bodies, sharp and quick. However, I believe the focus hunting is a symptom of initial mechanical problem. My lens response was almost instantaneous when I got it, quick and quiet. But after years of useage, it starts to hunt. After Isent it out for repair, it works like a champ again. Sharp, Fast, and Quiet. No more hunting. Highly recommended.

I upgraded to this lens from the 60mm 2.8D because I wanted to increase my working range. I selected this lens over the impressive 200mm because of it´s fast focus. This is the first lens I purchased with VR, and that is a trend I will continue!

Formally, I felt like ´´old fashioned´´ technique was the way to go, but these new lenses that Nikon are coming out with are phenomenal!