Pixiq

As someone brought up in the Welsh valleys, I thought I knew what rain was until I came to sunny Italy. For the past week boy has it rained, a deluge of almost biblical proportions so severe that I have found myself seriously looking at the wood store and assessing whether there is enough timber to build an Ark… so two people, two cats, a couple of scorpions, some bats, porcupine, badgers…foxes off we go, two by two.

So, what to pack, Dr. Noah? I have been taking a long hard look at equipment I have and things I might need for future projects.

My 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR macro has never, in any sense, let me down in the three years I have used it. So, I thought it's about time I gave it a full “user's appraisal” since I have owned a disgraceful number of macro lenses of assorted makes and focal lengths over the years… that search for the Holy Grail. 

Before I start let me set out my stall. I am first and foremost a naturalist and passionate conservationist who uses photography to express what I see in and feel about nature and the world around me. My background was originally highly technical, but my heart lies towards the artistic and philosophical. I am a user and a pedantic, demanding bastard. Trust me!

In many ways, I suppose this position is different from being a photographer first and foremost who sees nature as a 'resource' for material or as a canvas upon which to impose their art/vision. The stances are not incompatible and there can be considerable crossover. However, whereas some people use image manipulation to introduce elements into a picture — such as cloning new subjects, replacing backgrounds and so on — I will merely tweak to optimize an image and no more. I have no quarrel with the other approach, that is until the unscrupulous try to pass their efforts off as the way it really was… I am not alone. It is a stance to which the organisers of the Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, WildPhotos 2010 and many other events subscribe.

When I spend money on any piece of photographic equipment I expect it to function to the limits of my expectations. So here is my take on using the 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR as an unreasonably demanding professional working in the field (…across the river and up the mountain)

Feel that quality, real quality.

The first thing that impresses about this lens is that feel of sheer quality. This is not some flimsy confection of polycarbonate plastics and glass. It is superbly engineered to standards one is sometimes tempted to feel are things of the past. At 720g, it is more weighty than its 105mm macro predecessors and more bulky to accommodate the optical stabilizer mechanisms. It also has a completely different optical design (14 elements in 12 groups with one ED element). 

The first Nikon autofocus macro lenses did not feel positive when focused in manual mode. But then, AF few lenses available at that stage did — sloppiness was in. When this lens is set in manual the feel of the focus is just like the best of the manual threads — smooth, positive, not a hint of back-lash. From infinity to closest focus the lens barrel rotates around ¾ of a rotation (270°) which allows considerable precision of focus — especially with a Nikon LCD screen in live view and an enlarged image.

Comparisons: micro Nikkors now and way back when...

Internal focusing — a plus

As with all macro lenses currently offering life-size (1:1 scale of reproduction) as standard, this lens employs ‘internal focusing’. In short, a group of lens elements moves internally and tube length does not change.

Before the advent of internal focusing things were different and all macro lenses created magnified images in the same way by moving the lens elements away from the film/sensor. This is the time-honored fashion where light rays spread out and create an enlarged image. Any lens will do this; you just have to introduce some space between lens rear and imaging surface usually in the form of extension tubes (or a bellows).

The 'old way' was inconvenient, for the internal thread of the lens would take you only to one half life-size and to better it meant removing the lens and fitting the tube. Lens corrections to counteract aberrations were also not as effective for they were optimised for a particular magnification. However, the biggest bugbear for a macro photographer was that changing focus meant that tube length changed and you thus had to move the camera plus lens to refocus each time. In this respect, the focus ring became useless except for changing the scale of reproduction. We just got used to this.

The advent of internal focusing means better lens correction at close distances, but the real boon is that the photographer stays fixed with camera and lens and focus — to increase or decrease the scale of magnification you still move the camera as you do with all non-zoom lenses.

Internal focusing — a tiny minus (but you’ll live with it)

There is often a slight downside to internal focusing: as you focus image size changes. It is called Focus Breathing and is evident in this lens. I know some reviewers consider this a disadvantage, but in practice it is hardly noticeable and cropping is child’s play in Adobe Lightroom anyway.

For those who want to use Helicon Focus and other stacking programs this deserves some thought. I have sometimes found that focus by rotating the lens focus ring does not produce such good image register as using a precise focusing slide where there is imperceptible change in scale over the range you move camera plus lens (or move a subject) to change focus. Differences are very small but worth mentioning even if there are claims that these programs scale images to fit.

So how does it rate on image quality?

I am not going to quote tables of MTF measurements — besides I don't have the machine anyway. I can just comment on the basis of looking at real world results on screen with an unreasonable degree of criticality based on being fanatical about sharpness.

This lens does not disappoint in any way — it is superbly sharp with excellent edge definition and image contrast which, when tweaked in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, gives stunning images time after time. What more can one ask? Well, maybe how it compares with previous Nikon macro lenses of the same focal length. I have owned several… beginning with the legendary manual lens: 105 mm f/2.8 micro Nikkor. Without added extension tubes the maximum scale of reproduction was just a half life-size, but the image quality was exceptional with a balance of sharpness and contrast rivaled only by some Leica lenses.

The first AF version I bought (AF Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8D) had me quickly regretting the sale of its manual predecessor. The autofocus was slow, and imprecise — to convince myself I ran numerous tests and it simply was not as sharp. Neither was its replacement: the third worked fine.

Suffice it to say that this latest lens with its VR (vibration reduction) and Nano Crystal coating (to cut down internal flare) has completely restored my faith and exceeded all reasonable (and those highly unreasonable) expectations.... but that's not all.

Continued with part 2 here  and... if you are in the mood for MACRO you'll discover a veritable feast of material here in my previous posts