As I continue to try to find time to write the 85mm f/1.4 review, I came across one of the images that I was, at first, going to use for a test shot at small apertures. Much to my surprise, I’ve found that the 85mm maintains great sharpness even at f/11-16, which is fantastic when making landscapes that require both the foreground and background in focus.

On the photowalk I took with this lens and NEX-7 in hand, the moon was out early in a deep blue sky as the sun began to set for the night. This created a very interesting dynamic element that I could add to my photos that day. With the telephoto compression of an 85mm, objects close and far start to combine, and I used this to my advantage for more than a few shots. My experimentation was rewarded, though initially I could not see it through disappointment in this straight-out-of-camera shot:

Wait, I thought I mentioned there was a deep blue sky…right?

Well…shoot. Digital cameras never seem to capture what the eye sees, especially when it comes to the sky. The problem with this photograph, however, is that my usual tricks to bring out deep blues in the sky (tinkering with saturation and vibrance) simply weren’t cutting it. Color would clip—that is, begin to splotch—before the deep blues came back into the image. Even adding global clarity wasn’t working, as the amount needed to adjust the sky completely changed the colors in the tin roof. So, what to do?

After my basic tonal curve adjustments I perform in most every photograph (exposure, shadows, highlights, etc.), I decided to give graduated filters a try as there are two distinct elements in this photograph: the sky and the tin roof. By adding a graduated filter that increased clarity and saturation selectively in the sky, and another that increased only contrast and clarity in the tin roof, I created a photograph that simultaneously displays the very different and dynamic elements exactly as I intended to be captured. The prominence of the moon, along with the deep color and wispy clouds of the sky, immediately contrasts with the rusting ventilation shaft and roof that cuts straight through the image.

I have a thing for odd symmetry and asymmetry, what can I say:

Juxtaposition
85mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/320

That’s all for this post guys and gals, thanks for dropping by!

So! As many may know, I had to send in my NEX-7 for intensive repair relatively recently. The sensor cleaning function had completely quit working, and I wanted to get it fixed before my warranty ran out (which would have been just a few weeks ago). Instead of the optical low-pass filter activating ultrasonic vibrations to knock dust loose for easy removal, nary a click could be heard when the cleaning mode was supposedly activated.

After a brief back-and-forth with Sony’s online repair center, I got everything squared off with a prepaid overnight to Sony’s repair center in Laredo, Texas. Important note, everything else about the camera was near perfect, both cosmetically and functionally. Sony lists about a 10-day turnaround for repairs, which I was well aware of. However, I hoped to get the camera back a little ahead of time so I could use it on a trip to Destin. I would be leaving on a Friday, so I called the repair center on Wednesday of that week to get ahold of upper management. Politely I asked that if there was any way to expedite my main repair (since I previously wrote in the repair order to also do a full-diagnostic to check for other problems, as well as a cleaning if possible), I would appreciate getting it by Friday. I was assured by two different people that it would be shipped out that day in order to make it by Friday (I called twice that day to confirm).

All is well, right? Wrong. Strike one. My NEX-7 was instead overnighted the day I left, so it arrived home while I was halfway to Destin. Bummer. Compound that with the fact that I couldn’t access my mail for another two weeks, and I was rather anxious to get my camera back.

Strike two. Upon opening my tightly-packed NEX-7, I found to my dismay that not only was the sensor cleaning function not repaired, but the LCD screen (which was immaculate when I sent the camera in) had large, multiple marks of coating loss all over the screen. I honestly thought I had received a different camera with my serial number merely stamped onto it. How could they send me a camera in worse shape then before? I knew that the problem with the screen couldn’t be due to temperature fluctuations in shipment—I’ve used the camera without fail in 100-degree heat and 10-degree cold—so needless to say I was irked with this treatment.

After a lot of runaround, I got Sony to file another repair order. They knew that if it wouldn’t be repaired this time, I would get my money back and go to something else (honestly, my confidence in the company was shaken, and the Nikon d600 looks VERY tempting). As a kind gesture, they sent a loaner NEX-7 to use during my repair period.

Finally, after about six weeks total, I ended up with a fully-functional NEX-7. The sensor cleaning works, and the LCD screen is good-as-new. Why they didn’t repair it right, the first time, is beyond me. The repair parts along with the cost of overnight shipping surely weren’t cheap, and ordering twice of everything didn’t help matters.

Instead of striking out, Sony hit a solid double out to left field; extending the warranty another six months. Very nice of them, so we’ll see if the camera needs any more work in the near-future. I sure hope not.

I figure a good exercise to keep from over-saturating this post with too many photographs is to cull four of my best photographs from each game: 2 baseball, 1 softball, 1 tennis, 1 lacrosse. Let’s see what I dig up. All captured with the Sony NEX-7 and Nikon 300mm f/2.8 AI-s ED or Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-s. P.S. A good number of these are in the 2:1 crop ratio. Since this is how my images are sent in to my supervisor for displaying, I usually shoot with this in mind.

Wind-Up
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/2000

Power Serve
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.4, 1/4000

Close Save
300mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/2500

Bunt
300mm, ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/3200

Rushing In
300mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/2000

Celebration
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000

Courtside
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.4, 1/4000

Contact
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000

Throw-Out from Third Base
300mm, ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/2500

Homer
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1250

Full Sprint
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1000

Down the Line
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1250

Grit
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/3200

Fast Pitch
300mm, ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/4000

Near-Collision
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1600

Turn-around
300mm, ISO 800, f/4, 1/1250

Pop-Fly in Right Field
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/4000 (100% crop)

Cradle
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1250

Corner Frame
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000

Blue Skies
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250

That’s all for this post, guys and gals, thanks for dropping by! There’s a couple more games I may be shooting soon that are left in the spring season, but for the time being, the rush has past. Now…time to focus on that 85mm review…

That said, this kind of light post-processing doesn’t usually find its way into the “My Mind’s Eye” series. In these posts—the few instances where I do take the time to show what my mind’s eye sees that a camera cannot immediately capture—it can be a refreshing change of pace to find that only a little PP work is all it takes to bring a photograph to life. Spring is in the air, and I’m catching up photographing all the flora that comes with the season:

In this straight-out-of-camera shot, I like the creamy bokeh and contrasting blue against washes of green. However, everything is a bit flat–as is typical in unadjusted JPEGs of colorful scenes.

So, how much good can adjusting contrast and saturation do to this photograph? A lot, as it turns out!

The Little Ones
85mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/400

Taken with the 85mm f/1.4 AI-s, I’m still in the middle of testing this fine telephoto, and also have more to share from some recent sporting events. Until then, thanks for dropping by, guys and gals!

Getting this far, so quickly, is something I wasn’t sure would be possible. One year ago, I drifted out in the sea of “just another WordPress site” for quite a while, and didn’t know if traffic would ever pick up (I started out getting only 5 views a day!). Slowly but surely, as other websites began featuring my work on legacy Nikkor lenses, the views and followers came pouring in. Now, I have increased the average views by a hundred-fold, logging about 500 views daily! In spite of my ever-busy schedule in school, I’ve done my best to keep updating this site whenever possible, and I can only THANK YOU for bearing with me. If I had the time, I would have loved to do separate posts throughout the week on my photography happenings, rather than lumping them all into one great, big update each week. Alas, this past academic year, it was not meant to be.

Times are changing for the better, however. The weather is warming up, spring sports are in high demand, my winter term is finally over, and my photographic itch is bothering me more than it ever has. Though I do still have one more month of school to go, posts should—by the beginning of summer—return to their once-normal frequency. I have many topics I would like to write about, as well as places to photograph. As long as I keep finding excellent AI-s Nikkors, those reviews should keep flowing along, too!

However, right now? I’m beat. Kaput. Exhausted. You name it. I believe it’s time for a day-long nap—but even then, I still have a LOT of sleep to catch up on. There is a few days of break before my next short term starts, so I’ll see if I can’t crank out a lens review or a get a nice photowalk in. Either way, I’ve got to get out and make some photographs soon. Right after I…zzz…zzz………

Sunset Blossoms
85mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/80
Even tree blooms go to sleep when the sun goes down…

Tagged
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1600

Another week, and one step closer to a break. At least, that’s been my train of thought for the past month. As always, it seems, the times leading up to finals week (starting tomorrow) are always a killer in trying to find time for photography. In a way, however, writing posts on here is a way of taking a break from studying, though I do feel a bit productive at the same time. Besides, last week I couldn’t afford any time to do an update. Not today!

A lot has happened lately. Let’s get down to it.

For starters, I’m back in the swing of spring sports (what little I can afford to make time to shoot, that is), and manually focusing has never been easier:

Rushing By
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

Form
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1000

Shout
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

Jump Shot!
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000

Goal-Run
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

Chasing
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

Blocking
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

On Target
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1250

As I briefly alluded to in a recent post, I have spent most of my photographic time lately working on a final project for class. My idea to do panoramas on street murals didn’t really pan out, so I started over. Our assignment was to “simply” tell a story. I had a lot of trouble, at first, because I couldn’t really think of anything interesting to tell a story about photographically. After a lot of frustration, I thought, “Hey, what about a story…about me figuring out a story?” Meta, I know. Regardless, I tried to follow the steps towards telling a photographic story in a book we’re reading and visualizing them as much as possible. As it turned out, I developed a style of extreme symmetry and purposeful awkwardness in all of my photographs. This made for some interesting compositions; on the flipside, each photograph took around 3 hours to make. That part…I didn’t particularly care for. Oh well, it’s done now, here we go:

Looking Back
35mm, ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/6
The first picture in my meta “story of telling a story” project literally portrays the looking-back on previous photographs for inspiration. The symmetry and awkwardness here sets the style for the entire project. I used two lamps at each side to evenly illuminate the photographs and give heavy accent lighting to my head.

Writer’s Block
35mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1 Second
This still-life visualizes the order and tension that a writer may exhibit when struggling to come up with new ideas. I used it here to relate to my own struggle with the project. I took picture to follow this one, showing the objects in disarray with words written relating to figuring out an idea (with the exact same framing), but in the end it didn’t fit with the project’s overall art style.

Brainstorm
35mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 30 Seconds
I wanted to play with perspective in this photograph. By focusing on the top row of concepts to photograph (music, games, photography, searching) and gradually de-focusing their respective subjects, accompanying objects, arrangement, and lighting, I created a not-so-subtle hierarchy. By placing each row of sticky notes double the previous distance between each other (1/2 inch between top two rows, 1 inch between next, etc.), the separation is strengthened even more. To make the notes appear to be floating in nothing, I placed them on a black refrigerator and photographed in dim light to ensure there were no reflections.

Choose Your Lens
105mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, .4 Seconds
Another literal interpretation of photographic storytelling, a way to ensure uniformity of perspective in a story is to use the same lens for every shot. For this project I chose a 35mm f/1.8 lens that, on an APS-C camera, gives a typical “normal” field-of-view as a 50mm lens on film would. I placed emphasis on actually “choosing” the lens by symmetrically arranging some of my other well-used AI-s lenses on white paper. By exposing for the lenses, the paper is mostly whited-out. The large f/2.8 aperture ensures the proper blurring-out of the other lenses. This is the only photograph in the project taken with a lens other than the 35mm, of course.

Game-Man
35mm, ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/6
What college-aged guy doesn’t enjoy a few video games every now and then? To show one of my three hobbies/passions, and keeping with the symmetrical style of the project, I paused an adventure game known as Skyrim right in the moment where a dragon is attacking the player. I then set the TV down close to a table in front of some dark cloth to blackout the background. The game console is placed in the center of the photograph, but the only objects in focus are the two controllers both connected to the system. Avid gamers may pick up the humor in this, since Skyrim is only a single-player game!

Music-Man
35mm, ISO 100, f/13, 30 Seconds
In this photograph I wanted to portray my wide-ranging musical abilities—in addition to knowing somewhat how to play all other instruments, I can play all brass instruments with varying levels of proficiency. I had to find two members of each of the brass family for this to work, forming a mirror-image of each instrument next to each other. Tungsten-spotlights provided a warm yet edgy light to emphasize the reflectiveness of the instruments. To put importance on my primary instrument, a trombone mouthpiece is front-and-center among the symmetry of the other instruments—as well, only the trombones have mouthpieces attached.

Photo-Man
35mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/3200
The last of the three personal passions, figuring out a way to portray myself as a photographer proved a challenge both at the conceptual level and in fitting with the style of the project. By taking a mock picture of what it might look for me photographing a macro—but with both the flower and lens impossibly in focus—I can give a much better “in-action” representation than a typical self-portrait, myself merely holding a camera.

Searching
35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/4000
The closing photograph in my meta-story, I return to myself as a subject. Through silhouetting myself against a dynamic sky, holding binoculars by my side, I abstractly visualize the concept: I’m always searching for new things on the horizon, whether it is a hobby or finding a passion such as photography. Still keeping with the theme, there are bits of awkwardness to pick up on here too such as the unnatural way I hold the binoculars by my side, or even the cow-lick of hair on my head I forgot to brush down that day.

And in case you were wondering, no, I did not develop OCD after this project, as much as it may seem.

A quick aside, a Salsa troupe came to campus one day and held a brief group dance. Gotta love it:

Leading
35mm, ISO 800, f/2.2, 1/80

Group Fun
35mm, ISO 800, f/2.2, 1/100

As mentioned above, it’s finals week for everyone at Transy. To combat the stress inherent in exams, term papers, and final presentations, the campus holds “Stress-Fest” events for students to blow off steam. There will be a puppy petting room again this semester (like I talked about here) among other venues, but I probably won’t be able to find the time to photograph these and get some much needed rest before my exams. I did make it to one special event though. Deemed “Demo-Day”, students can pay a few bucks to have a minute or so with a golf club/baseball bat/sledgehammer and beat up on a junkyard car. The closest equivalent to having a “breaking room”, for sure.

Pre-Demolition
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1000
Notably, it wasn’t in good shape to begin with…

Choices, Choices…
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1600

Spoiled-Spoiler
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1000

Safety Goggles?
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2500
Someone forgot to tighten up their eye protection

Limber Up
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250

Girl and her Hammer
85mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/3200

Banners
85mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250

A lot of fun, though all the chipped paint and metal pieces flying everywhere seemed like a safety hazard. They might have to rethink face protection next year!

Now that the weather is starting to warm up to a typical Kentucky spring (that is, 80 degrees one day, 40 degrees the next), outdoor events at night are getting more common. I stopped by a small bonfire/concert event for just a little bit recently. Were it not for holding a camera, I would have definitely made a s’more:

Lighting
35mm, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/80

Group Roast
35mm, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/200

A Bit Burnt!
35mm, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/15

Tuning Up
35mm, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/100

Finally, a good friend of mine had his senior recital this past weekend. I volunteered my NEX-7 to take video of the entire recital. When I eventually I get ahold of the off-camera recorded audio, I’ll splice the tracks together for better audio quality. The NEX-7′s microphones are “okay”. They can handle a wide range of sound, but there’s no way to adjust or turn off the volume limiter; disappointing for group events where dynamics change rapidly. Nonetheless, the NEX-7 on a tripod (with my 105mm f/1.8 at f/2.8, 1/60th, ISO 200) produced some seriously smooth and sharp video. I just wish Sony didn’t let the camera out with its overheating problem. Though I managed to record the entire recital (in stop-and-start segments), the overheating indicator came up during every song, and there were times I wasn’t sure if the camera could make it without shutting down. A real shame. Hopefully the upcoming NEX-7 replacement (and maybe later full-frame NEX-9?) won’t have this problem. Anyways, here’s Alex Yaden performing Paul Dukas’ Villanelle (ca. 1906), accompanied by Loren Tice. Music starts 30 seconds in, don’t forget to watch full-screen in 1080p:

That’s all for this long-overdue weekend update guys and gals, thanks for dropping by! Due to the hectic nature of this week, I’m unsure if I’ll have enough photographs to warrant another post this weekend. However, if the weather plays nice, and I can make time, there’ll surely be more.

One of the biggest time-suckers photographically speaking is a photo-story project I’ve been working on for my photography class. It is requiring about 1-2 hours on average for each shot, so I have little to no time for the (comparatively) more casual kind of photography I typically post about here. This project combined with the other paid assignments I take makes it even more difficult to find the time. More info on this to come.

Other than that, I hope to post some of my work soon, if time allows. And hey, Summer is drawing nearer and nearer every day! I’ll have LOTS of time then to get back to my then-usual 2-3 posts a week!

IMPORTANT: If you are unfamiliar with my lens review style, please reference this post first!

Ahh…back to writing another lens review. It feels like it’s been ages since I wrote my last one back in January. Though I can attribute most of this delay to a lack of free time, another part of it is due to the fact that old man winter decided to hang on a little past his welcome this year. As a macro lens, the Nikon Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8 AI-s has a penchant for taking close-ups of flowers and what-not—with plant life just now starting to come back to life, the photographic subjects are slowly increasing.

But the neat thing about a macro lens is that they tend to be well-corrected at all focus distances. Combined with its fast f/2.8 maximum aperture, the 105mm micro might be a strong performer for landscapes, portraits, or even sports. The question is, can it deliver outside its forte of close-focusing? Let’s find out!

Specifications

Close-focus adds about 2 inches in length

Full Name: Nikon Micro-Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 AI-s

Dimensions: 3.29 inches/83.5mm in length, 2.62 inches/66.5mm in diameter, with a moderately heavy weight of 18.1 ounces/515 grams. This is 6 ounces/170 grams heavier than the camera itself, but most of the lens is the focus ring so it balances nicely in the left hand.

Close-Focus: marked at 1.34 feet/.41 meters. This produces a 1:2 magnification ratio (or, half life-size). By using the dedicated PN-11 extension tube, “true” macro can be obtained through a maximum 1:.88 magnification ratio (or, 1.14x life-size). This is very, very close. Use a tripod when shooting with the PN-11.

Average Online Price: $350 for mint, $200 for beater. Interestingly, Nikon still sells this lens brand new in 2013 for $800(!).

Miscellaneous: 7 straight-bladed aperture stopping down to f/32, Nikon’s Close Range Correction (CRC, or, floating elements), focus drag screw, reproduction ratio markings for both the “normal” lens and the lens with the PN-11 extension tube, depth-of-field markings for f/16 and f/32, infrared focusing dot, standard 52mm metal filter thread, HS-14 metal hood, metal mount

Working distance at 1:2 magnification

The “Feel”

In typical list form, let’s take a look at my four pillars of shootability:

1. Small size? Not exactly. Compared to other, faster 105mms, the 105mm micro is a bit longer, but less wide. Compared to the 100mm f/2.8 E, it’s pretty huge. Of course, none of those lenses focus as close as this macro, which gets even bigger as you approach macro focusing ranges. Don’t forget about the length added with the necessary hood.
2. Light Weight? Strike two. With the hood the 105mm micro is even heavier than the 105mm f/1.8 AI-s. Again, all the extra glass and metal needed to extend the focus range adds to this lens.
3. Smooth Operation? Absolutely! Though the focus is super damped, it also is buttery smooth throughout the range. The addition of a focus drag screw helps tremendously when on a tripod. This ensures the focus position doesn’t change when moving around the camera. As with most AI-s lenses, mounting is smooth and the aperture clicks into each stop with authority.
4. Generally favorable optical performance? Quite more than “generally”. There isn’t much bad or even mediocre to say about the 105mm micro.

Pictured here with the hood at the lens’ side, the 105mm micro is noticeably smaller

Make sure to have one of these for the times you want to focus really, really close.

Performance

Summary

What can I say, I just love the 105mm focal length. The 105mm micro is the third prime I’ve used in this focal range, and in many ways it performs the best of the three. In terms of pure technical rendering, it wins hands down. Some odd bokeh at certain focus distances and a problem with flare keep it from true top-tier performance, but as a whole, the 105mm micro performs as a stunning macro and a great all-around telephoto at a surprisingly reasonable price.

Sharpness

Starting out with 100% center crops, I can see that this lens–like most every AI-s lens, suffers from spherical aberration wide-open. The lowered contrast and haze improves at f/4, but true gains in fine detail are apparent starting at f/5.6. For all practical purposes, f/5.6 provides plenty of detail. For those who are extremely picky, f/8 gives just a tad more detail and contrast, the former only visible at 300%. Important for macro shooters, diffraction noticeably sets in by around f/22, and at f/32 detail is truly soft and low-contrast. However, the depth-of-field advantages at these extremely small apertures may outweigh any sharpness concerns, so pick your poison. I personally never find myself going beyond f/16—since I do not have a ring-flash, subjects either move through crawling (bug) or swaying (wind). Now, onto the image peripheries.

What’s interesting to note about these 100% corner crops is how similar they are to to the center. Besides some exposure difference due to vignetting, corners look almost the same, peaking in detail and contrast again at f/8. If anything, corners are just a hair softer than the center, but it’s a difference that takes a lot of flipping back-and-forth at 300% magnification. At normal focus distances, the 105mm micro can truly be sharp corner-to-corner at f/8. Since f/8 also happens to provide a pretty good amount of depth-of-field at macro, this is even more of a good thing. With regards to field curvature, the 105mm micro—like many macro lenses—reproduces a completely flat field of focus. When I look back at my 100% center/corner crops, the respective opposite corners and centers were just as sharp. Refocusing was not needed. Finally, this lens exhibits very little, if any, focus shift. What little I could find happened in-between f/4 and f/5.6. Even then, the difference is minuscule.

Common Crane
105mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250
Don’t let the above charts at f/2.8 fool you, with proper focusing and a little bit of contrast/sharpness adjustment, the detail rendered even wide-open is still very, very good—see 100% crop of eye by clicking.

Sharpness at Infinity

Though macro lenses are typically thought of for situations when close-focusing is required, many are well-corrected throughout their entire focus range. To assess sharpness at infinity, I shot this clocktower late in the day so heat distortion did not rob any sharpness:

100% crops taken from the clocktower face. Ignore the odd color balance and flat contrast (the sky was completely dull from overcast), we’re focusing on detail only here.

Left: Center at f/8 Right: Corner at f/8

The 105mm micro puts on a good show here at infinity. The detail is uniformly sharp at f/8 across the image frame—you can easily make out the cracks in the wood! As before, if you stare really hard you can see that the corners are still slightly less sharp than the centers. But even here at 100%, the difference is trivial. Speaking of trivial, the only difference here of f/5.6 from f/8 at infinity is the decreased visibility of the cracks in the wood.

At Sunset
105mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500
By waiting for the right kind of light, that same clocktower can look much more appealing.

Sharpness at Macro

As a macro lens, the 105mm micro is not only expected to focus close, but to also provide stunningly sharp images at high magnification. In short, it does not disappoint.

As close as you can get, along with a 100% crop (click on picture) at f/8. Note, this lens easily outresolves the leaves on the box.

Hibiscus
105mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/80

So what about “beyond” macro? In this lens’ case, that calls for use with the PN-11 extension tube. Trying to compare shots at different apertures is nothing but trouble—factors such as vibrations, wind, subject movement, and slight misfocus all increase in intensity the closer any lens is focused. When at 1:.88 magnification, simply getting a sharp shot is a challenge on its own. Intuitively, since the 105mm micro is designed to perform at least a little better at close-focusing ranges, it’s best to try to use it right at 1:.88 to counter-act the loss in sharpness from an extension tube.

The thing is, the lens is so sharp to begin with, any decrease in sharpness from the PN-11 is difficult to spot!

Bug on a Mug, v2
105mm, ISO 200, f/11, .6 Seconds, 1:.88 Magnification
As previously mentioned, click for 100% crop

When talking of the 105mm micro’s ability to resolve fine detail at all focus distances, it’s a no-brainer to give it high regards. However, possibly due to Nikon’s use of CRC (floating elements), this macro lens has noticeably more microcontrast in the macro range. It’s difficult to really explain how, but images focused up-close simply have more of a 3-D “pop” that makes editing a lot easier (i.e. not much needed!).

Also, in case you weren’t keeping track, the optimum aperture across-the-frame and at all focus distances is f/8. An extremely consistent performance in this regard. However, since it helps to stop down even more than f/8 in many macro shots, an optimum aperture of f/11 could have been better. You’ll be hard pressed to see any real difference in detail between f/5.6 and f/8 at all focus distances; if you don’t have enough light, or need those shutter speeds faster, f/5.6 still gives you fantastic detail.

So the 105mm micro obviously excels in rendering detail, but does that come at a cost to smooth bokeh?

Bokeh

I had my doubts with the 105mm micro at first with regards to how it may render out-of-focus fore- and backgrounds. It has two things going against it: a 7-bladed aperture (the AI-s lenses with 9 blades produce buttery bokeh) and its extremely technical rendering (many times lenses either are sharp and contrasty or have character, rarely both). Thankfully, the 105mm micro’s bokeh is generally pleasing. Click below for a larger image. Best bokeh smoothness is obtained wide-open, where all foregrounds and backgrounds seem to melt away—though the close backgrounds (2nd from left) are a bit busy by comparison. At f/4, close foregrounds begin to exhibit doubling. As the lens is stopped down further, backgrounds continue to stay smooth while both foregrounds go through various stages of busyness. Strangely, near foreground bokeh (far right) is pretty smooth at f/16. Stopped down further, everything begins to get into relative focus.

However, unlike most of the other lenses I have tested, the 105mm micro focuses much closer than this bokeh test shows. It is here that bokeh smoothness really shines; not only are most objects thrown WAY out of focus, they are also rendered even better than in the test. However, it all depends on the magnification factor as to just how much smoothness there is. The bokeh around a 1-inch flower is vastly different than shooting a row of tulips. Rest assured, from 1:10 all the way down to 1:2 magnification (or 1:.88 via PN-11), the aim will be to figure out the best way to get your subject in focus away from all the bokeh, rather than it melting into the background itself!

Like Watercolor…
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/160, 1:3 Magnification
For instance, shooting at f/4 at this magnification renders backgrounds in a dreamy, ethereal way.

A Study of Gumballs
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/10
In this instance, the gumballs in the background became extremely distracting at f/8, while here at f/5.6 they are very smooth.

When analyzing out-of-focus highlights, the 105mm micro performs well, but still a little weaker than what I was expecting from a fast telephoto lens. Wide-open, highlights have semi-defined rings depending on the intensity of the light. F/4 is extremely smooth in every regard, while the aperture shape becomes visible at f/5.6. Starting at f/8, artifacts begin to fill the highlight and get progressively busier as the lens is stopped down.

As mentioned above, the rendering of out-of-focus highlights is still dependent on the focus distance. The closer, the better. But focused far off, highlights can be very distracting:

Curious Courtyard Cat
105mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/160 (Cropped)
Completely different from the bokeh highlight test, out-of-focus highlights focused far away can be very distracting “rings” as seen in the top of the photograph.

Sailor Boy
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/320
In this example focused closer, bokeh in all regards—even highlights seen in the upper-left—is very smooth

It can really take some trial-and-error to find which aperture/focus distance combinations work the best for overall smooth bokeh. However, the good news is you’ll find a lot more instances of creamy bokeh than busy backgrounds with the 105mm micro.

Chromatic Aberrations

With its maximum aperture starting at a moderately-fast f/2.8, and with no ED elements, I knew the 105mm micro would have some problems with at least purple fringing wide-open. I guessed right, unfortunately, but it isn’t as bad as it could be. To asses aberrations, I shot these branches against an overexposed sky (by 2 stops):

Keep in mind, this is absolute worst-case scenario. Encountering this much contrast is uncommon in most photography. 100% crops taken from center.

As expected, wide-open shows an abundance of purple fringing, about 10 pixels wide. The longitudinal chromatic aberrations in the out-of-focus areas (tinged in magenta and green) are also quite prevalent at f/2.8. This is rather difficult to remove even in Lightroom 4, as what gets left behind is a a grey haze where the fringing used to be. Already at f/4, a marked improvement in aberration control is visible; both fringing and other LoCAs have decreased to a correctable degree. By f/5.6, most of the out-of-focus LoCAs go away, and what little purple fringing is left (1-2 pixels) is trivial to correct. At f/8, all aberrations are under control without the need for any correction.

You may want to watch out for certain high-key situations where purple fringing may create an entire “haze” over a subject. In the example portrait below at f/4, the light fringing all over his jacket is essentially impossible to remove without severely compromising natural colors:

Crossed Casual
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/160

Flare

Though this lens is multi-coated, flare artifacts when a strong light source enters the image are very pronounced, with reflections in both directions. Veiling flare becomes a problem here at the same time (it can be partially mitigated with some adjustments to contrast, though). However, the very deep lens hood keeps the front element shielded from any stray light—thereby keeping flare reflections to a minimum with a light source outside the frame. The following was shot in black and white to so the bluish reflections could stand out from the blue sky.

Vignetting

With a maximum aperture of only f/2.8, the 105mm micro displays very little vignetting even wide open:

A small +10 correction in LR4 is all that’s needed at f/2.8; at that, it’s very uniform and easy to correct without any midpoint adjustments. Already at f/4 any vignetting is completely gone.

Distortion

Typical of a telephoto prime, the 105mm micro exhibits zero distortion:

There might be a hint of pincussion distortion, but even correcting -1 in LR4 seems to do too much.

Since this lens does not suffer any distortion problems, it is a prime candidate for reproducing architectural details:

Two-Sided
105mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/400
Of course, the problem here is dealing with perspective distortion!

Let’s hit the old recap:

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Built just like all the other AI-s lenses—the tough and tight construction of the proverbial tank—and operates extremely well
• Manual focus is geared perfectly at all focus distances.
• Though a specialized lens, the 105mm micro can be highly shootable with excellent balance in the hand, see cons
• Fine detail is resolved spectacularly well across the frame from f/5.6-11 at all focus distances, and gains excellent microcontrast in the macro focusing range
• Mostly smooth bokeh in both foregrounds and backgrounds, with out-of-focus areas rendered particularly pleasing in the macro range
• Out-of-focus highlights are generally smooth at the larger apertures, see cons
• Manageable chromatic aberrations at f/4 and smaller, completely gone by f/8
• Negligible vignetting
• Zero distortion
• Close 1:2 magnification without the extension tube is perfect for many macro subjects, and is about the upper limit of hand-holding
• Extremely good value compared to modern offerings

Cons

• Heavier and longer compared even to faster telephotos of the same focal length
• Detail wide-open is hidden due to spherical aberration, diffraction a major issue at f/32
• Takes some trial-and-error to find combinations of aperture/focus distance to get smooth bokeh
• Out-of-focus highlights, though generally smooth, can get distracting from f/8 and up (again, it still depends on the focus distance)
• Heavy chromatic aberrations wide-open in high-contrast areas that are difficult to correct
• Veiling flare and element reflections an issue with a strong light source in the frame
• Heavily damped focus makes action photography more difficult
• The use of the PN-11 extension tube requires a tripod for accurate results
• Manual-focus, in case you had forgotten

The Bottom Line

As a lens I have used extensively over the past 6 months for everything from product shots to typical macro photography (flowers/bugs/etc.), landscapes to street photography, the 105mm micro is a lens that has always delivered critical results when I need it (f/8), and photographs with a noticeable character when I don’t (f/2.8-4). At about a third the cost of Nikon’s newest autofocus macro (with features that really only contribute more to general photography), the 105mm micro is a true bargain that combines high performance with a low cost of entry. I can’t recommend this lens any higher for anyone looking for a solid manual-focus macro lens.

It’s a shame there isn’t a lens out there that combines the speed of my 105mm f/1.8 with the close-focus and clinical sharpness of this macro. Oh wait, there totally is! Unfortunately, affording a beast like that will take selling off a lot of other lenses (and then some…), so for now, it’s still a dream to chase.

Tropical Pink!
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/100

Mirrors, Mirrors Everywhere
105mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/20

So Many to Choose From…
105mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/200, 1:2 Magnification

Little Blue Shy Guy
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/25, 1:2 Magnification

Perfect Camouflage
105mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/50, 1:.88 Magnification

That’s all for this (long-overdue) review guys and gals. Thanks for dropping by! Schoolwork is ramping up in intensity these last couple weeks of class, so I won’t be able to review the 85mm f/1.4 AI-s for a while. As everything, in time…in time…

Like Watercolor…
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/160

So…I thought I would be able to finish my 105mm f/2.8 Micro review this weekend; I even set aside some time to work on it. One delay ran into another, and now I’m only about half done writing it. As such, I also haven’t had the time to look through the photographs I have taken this past week. There’s a lot of sports going on lately (especially lacrosse), so next week’s update should be chock-full of action taken with my NEX-7.

In other news, Sony contacted me regarding my peeling NEX-7 and claim that it is, in fact, my camera (hmm…). How they messed the LCD screen up—and left the sensor cleaning dysfunctional—is beyond me, but they are trying to make amends; I’ll be receiving a loaner NEX-7 from them in the mail soon and will send my camera off yet again. Who knows what they’ll do to it this time…

So, in closing, if I can find the time I’ll have that 105mm review up by tomorrow night. If not…well…it’ll get there when it gets there.

Take care guys and gals.

Blooming
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/640
Now that plants are starting to bloom (though this technically is a weed), I will be able to get much more sample shots for when I can make time for the 105mm f/2.8 Micro AI-s review.

To make a long story short, I am in a bittersweet mood about my NEX-7 finally being back in my hands. I’m happy I finally have a “real” camera again, but am a little disappointed that A)The sensor cleaning function still doesn’t seem to work and B)The rear LCD turned out to be peeling when I took the plastic off (when I sent it in, the rear LCD was immaculate). I believe Sony has sent me a refurbished NEX-7, instead of my own camera. Not too keen on getting back a camera in worse shape than when I sent it in for repair, so I’ll be contacting them this week to see what the deal is.

But in the meantime, I’ve been busy! I photographed everything from tiny flowers to the sky this past week and managed to shake off my “camera blues” from not having my NEX-7 for over three weeks.

First up, I learned a little bit more about light painting in my photography class. Though I feel this genre is overdone and cliqué in many ways, I tried to be as original as possible for my assignment. In class, none of us had our tripods, so we took this one handheld—at different angles—of our teacher:

Ghost
35mm, ISO 400, f/8, 10 Seconds

I wasn’t too pleased with it, as the background is obviously not blacked out like most examples of light painting show (we popped a flash at the beginning of the exposure, so this didn’t help!). So, in the controlled area of an impromptu studio in my room, I used my 105mm f/2.8 Micro AI-s on a tripod to get these examples:

Impossible Shadows
105mm, ISO 100, f/11, 6 Seconds
In this macro of a moving fan, I shined a flashlight at different angles to throw the shadows in multiple different directions that are impossible to make at once. Black background from a coat behind the fan.

Centipede Hands
105mm, ISO 400, f/8, 6 Seconds
By wearing a black T-shirt and throwing another black shirt over my head, I could isolate the movement of my hands lit by an LED strobe light.

Feeling Blue
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 10 Seconds
This one was a lot of fun to make. By setting the color of my phone’s screen to blue I waved a pattern in the first five seconds, then tilted the light to my face. Sitting still that long was tough!

A few more with that 105mm micro, one of the students on campus displayed some impromptu art by pinning multiple origami swans onto a tree. Not too sure how the tree felt about that.

Against Sky
105mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/200

Triple
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/640

I also found a lowly Halyomorpha halys, commonly known as the brown marmorated stink bug, crawling around some dishes at night near a window (undoubtedly where he got in). Luckily due to the cold he didn’t move around too much, and I was able to stop down for a long exposure—I have yet to purchase a ring flash, unfortunately:

Bug on a Mug
105mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1 Second, 1:1 Magnification

Wanting to go for a “floating” effect, I symmetrically placed three gumballs (from a sweetgum tree, naturally, hehe) on top of a glass table and overexposed the background to white. I always love seeing the detail in this spiked fruit. I wouldn’t recommend ever eating one, though!

A Study of Gumballs
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/10

It was an active week for sports as well, as I shot a little bit of a softball game and most of a lacrosse game. Spring sports are really kicking off, and the next month-and-a-half are going to be very sports-heavy for me. Taken with either the 180mm f/2.8 AI-s ED or 300mm f/2.8 AI-s ED:

Contact
300mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/1250

Focused
300mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/1600

Thanks to the much bigger viewfinder and focus-peaking ability of the NEX-7, I got a substantially larger number of keepers than when I shot lacrosse with the d300 last time.

Signal
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000

Rushing In
180mm, ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/1250

Shot!
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000

Head-to-Head
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000

Wind-Up
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000

Blocked
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/800

Celebration
300mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000

Now for something completely different. There’s a large tree right outside my window with a squirrel nest. I’ve seen as many as five of the little guys come out at any given time, but they are usually moving too fast for me to take anything (let alone to give me enough time to haul my 300mm f/2.8 onto a tripod!). However, I had the unique chance yesterday to see two of them merely sitting out in the sun warming themselves. I quickly got my set-up ready and knew I was going to have crop substantially. This meant staying at ISO 100 and f/5.6 (the lens’ optimum aperture), which translates to very slow shutter speeds. Multiple fires of the remote later, I came up with a fun little progression, and realized just how sharp this super-telephoto can really be:

Two Brothers
300mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100
“Ahh…this is nice, don’t you think?”

Curled
300mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100
“Wait, where’d you go?”

Stretched
300mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100
“Noooooo! Don’t leave me!”

Also, I still do use the excellent 35mm f/1.8 OSS when the situation calls for it (remember, I’m usually a telephoto guy). I got this snap of a rather hazy but interesting sky and added a lot of clarity in LR4 to give the clouds more texture:

Hazy Texture
35mm, ISO 100, f/5, 1/4000

For a grand finale of sorts, I return to the 105mm Micro. I managed to get some test shots over the weekend to get a better idea of how “technically” good the lens is so I can be at least one step closer to writing its review. Let me tell you, this lens is easily the sharpest lens I have ever used (especially at and around optimum). The only time it won’t out-resolve your sensor is if you mis-focus—which, in macro, can easily happen with the slightest of camera position changes. This lens also exhibits absolutely ZERO field curvature, and is truly sharp corner-to-corner. This means that it is perfectly suited to panorama work, in which I’ll be using it over the next week or so for a project on street murals (essentially, legal graffiti). Below is a downsized-version (about 1000×5000) of a 65-megapixel panorama. I used Photoshop CS6 to merge the frames, and I tried using the patch tool to edit out the pole on the right. However, when it tried editing out areas where the painting became more complex, weird artifacts were introduced that were obvious. So, I left it in for a bit of size context, this thing is big!

The Musical City
105mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/6, 7 Exposures Stitched

That’s all for this big update, guys and gals. Thanks for dropping by! No promises on when the 105mm Micro review will get here, but I can tell you I’m getting closer with every shot I take with it.