I read countless reviews before purchasing mine. Since I am by no means a portrait photographer in a purist sense (very little model photography), I pondered whether the lens would be of any extensive use to me given that its price tag is rather steep. I finally pulled the plug on a dealer demo when they offered me a significant rebate and a 90 day satisfaction guarantee.

After a few weeks with it, I like it. I am slowly but surely getting over the initial shock of the extremely thin depth of field and what is rendered sharp at f/1.4 with such a long lens (long for an f/1.4 lens) and I am also redefining everything that can be considered subject for a portrait. Traditionally, buying a portrait lens meant using it mainly to photograph the human form and it is quite easy to see that this is essentially what it is used for when one makes a quick google search for images taken with this lens but upon reading reviews of the Nikon 105mm , I came upon a few sites that had "portraits" of very diversified subjects (man made structures, flowers and flora, animals, abstracts and even landscapes) and the way the lens rendered these subjects fascinated me. It's not the first f/1.4 lens that I own or have owned. I've had the Sigma 30mm then the 50mm EX DG, the Sigma 35mm ART, the Nikon 85mm G (for a short while) and finally the Sigma 50mm ART (the only one I still have). Being of a more modest focal length, none of these lenses can render the out of focus elements like this 105mm can IMHO. It's kind of in a world of its own and the images that it produces are quite unique.

It reminds me a lot of a macro lens in the way the subject has a thin layer of very sharp detail and everything else in the frame just quickly fades away into a blur of colors. I've used macro lenses much more extensively than prime portrait lenses and I've always liked the way a single area is put into a sharpness spotlight so to speak and everything else sort of fades away which accentuates the importance of whatever the photographer wants to emphasize. In essence this lens is one of extremes. Extreme sharpness on one hand and extreme softness on the other.

Whatever subject  I can capture with a macro lens I can capture with this lens with a similar effect with of course one major difference. Since the 105mm has a minimal focusing distance of 1 meter, subjects that are already small (flowers, insects, small animals, small objects) will appear small in the frame resulting in extensive cropping. If bigger subjects are used (cats, dogs, etc.), with a short enough distance to subject to be able to acquire focus and still have them fill the frame (or at least partly) then the macro lens comparison still makes sense to me when I view the results. Obviously I can't achieve a 1:1 reproduction ratio as I can with just about any macro lens available but to be honest, most of my macro photography doesn't come close to 1:1 anyway.

So is it sharp wide open ? The reviews said it was but I still had my doubts. The only lens that was sharp at f/1.4 (I mean sharp, not just acceptably sharp) that I have used and still use is the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART.  Initial tests with the 105mm were mostly positive but I quickly came to the realization that hand holding a lens of this bulk with no VR was harder than I thought hence the many not-so-sharp results that I initially had. Good hand holding technique is crucial withe this lens I find because the weight is all in the frontal area. Positioning the focusing point exactly on the area you want to highlight is also crucial as is lens AF calibration. Similar to a macro lens, sharpness benefits are easily obtained by setting the lens on a tripod and using a remote release when possible. The next photo was done to demonstrate sharpness wide open. It is a direct screen capture of a RAW file in View NX. The image was copied and directly pasted in Photoshop and saved as a JPG file. No post processing done. Those who use View NX will recognize the red square indicating point of focus. The image was taken in live view mode with camera and lens on a tripod and a wireless remote release was used.

Photo above taken with the D810 and 105mm f/1.4 at 1/400 F/1.4 ISO 100

As can be seen, this lens is undoubtedly sharp. No more hazy, dreamy , blurry renditions like the portrait lenses of old. Skin pores, blemishes, wrinkles and facial hair are on full display for better or for worse. Some will argue that the effect of these old lenses (read lack of sharpness) was desired to hide imperfections. I don't agree. I want as much sharpness out of my lenses as is possible. Any lens that I use better be sharp wide open or it goes up for sale. There is a place for hazy and dreamy artistic creations but this can easily be achieved in post processing. Sharpness can't be cheated.

Here are some of my initial photographs taken with the Nikon 105mm f/1.4 and they were all hand held. Although it was not intended to be a landscape lens, I will try it for landscapes very soon and post a sample or two here.

If you are interested in seeing a very good and much more detailed review of this lens with excellent examples of what can be achieved, check the following review at photographylife.

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-105mm-f1-4e

Thanks for reading !

PoaA beautiful Australian Shepherd. She's like the wind. Always on the move, graceful, flowing, agile.

Photo above taken with the D810 and 105mm f/1.4 at 1/500 F/1.4 ISO 100

backyard chipmunkMy new backyard resident.

Photo above taken with the D810 and 105mm f/1.4 at 1/200 F/2 ISO 200

cleomeI love these flowers. When they blossom they remind me of colorful fireworks.

Photo above taken with the D810 and 105mm f/1.4 at 1/400 F/1.4 ISO 100

petunia

Photo above taken with the D810 and 105mm f/1.4 at 1/400 F/1.4 ISO 100