feeling strangely summarised

Nikkor 105mm f/2 DC


A few days ago I went ahead & bought a lens that has been at the top of my 'to buy' list for a long time - the Nikon 105mm f/2 DC!

I would like to use it for landscapes, object photography & perhaps the odd portrait. Also I love bokeh / shallow depth of field photography. I recently made a decision to shoot with primes only because I like the way they feel to shoot. Also, they are of course fast & fast to focus & having a fixed focal length they force you to compose images with more thought.

This lens has a reputation for being sharp as a tack, & I would say that is about right. As for the 'DC', this is the 'defocus control' function that Nikon patented for the 135mm f/2 DC, which they made prior to this (I don't know of any other lenses that have a similar function). It's a subtle effect designed to smooth out bokeh / out of focus areas. To use it you set the defocus control to match the aperture. There are two options - front DC for foreground objects and rear DC for backgrounds.

The above photo is of my 3 primes. I love the look of these primes - they look very 1980's. I don't think the design of the 105mm has been changed since it started production in 1993. I realised that these three are roughly progressively double the focal length of the previous one - 24mm (36mm DX), 50mm (75mm DX), 105mm (157mm DX).

Anyway, I shall endeavour to play with this lens in the field soon.