Nikkor 105mm f1.8 and other short and medium tele SLR "exotics"


100mm F2 Rokkor 4 by Nokton48, on Flickr


100mm F2 Rokkor 3 by Nokton48, on Flickr

A nice fellow RFFer -GAVE ME- this 100mm F2 Rokkor vintage 1962. It had some mechanical issues, several I fixed myself. The aperture ring isn't hooked up properly, but who uses this lens at other than F2???

The Bokeh King.

Yes a truly nice image with lovely bokeh. I do not have this lens but a couple of years back I bought a nice Canon FD 100mm f2.8 which though slower renders OOF areas nicely too - 100mm seems to be a sweet spot.

Having said this the following was shot with the Voigtlander 75mm f1.8 classic and shows some nice rendering too.

Candid Portrait of a Stranger by Life in Shadows, on Flickr
 
If I found a mint, non factory ai modded 85 1.8 at this point, it's staying that way. A lot of them were well loved by their owners and it shows

Fast tele primes is the reason I enjoy shooting nikon

They do render skin a little too "plastic" for me, sometimes - missing microcontrast or something? I'm using to seeing every little capillary and pore on the face
 
I'm probably one of the few people on the planet that doesn't care for the Nikkor 105 2.5 (too sharp for portraits, nor the best bokeh), and truthfully, I have had an almost impossible time getting Nikon lenses longer than an H 50 2 to have the attributes that I value. Somewhat softish IQ wide open, minimal CA and smooth bokeh. The 85 1.4 probably would work, but we're into Leica R 90 lens money at that point, and I'd rather shoot the Leica on an SLR.

Peter, in those first two photos, your 105 1.8 looks a LOT better to me in the bokeh and IQ department compared to a 105 2.5.

I've posted this shot before, but I like photos from my old R 90 2.8 Elmarit, which was used on a Nikkormat.

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