Camera Labs

Hi Phil & Thomas, and anyone else who reads this,

The Nikon 105mm f/2.8G VR micro lens seems to get great reviews from all owners and I'm thinking about getting it myself. Aside from being a macro lens for getting 1:1 pure macro, people also rave about it being great for portrait work and I wondered if you had found the same?

Would there be any reason not to recommend it? e.g. soon to be updated or has been surpassed.

I particularly like the idea of 105mm because you can still keep your distance from the subject, although I wonder how it can be such a great portrait lens on a camera with a cropped sensor. Wouldn't it take you too far away for portraits? I think if it could double as a great portrait lens then I'm sold

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Mark, I've split our post from the "Lens gallery" as

As I have no portraits to post but general remarks, plus i think many people with other 105mm lenses could reply I think your Q is more apropriately posted in the "Portrait and people photography" section.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Now to my remark(s):
You could very easily find out whether 105mm is too long for your portraiture-work: Zoom your 18-200mm to 105mm and see whether this is to close-cropped
As to the f/2.8 part - that has two advantages: low dof and good available light shooting.
The VR is just the icing on the cake (as to available light shooting).
And the perhaps not so stellar sharpness of this lens under lormal circumstances: That is a very sought after feature in portraiture!

On a more practical note: I've done headshots (outdoors) with 200mm and portraiture indoors with the 105mm (not published). And yes: you need some "breathing room" for indoor work so don't plan on doing it in a cramped space!
But even indoors the longer focus-length has the benefit of making the background (if you don't use a studio background) less distracting.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for moving my post and for your reply. I will have a go at portraits at 105mm with my 18-200mm as you suggested and see how it goes.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

105 is a good length if used on an FX camera. The crop factor will make it less versatile indoors. However that lens can be doubled to be an effective portraiture lens.

From my photography I used the 35-70 2.8 as my main portraiture lens, backed up by the 50 1.8, 70-200 2.8 and then the 10-20 for perspective play portraits. Thomas has given a great suggestion of trying out the equivalent length on an existing lens, a trick I picked up rather late in my photographic roots.

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Nikonian

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