105mm f/1.4E Archives

See Nikon’s 105mm f/1.4 go head to head against the 200mm f/2

Mar 3, 2017 by John Aldred 12 Comments

When Nikon announced its new 105mm f/1.4E ED lens last year, it got a lot of attention. And it’s easy to see why. 105mm is an ideal portrait focal length for many photographers, and personally it’s where I find I spend the most time for portraits, too. One photographer who was particularly interested in checking it out was Texas based portrait shooter Keydrin Franklin.

Keydrin is a big fan of long lenses on location for full length portraits. His go-to lens for the past couple of years has been the Nikon 200mm f/2G ED VRII. But, this is a heavy beast and you have to get pretty far back to get the shot. Having now used the 105mm f/1.4 for a while, he put together a video during a shoot with some comparison photos to offer up his thoughts.

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The Nikon 105mm f/1.4 and Laowa 105mm f/2 go head-to-head in this lens shootout

Feb 8, 2017 by John Aldred 5 Comments

Nikon’s 105mm f/1.4 lens made a big splash when it was announced last year. Being the world’s fastest 105mm prime lens, it’s not much of a surprise. Having been in the hands of photographers for a few months now, it’s done nothing but impress. It’s a top quality lens, with a price tag to match. But what about those who don’t want or can’t afford to spend $2,200 on a 105mm lens? Are there other options?

Well, there’s the Venus Optics Laowa 105mm f/2 STF at a mere $699. But how does it compare? That’s the question this video from Ling at Zero-Day Photography hopes to answer. Smooth Trans Focus (STF) is Laowa’s technology which “soften[s] the borders of the bokeh” to create the effect of a wider aperture lens. In theory, this should let it provide images with a similar appearance to the Nikon. Should. In theory.

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Nikon’s new 105mm f/1.4E out in the wild and sample photos

Aug 16, 2016 by John Aldred 10 Comments

Nikon’s new 105mm f/1.4E ED isn’t officially available until the end of the month. A few lucky people have managed to get their hands on one, though. On that short list are photographers Lindsay Silverman and Vincent Versace, who have both posted sample shots to social media.

I always find it interesting to see what comes out after a new lens is announcement. While there’s no substitute for trying a lens yourself, photos shot with them do show things that spec sheets cannot. They help you to make more informed choices about whether or not you even want to try one.

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Nikon just announced the world’s fastest 105mm portrait lens it’s f/1.4

Jul 27, 2016 by John Aldred 6 Comments

This is one of those lenses that you almost don’t even know you want until somebody announces that it exists. I’ve been using my Nikon 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor as a portrait lens for years and always loved it. It’s one of my absolute favourites. I never really thought about a potentially faster version. Until now.

Nikon have today announced the AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED lens, a very fast take on their 105mm legacy which includes the very popular 105mm f/2.8G AF-S Micro-Nikkor and slightly less common 105mm f/2D AF DC.

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