Frustrated with my DC 135mm

Msmoto

OK, now that I have been given an explanation of what/how defocus is, a video on this which is quite a good explanation IMO


Thank you WestEndBoy

studio460

I've had a love/hate relationship with my DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2.0D ever since I bought it a few years ago. I did some informal tests a while back, and if I recall correctly, the lens wide-open, appeared sharpest with the DC ring set to "R-2"--not when set to the neutral setting. I have a renewed interest in vetting my "DC issues," since now I have a desire to own the longer 135mm DC lens, since I'm shooting exclusively FX. Here's one of the images from the old tests (unfortunately, this one is shot at f/4):


Nikon D800E + AF DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2.0D [lit by short-duration strobe].


100% crop.

studio460

So, while the above test shots appear reasonably sharp, real-world portraits taken with my DC 105mm always seemed to look "soft," lacking "snap" and contrast. I now shoot portraits pretty much exclusively with my Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro OS, which is razor-sharp, wide-open:


Nikon D3s + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS.

So, having shelved my DC-Nikkor for a while, I was looking at some older DC images I shot, and noticed how "pretty" they were. This "soft" lens, in retrospect, certainly seems to have a certain quality to it (partly, I believe, due to its inherent low-contrast, in addition to its exaggerated spherical aberration). In fact, the lack of contrast initially bothered me so much, that I began shooting my DC lens with a compendium hood (with no discernible effect). But, again, looking at my old DC shots revealed how beautiful the images from this lens are, and that its lack of "snap" is also part of its aesthetic. I have to go out shooting with this lens more . . .

Msmoto

Have you done AF fine tune with your 100mm f/2? Or tested it using live view manual focus?

studio460

Msmoto:

I did, since my 105mm DC-Nikkor appeared to consistently back- or fore-focus slightly (I did these tests a while back, so the details are a bit sketchy). As I recall, the correction was fairly extreme (+/- 15 or something like that). But, I was also having so much basic auto-focus error (focus completely mis-acquired) with it that I just didn't trust the lens anymore, and ended up shelving it for some time. This may also have been partly due to my focus technique at the time since I had acquired the lens prior to my switching to AF-ON/AF-C focus modes for shooting handheld portraits (which has since significantly increased my focus accuracy).

However, on my last focus testing session with a subject (also a while back), I was using AF-ON/AF-C, and hovering an AF-point directly over the subject's eye 100% of the time I was shooting, and I still had a less than stellar hit-rate (about 50%), and this was in daylight (diffused with a silk). I believe this was with my original Nikon D800E (since replaced by Nikon), so that was another variable in the mix (by the way, my D800E replacement still exhibits asymmetrical AF error with fast, wide-angle lenses). Other portrait-length lenses I own (e.g., Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G, Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS) focus spot-on >90% of the time. As I said, the DC-Nikkor images I've taken in the past have such a lovely character, I really need to re-evaluate this lens again.

WestEndBoy

I have noticed some back focusing issues with my 135 when I focus really close. When I have some time, I will shoot a controlled sample and see if I can shed some more light on that.

At portrait distances however, it is just as sharp as my 85.

Will also try it with Kenko extenders. It will be interesting to compare it to my new 200mm F4 macro.

mikep

100% crop.

that cropping power is so awesome, i want that power !

studio460

Well, I just shot some tests, comparing my Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS with my DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2.0D. My Sigma 150mm never seems to disappoint, and nails its focus 98% of the time. The DC-Nikkor 105mm, when shot wide-open (not shown), simply exhibits extremely shallow depth-of-field, which tends to contribute to more "focus error."

When viewed at 100%, and shot at f/5.6, the DC-Nikkor is actually very sharp. However, at least in this comparison (which admittedly is not apples-to-apples), the bokeh isn't necessarily more pleasing than the Sigma's (in fact, I prefer the Sigma's, at least in this particular instance). [Note: these are default Aperture .JPG conversions from my Nikon D3s' RAW files--no other post-processing adjustments were made other than slight cropping.]:


Nikon D3s + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS @ f/3.0.


Nikon D3s + AF DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2.0D @ f/5.6; R-5.6.