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Interesting Dee, a nice abstract take on what I think is petals right ?

yup
gerber daisy petal abstract taken with the new lens

What are your thoughts on the new lens ? Have you given it much of a testing thus far ?

hi dee

very nice, looks very sharp, love the colours, and composition.

thnaks for sharing your work, your passion

christian

All great Dee! However, in order of preference, I'd choose #3 then #2 then #1. I love the extended depth of field you've shown in #3 - so many shots with this lens have such narrow DOF and they always leave me wanting more. With #3, you've really delivered. Well done.

the macro with VR?,,must be new version.i loved tha first one cuz of its abstract deepness and colors.the 2 is also very romantic. "3" well i dont like flat DOF much but it DOF is enough deep to kept everthing in focus.how less you can go with VR keeping thing tack sharp,, i uses 1/160 handheld mostly.

to answer your question, i only just got the lens, and i have only shot with tripod and VR off to this point....

will make my way around with it this coming weekend, do some testing with the VR on and hand held

this was one of the toys i bought with cash i won from a nikon photo contest

hi dee

woooowww in very jelous, great shots with your new lens. those shots are just amazing, could easily be in the cover of a book.

thanks for sharing


christian

one more from the land of micro:

Geez! That's a bit scary! But a great shot. I realy like the colour treatment of this one Dee.

looks like the lens does the business.

wonder if you have tried the non vr version and can comment on any differences

Steve

Great shots and nice lens but pity, why Nikon bundle the VR into macro lens.
I see there's no use of VR on macro lenses and prefer to shoot macro on tripod, so macro with VR is out with me.

Quality built is not parallel with the old Nikkor 105 macro.

Birdy makes a good point here. Sounds like a good idea in principle but I'd be interested to hear from our other macro gurus (eg BlacknStormy, Finch, Slider, Oneputt, Mitedo plus anyone else I've forgotten) as to whether they think the VR feature is redundant - would it be that good that it would replace manual focus?

Sorry, a bit OT. Mods - feel free to move this to its own thread if you think that's more appropriate.

Dee - was the last shot indicative of the pain that us mere mortals will experience in purchasing this lens

Looks good - but I have to agree on the VR being redundant - most macros would be shot from f/22 and up with flash

I agree with Birddog
Macro requires f22 so a tripod becomes mandatory...hence VR becomes superfluous.

Great shots Dee - you are going to love this lens.

I've got the old version of the lens (which is pure heaven ), and must admit I NEVER use a tripod ...... all of my shots are in the field, with insects/frogs etc moving around, and me usually on my substantial belly crawling after them, trying to get a shot before they disappear into the night (a sad and scary sight for those that don't know me LOL, and even more scary for those that do!!!!) ...... most of my shots are 22 and up, except for when I'm really playing, and going for really shallow DOF. I do use the SB600 with the beercup and contraceptive cap, so that pretty much covers the need for a tripod.

Just my 2 cents worth, but I'd rather have VR on the zoom lenses I have (I don't but it would be good), and not the macro.

Rel

I shoot a bit of macro with the 105 non VR and my old 55 micro nikkor and dont really see the need for VR for this sort of photography. Most of my macro work is done with flash, or fill flash, and shutter speeds of 1/125 or faster.
It would be quite useful for low light portrait work or for short telephoto outdoor shots on dull days though.

Gordon

Gordon wrote:It would be quite useful for low light portrait work or for short telephoto outdoor shots on dull days though.

Gordon

Also would be great using it for detail capture in a wedding

105mm is a bit too long for portrait works on DSLR.
Perhaps it's good to use for portrait of whale or white heron.

So Birdy -I should be using it for my self portrait exercise this month

I'm not a great fan of VR and, like some of you, don't really see it as necessary for this lens. What bothers me more is that the new 105 VR is a 14/12 design and the old one is a simpler 9/8 design. For macro lenses, it seems to me that, the simpler cleaner designs produce better performing lenses and the Nikkor 105 is certainly a classic performer. I wonder if the new one will prove to be as good in the long run?

to echo the sentiments above, i'm not greatly inspired by the thought of VR on a macro lens. I was a bit surprised that Nikon included it on the new 105m.

maybe VR, IS, anti shake etc are being seen as indispensable in terms of marketing; you gotta have it if you wanna sell your lens.

birddog114 wrote:105mm is a bit too long for portrait works on DSLR.

Why would you say that? I think a portrait can be taken with any lens. This one was shot with a 300mm:





Cheers
Steffen.

I can see tremendous value in VR macro for those of us who like to shoot little critters. Stationary but impatient models. You see it sitting on that flower but by the time you've got the tripod in position it's gone.

Imagine what a 105VR could do to dragon flies in Slider's hands...

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen wrote:This one was shot with a 300mm:

Apologies flipfrog, I just realised this is the IRC forum, not general discussion (although it has turned a bit that way). I didn't mean to invade your thread by posting an image. If you wish I can take the picture off.

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen wrote:I can see tremendous value in VR macro for those of us who like to shoot little critters. Stationary but impatient models. You see it sitting on that flower but by the time you've got the tripod in position it's gone.

Imagine what a 105VR could do to dragon flies in Slider's hands...

Cheers
Steffen.

Sorry Dee, once more post:

Steffen,
Serious macro or amateur macro works,

If serious macro shooter, they always shoot with tripod, flashes and list of equipments.

Fun or amateur shooter, maybe it'll suit and time to time or may use in all occassion.

Portrait works: agreed that any lens can take portrait, but what type of portrait and how do you shoot and use your photos for.

The ideal range is 85 - 105 and the best lens in Nikkor range is the 85/1.4 or the 105 DC.

in the end i chose the vr over the previous 105 b/c it was less than 200 bucks more, so why not.....? i was thinking about the times when i would be at a wedding or crawling around without a tripod handy. i also thought about the opportunites it would provide for unconventional or abstract portraits (detail images). Sure, i might not use the VR half the time, but still... why not have it on the lens in case of those less frequenst scenarios.

does anyone in this forum agree ???

The next generation of Nikon DSLR body (coming soon) will have VR built-in as compulsory and compliance

Nice photos Dee. As soon as the flower start blossoming here, I'll be using my 105mm macro more often.

flipfrog wrote:in the end i chose the vr over the previous 105 b/c it was less than 200 bucks more, so why not.....? i was thinking about the times when i would be at a wedding or crawling around without a tripod handy. i also thought about the opportunites it would provide for unconventional or abstract portraits (detail images). Sure, i might not use the VR half the time, but still... why not have it on the lens in case of those less frequenst scenarios.

does anyone in this forum agree ???

I certainly understand your choice Dee and, initially, I thought what a cool lens to have! Now, having thought more about it, if adding VR to a lens that doesn't really need it detracts from the usability, servicability and overall longevity of that lens then why pay the extra for it? I supppose only time will tell whether there are any negatives with it or that it just becomes something of a curiosity by having a feature that doesn't get used much.

Still, your choice is exactly that: your choice. VR or no VR - the images above are great, regardless, and I hope you get plenty more from this interesting piece of kit.

Nice shots. I like 2 and 3. Not a big fan of the abstract ones.

blacknstormy wrote:must admit I NEVER use a tripod ...... all of my shots are in the field, with insects/frogs etc moving around

Same here. 99.9% of my macro shots are handheld.

I think VR might be useful in rare cases.
Dee, let us know how the VR goes in practice.

I belong in the fun macro category.

All of my macro stuff is handheld too. Couldn't stand to use a tripod - too slow and fiddly.

So VR might be handy at times - especially morning.