Several reviews on this lens on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-105mm-Micro-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LE78
" This 105mm f/2.8 lens is the sharpest in my arsenal. I took an absolutely amazing closeup of water droplets with my N8008s on a strand of wild grass where the droplets acted like a convex lens. You could actually see the inverted image in the small droplets.
I've now made the transition to a D70 and the lens works great there too. With the 1.5X magnification for the APS size sensor, it extends the working distance and gives greater than 1:1 magnification. The images still look great at 6.1 megapixels.
Highly recommended! "
" When you get tired of the poor optical quality of screw-on close-up filters, and are sick of switching extension tubes constantly, this lens is the answer. The ability to focus down to 1:1 (pretty much fill your frame with a quarter) without stopping to add tubes is a huge time saver.
Perfect for flowers and larger insects, this lens is also a flat field and so is excellent for copy work. It's slightly long focal length also makes it a pretty good portrait lens. The best part is that it has that famous Nikon glass, so color saturation and sharpness is simply amazing. Use it with Fuji Velvia (ISO 50) with a diffused flash and you will never regret buying this lens. "
" This is my favorite lens -- I often carry only it and a 28mm lens while hiking. The wide angle for landscapes, the 105 for detail shots. The 105 is super sharp and useful for way more than just macros, which of course it does flawlessly. The focal range is from mere inches to infinity, which means that the autofocus (on my N80, at least) sometimes takes a sec to work, so I usually manually focus it. In fact, for macro work without a tripod, it's easier to focus by moving the camera closer or further from the subject.
The lens is a great portrait lens -- I have used it outdoors and in the studio for close crops (head & shoulder shots). It has very narrow depth of field, perfect for high-illumination outdoor portraits to keep the background blurry. "
" This is a very well designed performer in the Micro photography world within the Nikon family. This is definitely one of my favorite lenses to photograph nature with, as you can see from my sample shots on this page. The build quality is nice. The lens is light. The images it produces are clean and sharp.
Focusing, as another reviewer hit on, isn't the fastest. But, focusing speed isn't what micro lenses were built to excel at. This is a micro lens, designed to get up close and personal with subjects of all kinds. I find myself manually focusing when the camera has trouble finding the subject. This lens works great for what it was built to do. "
" In every manufacturer's linup of lenses there are always a few that achieve "legendary" status among devotees of the brand. For Nikon users lenses like the 80-200 f4.5 MF or 80-200 f2.8 MF or AF come immediately to mind. The AF105mm f2.8 is such a lens.
This was a new design from the older MF version, optically designed to produce a flat field and focus to 1:1 without extension tubes or other lens attachments. Superior to the well thought of 60mm Micro by allowing a longer working distance (approx 6 inches at 1:1)
Mechanically well built of metal - hence marking it as one of Nikon's "pro" lenses - this is a hefty package,weighing in at almost the same as most of the mid range zooms currently being produced.
Optically it is superb. "
" The only lenses which are optically better than this lens are the recently discontinued Contax Carl Zeiss 100mm f 2.8 Makro Planar which I own and the Leica 100mm f2.8 APO Elmarit-R lens, which is regarded not only as the best 100mm macro telephoto lens, but also among the best in the Leica R 35mm SLR lens system. Like its sibling, the 60mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor, the 105mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor offers close focusing down to a 1:1 life size reproduction ratio. In plain English, this is the perfect lens to use to get close to insects, frogs or anything else which is small, living and liable to move quickly if it is disturbed by the photographer. The 105mm lens will give you more space to work with, so you don't have to stand literally on top of the object you're photographing. I relied on the manual focusing version of this lens - which didn't have a 1:1 reproduction ratio - for photographing small invertebrate fossils years ago. I was impressed by the superb contrast and resolution, which has only been bettered by the Zeiss lens I own currently. I have no doubt that this autofocusing version of the 105mm Micro Nikkor is a superb performer in its own right. "
More raving reviews about
http://www.testfreaks.com/lenses/nikon-105mm-f-2-8d-af-micro-nikkor/
As seen from all the reviews above, it is not difficult to tell that this is a very good lens. Compared to its tamron and sigma equivalents, its focusing is already much faster. A useful limit/full switch also exist to reduce the range to focus when the user is confident of not needing for focusing to below 0.5m, to increase lock on speed when lens hunts. To be very honest, i find the optics of this lens even better than the AFS 105mm VR, as the AFS version had quite abit of CA. This lens is also smaller as well. Another great advantage is the use of 52mm filters, which is the most common and cheapest sized filters around. Thus, GND, ND, CPL, star etc filters all can be gotten cheaply. Rest assured of very sharp, high resolution, fine details in every shot done with this lens.
Images taken with lens:
Lens in good condition. Selling at only $700. Note this is non D version.
2. Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens
Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Designed for exclusive use on digital SLR cameras with smaller-size imagers, this Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II aspherical macro zoom lens is ideal for a host of situations. The high-power zoom lens--which offers an equivalent focal length of 28-300mm in 35mm format--adds versatility to your lens menu, zooming from a true wide perspective to an ultra tele zoom, all in an amazingly easy-to-use design. As a result, the lens is ideal for everything from landscape shots to sports and wildlife photography. The lens also incorporates several of Tamron's proprietary core technologies, including aspherical elements that minimize chromatic aberration, a multiple cam mechanism, and an integrated focus cam design. The technologies combine to create the world's lightest, most compact 11.1x digital zoom lens. Other features include an angle of view of 75 to 7 degrees, a minimum focusing distance of 17.7 inches, and a 62mm filter diameter.
Product Description
The Tamron AF18-200mm high power zoom lens features an entirely new optical design using XR (Extra Refractive Index) glass in an innovative way in order to optimize the overall distribution of optical power throughout the entire zoom range. This design reduces various aberrations to the absolute minimum and achieves remarkable downsizing at the same time. In addition, three hybrid aspherical lens elements and two LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements are used to accomplish effective compensation of on-axis and lateral chromatic aberrations, a critical factor to enhance the optical quality in digital photography. As a result, the lens provides outstanding optical quality in a multi-purpose zoom lens.
Reviews here:
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Tamron18200mm/
http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/lenses/681/1/tamron-18-200mm-f-3-5-6-3-xr-di-ii-if.html
http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-AF-18-200mm-Aspherical-Canon/dp/B0007WK8MQ
" Pros:
- Quality construction. The lens doesn't feel cheap.
- Zoom range of this lens is fantastic.
- Image quality is great.
- Internal focusing makes using filters and hoods a piece of cake
- Zoom lock is nice so the zoom ring doesn't turn while stored or carried.
- Price. For the money this lens will give you a lot of bang for the buck.
Con:
- Auto focusing is a bit slow for a moving subject. "
" I have owned this lens for over a year now and it never ceases to amaze me when I see the photos it produces. Over this last year I have come to learn a thing or two about how to use this lens.
1) If you are going to shoot indoors, or in low light, with a long focal length (like 200mm) use a tripod or plenty of ambient light. This lens doesn't have a built in image stabilizer so you are going to steady the lens with the tripod or use a real fast shutter speed to minimize your hand jitter.
2) Use a smaller aperture. I have found that my best photos come from an aperture of 8.0 thru 16. These apertures aren't great for bokeh (background blur) but they sure do allow you to take razor sharp pictures.
Praise.
Focal range. With one lens you are able to take nice wide-angle shots (18mm) and with the twist of zoom ring you have a nice telephoto lens (200mm) Definitely a good walk around lens for the day at the botanical gardens, museum or amusement park.
Build quality. This lens gives you a nice solid feel in your hands. Give it a shake and it doesn't make a sound. The zoom and focus rings move smoothly without being sloppy. With a lens this well built you would expect it to be heavy. Not so with this lens, it's quite light (which is something you really appreciate after a long day of carrying it around.)
Minimal chromatic aberrations. The lens' three hybrid aspherical elements and two low dispersion glass elements correct for almost all lateral and on-axis aberrations making most of your images optically clear.
Size. At it's lowest focal length (18mm) the lens is small enough to fit into a mid size top loading camera bag while still attached to the camera body.
Complaint?
Well yes, I do have one minor complaint about the lens. Auto focus is slow. How slow? Well let's just say you won't want to try and photograph a two year old on the move. I have found that I can keep fast moving objects in better focus by switching to manual. "
Images taken with lens:
This is a fast tele lens, but with the tele end at 200mm, one can still occassionally point up to the sky and shoot some birds, making it perfect for travelling with.
Macro shots taken with this lens, the ability for occassion macro shots really add the versatility of this lens, making it perfect for travelling with.
Lens in mint condition. Selling at only $400.
3. Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF)
Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Maintaining the high performance of the previous model, Tamron's new 28-300mm zoom lens now features our "Di" (Digitally Integrated) design, making it the ideal lens for use with both digital and film cameras. The "Di" design is achieved by applying a new optical design to its coated surfaces, and by further enhancing our already stringent quality control system. Whether you shoot film or digital, the lens provides high image quality for both platforms. When used with APS-C size digital SLR cameras, the lens provides an angle of view equivalent to approximately 43-465mm, covering the standard to ultra-telephoto range with no sacrifice of quality or aperture range.
The world's smallest and lightest 28-300mm lens (June 2004)
Designed to meet the performance characteristic of digital SLR cameras as well as film cameras
Remarkable close-focusing from wide to telephoto
True macro capabilities with no mode-switching
New Standard of Lenses for Digital Cameras
"Di" (Digitally Integrated design) is the designation Tamron puts on lenses featuring optical systems designed to meet the performance characteristic of digital SLR cameras as well as film cameras.
Toward Ever Greater Compactness Featuring Key XR Technology
Reducing the total length of the optical configuration, we succeeded in developing optics that allow for a smaller lens diameter while maintaining the same aperture values as previous lenses for overall compactness. Optical power distribution was enhanced in a compact package through the innovative use of XR (Extra Refractive Index) glass, resulting in minimum aberration.
Achieving the Same Aperture Value with a Smaller Size
With a short barrel, it is possible to obtain the same visibility (aperture value) as with a long barrel. By using this principle, we were able to shorten the optic system length for a more compact overall lens design while maintaining aperture values.
Advanced Optical Designs Include XR, LD, AD, and ASL Glass
The ASL lens technology compensates for spherical aberration to achieve outstanding image quality. At the same time, reducing the number of elements results in a more compact, lightweight lens package.
Product Description
Maintaining the high performance of the previous model, Tamron's new 28-300mm zoom lens now features our "Di" design, making it the ideal lens for use with both digital and film cameras. The "Di" design is achieved by applying a new optical design to its coated surfaces, and by further enhancing our already stringent quality control system. Whether you shoot film or digital, the lens provides high image quality for both platforms. When used with APS-C size digital SLR cameras, the lens provides an angle of view equivalent to approximately 44-465mm, covering the standard to ultra telephoto range with no sacrifice of quality or aperture range.
Reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-28-300mm-3-5-6-3-Aspherical-Digital/dp/B00066EK40
" I love taking photos, but I hate carrying lots of equipment when photography is not the focus of my journey, so I looked to find a lens that was light, inexpensive, a useful focal range and decent sharpness given all of the above. I believe the Tamron fits the bill.
Although this lens will not win any points with 'L'-series purists, I found it to be a very useful - and lightweight - lens. Sure, it's slow... Sure - it has a plastic mount... Sure - it's not as sharp as a lot of lenses with smaller zoom ranges and bigger price tags... But for most people who aren't looking for poster-sized enlargements, a lens that won't break your shoulder or your bank account like the Tamron is a good fit. I have used this lens for a few weeks now, and have compared the results to the excellent Tamron 28-75 2.8 XR Di, the Canon 50mm 1.8 (the 'plastic fantastic'), and the kit lens. It does lack the tack-sharpness of the 50mm and the 28-75, but it is still very acceptable. The reach is what will 'wow' you about the lens. Outdoors in decent light you can really pull your subject up close. In a photo taken from the 6th story of a beach hotel, I was able to clearly read a standard beach umbrella-rental sign that was approx. 500 yards away.
Indoors, this lens is just too slow to be useful at full zoom, but does reasonably well between 28-100mm with built-in flash (just be sure to remove the lens hood or it will shadow the lower part of the frame) and even better with an external flash (I use the EX550).
The focus is quick and quiet in decent lighting, but it will hunt in darker scenes.
In short, if you want a lens that offers reasonable sharpness, an incredible focal range, lightness and compactness at an attractive price, then consider this lens. You may find, as I did, that it will let you take that long lens with you instead of leaving your gear behind... I would much rather have a picture that may not be 'as sharp' than the one I did not take because I left the two pound lens behind. "
" This new digital SLR-friendly zoom lens from Tamron is a great way to acquire a high-quality zoom lens for a fraction of the cost if you bought from the camera maker (e.g., Canon). Tamron claims this is world's "smallest and lightest" zoom lens for the focal range. I have no idea if that's true. It's small and lightweight indeed. To my eyes it's an all-plastic lens, but this made-in-Japan lens looks and feels solid. It has all the bells and whistles of a modern lens: XR, LD, asperical, plus macro capability. In real world shooting I'm very happy with the result, and I really don't think buying an official Canon lens would make much of a difference. Two things to keep in mind is, 1) as long as you buy a namebrand lens (Tamron, Sigma, and maybe Vivitar) you are getting a good deal, and 2) the marginal increase in lens quality (perceived or real) from the camera maker is extremely unlikely to improve pictures by any discernible amount. Give Ansel Adams a disposable camera and he would still take better pics than you and me, period. As long as you have a high quality, capable lens like this Tamron, you are armed with all the gear you need to NOT miss a great picture opportunity. The only ingredient nobody can sell, is your creativity. (Unfortunately the latter is what I lack and try to improve. For now, at least the Tamron is giving me the right tool.)
For the Digital Rebel, the 1.6 "magnification" factor (or crop factor) means the effective focal length of this Tamron is about 45-480mm in 35mm equivalent. Whoa!
In short, this is a really top-quality lens that any Digital Rebel enthusiast should consider. It's a lot bang for the buck, and it's even made in Japan unlike many Canon official lenses which are made in sweatshops in Southeast Asia. "
A very nice lens to walk around with, and bring for holiday trips. This lens is very small, smaller than any of the 18-70, 18-135, 18-105VR kit lens, yet gives such an amazing range. Also a nice surprice is tamron using a circular 9 blade aperture for this lens, rendering any OOF light in a nice perfect circle. Build is also decent, giving a solid feel despite it being made of plastics. Note as well, it is a "made in japan" lens, compared to all those made in thailand nikon lenses these days. Lastly this is a fullframe lens, and since there aint many 28-300 around, esp at this price, this lens is definitely appealling to D700, D3 users.
Images taken with lens:
Taken on the D3 at 28mm, with abit of increase in ISO, Night shots are no problem at all.
Taken on the D3 at 200mm, with the good noise control in current DSLR, F5.6 is still usable at night.
Lens in mint condition. Selling at only $400.
4. Sigma 170-500mm f/5-6.3 RF APO
Sample galleries of images taken by this lens are available here:
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/170-500_5-63_rf_apo
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sigma170-500
Reviews by others online:
" My experience has been a bit different than most others here, as I find this lens to produce very sharp images. I use it on a Nikon D70, and shoot RAW files. I've shot mostly in the focal length range of 400mm to 500mm, still good and sharp.
It does suffer from chromatic aberration (CA) in high-contrast situations of very bright (overexposed) backgrounds with darker foreground objects, had that happen when shooting birds in trees a few times, but under most conditions, CA is negligible-to-non existent. I've used this lens mainly for nature stuff, but have also shot a couple college football games with it, and it worked great for that, sharp, great contrast, no CA.
It does demand that your technique be almost flawless. It definitely requires a sturdy tripod or monopod and ideally an f/stop in the range or f/8 to f/11 for the sharpest results. For the money, I am very happy with this lens.
Strengths:
Sharp images, reasonable price
Weaknesses:
Very unforgiving of less-than-perfect technique, zoom creep if the lens is pointed downward, CA in certain situations with overexposed or very bright background with darker foreground objects."
Definitely not the sharpness lens around... but the 500mm and the weight is very attractive. It is even lighter than the bigma 50-500mm and offers the same f6.3 aperture at 500mm. Selling this away as i am not trying to force myself to walk around with the huge 6KG 600mm F4. This lens would be great for beginners wanting to try out super teles without breaking the bank. CA is abit of problem, but hey.. it can be fixed in post processing, in newer DSLR, D5000, D90, D300, D700, D3, D3x, there is even auto CA correction when shot in jpeg.
Images taken with lens:
Lens in mint condition. Selling at only $700.
