A few weeks ago Nikon announced an exciting new fast medium telephoto lens – the AF-S FX NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4 ED – the first lens in this focal length to have an f/1.4 aperture. We had a chance to play around with a sample of this lens in Photokina and now that the lens is selling photographer Matt Granger had a chance to test in in the field and share his impressions.
During Photokina 2016 we had a chance to play with the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4 ED and we were very impressed with the focusing accuracy and the lens’ ability to blur the background in almost any situation wide open. However testing a lens during a show is not really the right test for this type of lens and Granger (who also played with it in the show) knows that and had a chance to really put it to some good use with the D5 with some portraits (and landscapes).
Granger was very impressed by the lens – it might not be as sharp as the Otus lenses Zeiss makes (we tested them before and they are truly a league of their own – but they are manual and very expensive), so you really need to decide for yourself if the combination of the focal length / aperture and size of the lens is worth the pretty heavy price tag that this Nikon lens carries – but if this does work for you – chances are that you won’t be disappointed.
Here is a reminder of the AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED specs:
- Focal length: 105mm (full frame coverage).
- Aperture: max f/1.4 (min f/16).
- Construction: 14 elements in 9 groups.
- min shooting distance: 100 cm.
- Max magnification 1:7.6.
- AF – Silent Wave Motor.
- Coating: Nano Crystal Coating.
- Filter size: 82mm.
- Weight 985 grams.
- Aperture blades: 9.
- Price: $2200 (online).
You can find many more previews and reviews on our Photography review section here on LensVid.
Iddo Genuth 
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