The Underrated Sequel to Nikon’s Most Famous Lens | Nikon 105mm f1.8
Even though this lens was faster, and supposedly sharper, Steve McCurry chose its slower older brother to take the photo that defined his career.
For the next 20 years both McCurry and Nikon tried to recreate that magic but can there be a worthy sequel?
Nikon makes too many great 105mm lenses, and how I found the 105mm for me was by answering 4 questions.
I was all set on the AIS 105mm f2.5 because of its one advantage for street photography, until I stumbled onto another 105mm from Nikon’s archives.
The 105mm f1.8 AIS - released as a direct sequel to the f2.5, almost a full stop brighter, supposedly without any optical compromises, yet compared to its predecessor a relative unknown.
Is Nikon’s sequel to their most famous lens overblown or underrated?
Q1: How old do you want to go?
Nikon realised early in their Nippon Kogaku days that they could make a great performing lens with as few as 5 elements if they extended the focal length to 105mm.
There’s all the macro/micro nikkors not to mention amazing autofocus options, but for general purpose use their manual f2.5 lineup is the sweet spot. You could go PC 10.5cm f2.5, or the Nikkor-P Auto 105mm non AI, but I’d start your search at the newer AI or AIS options. Less chance of fungus or haze, plenty of copies on the used market.
Should you go AI or AIS?
The internal optics are the same, an simple but elegant 5 element design, and I actually like the handling of the AI version more. Tapered nose, rounded aperture blades for circular bokeh stopped down, and can be had for as little as 100 to 200 dollars.
In contrast the AIS f2.5 is nearly twice, sometimes triple this price - you do get an integrated lens hood, a different lens coating for later serial numbers, and improved handling for street photography (more on that later) - but is that enough?
What you don’t get is an almost extra stop of light so here comes the 105mm f1.8. It is significantly bigger - 62mm vs 52mm front filters, almost double the weight of the f2.5.
Nikon pulled out all the stops to extract an almost extra stop of light from a similar 5 element Xenotar design, but what hasn’t doubled is the price. The AIS 1.8 can even be found cheaper than clean copies of the AIS 2.5, so what’s the catch?
It’s never easy to follow a hit.
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS @ f2.5 on Nikon Zf
***
It took months of searching across refugee camps and villages, but McCurry had finally found her.
The bookend to that original portrait was here at last, the chance to recapture the eyes that haunted him for the past 20 years.
But this was a sequel doomed to fail from the start.
Her colour and light had faded.
***
Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS @ f2.5 on Nikon Zf
Q2. Why 105mm?
Normally reserved for macro lenses or the tele end of a 24-105 zoom, very few companies make a fast 105 anymore - other than Sigma it’s pretty much just Nikon, which is why I’m surprised there’s still no Z-mount refresh of their legendary 105mm f1.4.
I love tighter focal lengths for that Saul Leiter inspired abstraction, and I took to 105mm straight away for shooting reflections. As light bounces and reflects off panes of glass, you not only lose contrast but also a sense of connection.
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
The tighter 105mm perspective brings you closer to the action, with an easier working distance than 135mm. It is an odd in-between focal length, but to me it makes sense when rounding out a street kit:
35mm plus 85mm or
50mm plus 105mm. There’s enough focal range separation in these two lens kits.
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Q3. Do these Vintage Optics hold up?
I realise it’s silly to pixel-peep 50 year optics that cost a fraction of the price of modern glass, but somehow vintage manual glass feels like more of an investment?
All the depreciation happened decades ago, there’s no autofocus motors or electronics to break, it should last a lifetime. The reason the 105mm f2.5 is famous is not just due to the Afghan girl, but because of how sharp it is wide open at f2.5.
105mm f2.5 AIS focused to infinity - taken on Nikon Z8 at various apertures
Of course it’s softer in the corners, it’s centre sharpness that’s most impressive, you don’t have to stop down for optimal results though. Even zoomed in 200% on the 44 megapixel Z8, sharpness doesn’t change that much at f4, f5.6. At infinity or minimum focus distance the same sharpness holds.
It’s a different story for its sequel, the f1.8, which is supposed to be sharper, but not wide open it turns out.
105mm f2.5 AIS versus 105mm f1.8 @ f1.8- focused to infinity, taken on Nikon Z8
On my copy the f1.8 is distinctively softer at f1.8 versus the f2.5 at f2.5, both at infinity and minimum focus distance. But the f1.8 catches up as soon as you stop down, to the next detent at f2.8, which looks very similar, if not a little bit sharper than the f2.5 at f2.5.
While we’re this close let’s talk CA. It’s there on both lenses, but it’s better controlled than I thought? But it looks about as clean as most modern third party lenses I’ve tested? It’s not perfect, there is a lot of sample variation depending on how old your copy is, but along with its sharpness (kind of unbelievable given how few elements these decades old optics use), I’m comfortable with this level of aberration.
Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS @ f2.5 on Nikon Zf
Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS @ f2.5 on Nikon Zf
***
Aberrations are what gave it away in the end.
A retina scan revealed who she wasn’t.
The woman with the faded eyes wasn’t the Afghan girl.
Another lookalike in a sea of lookalikes.
McCurry was out of time.
***
Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS @ f2.5 on Nikon Zf
I’d expect there to be penalties for shooting wide open on vintage glass, and other than sharpness there’s a bit more flaring and ghosting when shooting into the sun on the 1.8 at 1.8 than the 2.5 at 2.5.
I saw similar trends at night, there’s a ring-like diffraction in the f1.8 that I’m not seeing in the 2.5. Nikon upgraded the lens coating late in the run of the AIS f2.5, my copy has the updated super integrated coating, but the 1.8 came out after this so it should be the same?
I find both acceptable in terms of flare and ghosting, unless I compare it to a modern Nikon lens - the 85mm f1.8S and the newer arneo coating significantly dampens the flare, retaining a lot more contrast and detail.
But this is strangely good news.
If you’re not that impressed with the flare control on either of these AIS 105s, just go with the AI version? These newer coatings aren’t doing that much compared to the modern Z-mount coatings so save some money and go AI. But I’m impressed enough with the flare control - these are worst case scenarios, I could use the integrated hood on either lens, or stop down, but then you lose out on the f1.8’s signature feature.
No matter how fast a lens is, the depth of field on any 100+mm lens is going to be narrow up close. The background gets obliterated on both lenses at their minimum focus distance of 1 meter - it’s “more” obliterated on the f1.8 than the f2.5 but they can both isolate a subject. On both lenses the transition from in focus to out of focus isn’t harsh, it’s gradual, beautifully smooth and even though 1.8 lets you have more separation with bigger bokeh balls, their shape is very similar to the f2.5.
There’s still catseye in the corner on both lenses - it’s not the Plena we’re talking about here, and both have straight aperture blades for polygonal shaped bokeh when stopped down (the AI version has rounder bokeh stopped down due to its rounded aperture blades if that matters to you).
I’d opt for the f1.8 for shooting full body portraits, to fit the whole person in frame you’ll need to move further away and f1.8 combined with its softer look will give that extra dreamy look.
At least that’s how Nikon marketed this lens as the successor to the legend, BUT it’s hard to make the argument that the f2.5 is worse for portraits when it was used to take THE portrait.
It’s hard to make a sequel.
***
It was good old fashioned journalism in the end that found the real Afghan Girl.
Her memories of the original portrait - location, lighting, timing - were corroborated by McCurry, the retina scan now just a formality.
But as he took shot after shot, the truth sank in - this mission was doomed to fail from the start.
But even if the sequel will never be as good.
Never be as impactful as the original?
It’s a privilege just to get another shot.
***
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS @ f1.8 on Nikon Zf
Q4. What’s your Use Case?
If I had to start again which of these 105s would I pick? You trade a bit of sharpness and flare control for more light gathering, but it comes down to use case. I don’t shoot controlled studio portraits, it’s all run and gun on the street, and quickly racking focus is crucial. The 105 2.5 AIS has the shortest focus throw compared not just to this 105 1.8, but also to the 2.5 AI, which helps me focus on the right subject quicker than these other options.
It’s quicker to focus from 1 metre to infinity on the AIS f2.5 versus the AIS f1.8 (or the AI f2.5 for that matter)
Is f2.5 fast enough at night for me?
I set my shutter speed to 1/160th, and alongside the Zf’s IBIS my ISO never got above 16000 in any of these shots in my dimly lit hometown streets. f2.5 is also easier to focus than f1.8, not to mention the more streamlined form factor and lighter weight. It’s also amazing I can shoot the f2.5 wide open without many optical compromises, whereas I’d be more hesitant to do so on the 1.8. I can see the a reason you might want both in your kit? Nikon really has no competition in the 105mm category. A 105 1.8S for Z-mount makes a lot of sense next, especially if they can make it around the same size as their 85 1.8S.
Nikon don’t have a bad 105mm in their lineup, honestly whichever 105mm you can get your hands on for the cheapest price will work great.
For me I’ll stick with the 105mm f2.5 AIS:
Happy shooting everyone, talk soon.
Jack.
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