Macro capabilities of Nikkor 28-105

There are always enough debate goes around among photographers in the equipment front, which one to buy and what will be the out put? Unfortunately many think if they shoot with the best of the equipment they get the best output. But the reality is that the photographer behind the equipment is the one, who makes the picture but not the equipments, the equipments are mere tools to achieve our desired output. One of my favorite such tool is the very popular Nikkor 28-105 AFD

This is my first nikkor lens I bought with my no longer usable F80 about 4 years ago. The decision has been made on this lens purchase after an extensive research in the net, I often use http://www.fredmiranda.com/, http://www.nikonlinks.com/, http://www.nikonians.org/ for some extensive first hand information on equipment as well as the photograph samples. At that time as a beginner of photography in the hobby level the 13000 INR (300 USD) was a substantial investment for me as I was not sure whether I will take photography into serious level. But once this lens was in my hand I never regret the decision as I made some satisfying images with this piece of glass.

Nikkor 28-108 is not a full metal construction lens, it has a plastic body and metal mount which made me happy as (I hate the cheap plastic mount lens which comes with many of today’s expensive digital camera bodies as kit lens) it has a IF internal focus mechanism which keeps the lens compact, it has 16 elements in 12 groups. One element is a hybrid aspherical element is nothing but an aspherical piece of plastic glued to one of the glass elements. It has my favorite 9-bladed diaphragm. It doesn’t come with a hood, I bought one separate but I have to search now on its whereabouts. It is a D type lens so it comes with the aperture ring and as of now not having the silent wave motor in it, so it is a drive shaft lens that means not a fast focus lens. I have a very strong feeling Nikon will introduce a new version of it in the near future and we can very well expect AFS, ED, VR etc. and that will be a killer combination lets wait and see. Some people complain about its corner softening abilities wide open at 28mm, but in my own experience and keeping a mere 300USD investment it is an excellent bargain. The 28-105 delivers very sharp images. Image contrast and sharpness are excellent by f/8 and hold up well to f/16 no significant light fall-off towards the corners with my use in the Nikon F80 and D200, lacks ED glass but the colour fringing was virtually undetectable.

It proves wrong on the usual (negative) macro capabilities of the Zoom lens. Many times it gave sweet surprises to me. I can get into "macro" mode between the 50-105 mm focal range that means the macro switch can be operated in this focal ranges and it takes sometime to get use to it and the lens will focus to around 1:2 (half life-size), which is quite impressive. This lens is not a true macro but it has a close focusing ability which solves my purpose at least when I was a beginner ( Now I am eyeing for the micro Nikkor 200 F 4 as I am confident and spending lots of time on shooting macro subjects) The bokeh of this lens is very convincing in the 1: 2 mode, a minor softening on the edge but most of the time you end up cropping that part to get the best of the framing, so it doesn’t affect final output in many cases. One of the main flaws of this lens is its zoom extension part rotates while zooming in and out which makes very inconvenient using the cokin kind of filters, but in the digital era I stopped using those accessories as once upon a time it was a very popular accessory.

The 28-105 justify its popularity by delivering quality results in a small, handy package. It would provide a perfect travel lens if you are happy with the angle of view as 28 mm. When the digital era started a few years back and Nikon kept us waiting long time for a full 24*36 mm sensor body, I never used this lens for anything other than macro photography (close-up photography to be precise) in D200, the 28mm will become 42mm once attached with a the DX format sensor body and virtually useless for wide angle users.

But the new release of D3 and D700 I am sure this lens will regain popularity among the Nikon users. The best thing about this lens in my experience is handling, for me more than sharpness and contrast the most important thing is the handling ability, because it is a single most important factor that makes your images usable or a recycle bin stuff in many occasions, I am always confident with this lens that I will get good output most of the time as it feels so good and comfortable handling with any body attached to it.

In a concluding note that when this lens attached with a D700 body I can take a decent wide angle shots and good quality portrait pictures, use some moderate tele at 105 and more importantly I can cover the macro subjects as well, that makes this lens as a good all round performer. All the above findings are through my own experiences but if you plan to buy one you have to play with one before you make a decision. All the above images are made using my nikkor 28-105. You can click the above pictures for a bigger view.
Happy clicking …