My Beautiful Bride
photo taken with D5 / 105f1.4 AFS
I’ve had the most amazing weekend of shooting and in large part, shooting with the new Nikon 105f1.4 AFS lens. First and foremost, it’s one sexy lens. It has a 82mm front element and the rest of its stubby barrel is just as wide. It has a really large manual focusing ring with remarkable quick and smooth response which is really important when shooting with such narrow DoF. It does not have VR which might bug some, doesn’t bother me. I’ve only shot it at one f/stop since I got it, f/1.4 (Thanks B&H!). My “real” shoot that I really wanted this lens for is later today so I spent the weekend like always, married to a new piece of gear shooting it at lots of subjects. Here is my dear Sharon posing on her birthday while up in Minot celebrating. The band of focus is on her eyes and the C-53 just 10″ behind her is out of focus. Gorgeous!
Waco Prop
photo taken with D5 / 105f1.4 AFS
This is a pricey lens, a very specific tool with a very specific task. It’s to isolate the subject while still relating it to its background. With that in mind, you can easily fold its qualities into your style of photography if you understand this. There are two photographic examples here. The bottom photo, the subject is large and the background is a great distance from the focus point. The F-106 Dart almost looks like a toy rather than one large, bad ass interceptor. Change the dynamics to a close up of a plane prop where the subject is small and the background is close and the feel dramatically changes. In all of these examples, the sharpness is spooky sharp. The blur is soft and even with a special lusciousness to it. It’s these qualities and more that make this lens so amazing and I’m sure, end up in the list of Nikon legendary lenses. I have more to say about it, but right now, it’s my favorite lens in my bag!
F-106 Delta Dart
photo taken with D5 / 105f1.4 AFS