Please HELP, need portrait lens for D70

as I found the same situation in the Olympus Zuiko lenses and so far in the Nikkor lenses. Fortuantely I have a slew of primes if I ever find my photo gear. It has been eluding me for two years in storage until we finish our house and move everthing in. These bags were not to go into storage of course, but Murphy's Law continues to work uniformily everywhere (I've been in my lifetime).

I'm not sure I'm ready to eschew zooms but I'm certainly not ready to dump my primes either!

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

--
-jts
http://www.pbase.com/jtsmall
Nikon D200, Nikon D70s, Olympus E-1, Olympus E-300
equipment in profile

'From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardour.' Julia Margaret Cameron

Well, I would really like to thank each and every one of you who replied in my thread. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me their advice and opinions and share their photos with me. I have finally made up my mind as to which (two) portrait lenses I am going with and the first is the Nikon 105mm f/2D AF DC lens which I picked up used, but in "Like New" condition, for $600USD which included all shipping fees and a new Nikon 72mm UV filter. I think this is a pretty good buy from what I have seen and I am really looking forward to getting this lens here to try it out. The second portrait lens I chose is the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Lens. I am hoping with this combo I should be ready for any portrait opportunities (plus many others) which I may have.

Hopefully I can post some nice shots here real soon with these lenses for critique.

Thanks again for all the help!

MudHawg

I think you will be very happy. I think the 105 f/2D-DC is one of the most amazing lenses I have ever used (and I have had some of the best) Please post some pictures ;-)

MudHawg69 said:

Well, I would really like to thank each and every one of you who
replied in my thread. I really appreciate everyone taking the time
to give me their advice and opinions and share their photos with
me. I have finally made up my mind as to which (two) portrait
lenses I am going with and the first is the Nikon 105mm f/2D AF DC
lens which I picked up used, but in "Like New" condition, for
$600USD which included all shipping fees and a new Nikon 72mm UV
filter. I think this is a pretty good buy from what I have seen
and I am really looking forward to getting this lens here to try it
out. The second portrait lens I chose is the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF
Lens. I am hoping with this combo I should be ready for any
portrait opportunities (plus many others) which I may have.

Hopefully I can post some nice shots here real soon with these
lenses for critique.

Thanks again for all the help!

MudHawg

Click to expand...

--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

MudHawg69 said:

Well, I would really like to thank each and every one of you who
replied in my thread. I really appreciate everyone taking the time
to give me their advice and opinions and share their photos with
me. I have finally made up my mind as to which (two) portrait
lenses I am going with and the first is the Nikon 105mm f/2D AF DC
lens which I picked up used, but in "Like New" condition, for
$600USD which included all shipping fees and a new Nikon 72mm UV
filter. I think this is a pretty good buy from what I have seen

Click to expand...

MudHawg:

Congratulations on your "find" which I know you'll be very pleased with. I own the 105's "sister" lens, the 135 f/2 DC, which has yielded my absolutely favorite photos. It's difficult to describe, but there is a transparency and accuracy that produces photos so life-like, you will almost think you're looking at the live subject rather than a photo. I can't tell you how many times my customers have raved about the color quality.

In your portrait work, when you have a seated subject, I'd recommend manually focusing, using the AF indicator as a guide and bracketing focus until you have enough experience to know exactly where in the "good focus" range the lens is optimum.

For moving subjects, again, be sure to take plenty of frames. I've achieved an overall "keep" ratio of 40-50% with my 135mm in action photography with a D2H or D2Hs (as opposed to 75-80% with the 70-200 f/2.8 VR, or 85-90% with the 200 f/2 VR). When the 105 or 135 does hit exact focus, though, the result is spectacular.
You're going to have a great time with your "new" lenses!

• Marianne

Hello again Edward, Marianne and everyone else!

Thanks again to both of you for your replies and to all of you for your wonderful help. I haven't been able to experiment much yet with my new lens but what I have shot with it, I really love it. It is definitely going to take a little getting used to all of the adjustments and settings of this lens but it seems it is really going to make some awesome portraits once I figure out all of the little tricks to using it.

Also, I was so proud of the condition of the lens when I received it that I shot some pics of it to share with everyone just as I received it before I cleaned it or anything. I can hardly tell the lens has ever been used or even been mounted to a camera and once I wiped it down it looked absolutely brand new. I also could not have afforded to buy the lens brand new right now but after seeing this one I am just as proud of it, or more so since it only cost me $600, as if I had bought it brand new. Not to mention the new Nikon UV filter he sent along with the lens.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks again to everyone and share some pictures of my new lens.

Take care,
MudHawg

Here is the way the lens arrived with the filter attached. He had even packed it in a larger box and surrounded it with the air cells to cushion it.



Here is everything I received including the warranty card.



Here is a close-up of just the lens.



Here is a shot of the front of the lens. Sorry for the reflections and clarity of these shots!!!



Here is a shot of the rear of the lens. The only thing I noticed is there was one black screw in the lens and I did not know if this was normal or if this screw has been replaced. I know this lens had been used on a film camera so I didn't know if this ring had been changed to fit a film camera or what?

The 105 is not my most used lens, but there is no doubt it is my favorite. I love the looks of it, the build of it, and most importantly I love the feel of the pictures it can produce. The Bokeh is absolutely sublime. Again, congratulations. I think you are going to love it. Don't worry about the DC stuff right now, just set it to f/2.8 or 3.3 or so and go take some pictures.

when you want to let the others know how your new 105 f/2D-DC compares to all of the others just do this ;-



--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

Pardon my ignorance but what does the "DC" stand for in the 105mm lens?

Bruce

DC, Defocus Control, allows you to control the spherical aberration of the lens. Usually aberrations are not something you want in your lens but sometimes they can give effects that are desireable. In this case they can give softer or harder out of focus effects or when extreme a soft focus effect, similar to what you get with some filters.

BruceEvans said:

Pardon my ignorance but what does the "DC" stand for in the 105mm
lens?

Bruce

Click to expand...

--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

http://www.dantestella.com/technical/1052.html
--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

Hello Edward and everyone else,

First, I wanted to say I have been without internet connection since last week so I apologize for the delay in replying. Anyway, thanks again so much for your information and help with my decision on this lens. I actually did my first two "real" shoots today with this lens and I cannot wait to actually go through all 300+ photos to see how they turned out. I did quickly scan through some of them after loading them to my computer and it looks like I missed on probably 30%-35% of them but the other ones I hit "just right" look UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I am really going to have to practice with this lens to get it "just right" on a more consistent basis but when this baby is on, IT IS REALLY ON! I will also try what you told me on the "DC" part. I actually tried to set up an experiment in my studio this weekend with multiple items placed at different distances on a table to see just how the "DC" function worked but it really didn't turn out like I wanted it too. I think maybe with a few thousand more shots "hopefully" I will get the hang of it. But, I can already tell the colors and everything seem to be better with this lens than my other ones and the "bokeh" is definitely unbelievable with it. I will try to get some of my shots from today posted within the next couple of days for critique so I can hopefully get some more input as to what I was doing wrong and maybe some of what I did right.

Anyway, for now, thanks again to everyone and I will post some pics soon for critique.

Take care,
MudHawg

edwardneal said:

The 105 is not my most used lens, but there is no doubt it is my
favorite. I love the looks of it, the build of it, and most
importantly I love the feel of the pictures it can produce. The
Bokeh is absolutely sublime. Again, congratulations. I think you
are going to love it. Don't worry about the DC stuff right now,
just set it to f/2.8 or 3.3 or so and go take some pictures.

when you want to let the others know how your new 105 f/2D-DC
compares to all of the others just do this ;-



--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

Click to expand...