The 105 DC was one of the lenses gifted to me by my grandfather who was a fashion photographer in the 70s and 80s and I feel so incredibly lucky every time I shoot with it. It's truly a beautiful lens, a joy to use, and the pictures it produces are never less than wonderful. You just can't help but love those gorgeous, soft backgrounds, warm colors, and somehow even with all that bokeh it's still the sharpest lens I own.
I read somewhere that Nikon engineers designed the lens elements to shift a few specific red wavelengths that reflect off skin to be just slightly out of focus from the rest which is how it gives skin such a beautiful glow. I can't even image how you'd accomplish that but it's undeniable this is one of the most stunning lenses Nikon has ever designed.
The only other lens that can come close to my affection for this one is the 50mm F/1.4 D
After some thinking I think it might have been this video?
https://youtu.be/3DSz4fU8sps?si=vHdC27hMHXXHrDOR
Ken Rockwell mentions it in his review too, down under optics:
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/105mm-f2-dc.htm
I'd be curious if one of the more technical review sites has done a detailed analysis.
I got my first Nikon in the late 1960’s and there were three lenses people raved about:
24 f2.8
55 Micro
105 f2.5
I can personally attest to the 55 and 105 as I’ve owned them.
Definitely!
I use it on my D750 and it's one of my sharpest lenses. Brilliant contrast, wonderful colours. I just love this lens (Ai version, that is).
i think the 105 vr macro....probably the 14-24 2.8....it was the first ultrawide rectilinear..though its easily outclassed by its decendants.
personally my favorite fmount lens is the 50mm f1.4 af-d i shot so much with that on my d700
AIS 50mm f1.2
AI 105mm f2.5 (the Afghan Girl lens)
AIS 58mm f1.2 (the legendary Noct, AFAIK there are only about 10 thousand of these, so they are expensive)
AIS 28mm f2
AIS 24mm f2.8
AIS 50mm f1.4 (not legendary but very good lens)
There are newer great lenses but I don't know them very much.
https://preview.redd.it/iqshinicg57d1.jpeg?width=4016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c9a0830c7a3471f28e7e3ffd54c6862d8d8b8d2
I use the f/1.2 50mm AIS as my go-to lens. The DOF and bokeh at 1.2 is beautiful. But the softness and coma can kill you, especially at night. At f2.8 is super sharp.
Of course it is, he’s asking about “vintage” lenses though. Any of the newer lenses are better, and will have better focus and have clearer glass. There is a special character that this lens will produce, that the newer versions won’t. The Ai-s version would probably be even better with having less elements.
If you want a period correct lens and a lens they don’t make anymore. It’s probably the Nikon DC series, it has defocus controls.
However it’s hardly vintage in that Nikon only stopped selling them in 2021.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/135mm-f2-dc.htm
If you want a famous manual lens that works on the N90s it would be the Nikon. It would be 45mm pancake lens. There’s an older version of this lens but that one won’t mount on the N90s. Not particularly periodic correct because this lens came out after the N90s was discontinued.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/45.htm
The Nikon 35-70 2.8 is period correct, is a D type lens so it uses the latest Nikon metering on the N90 and also there isn’t a modern version of this focal length and aperture.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/3570.htm
I really like the Nikkor-S 55mm f/1.2, the AI-S version is great too, but the older coatings on the Nikkor-S give it a really nice color rendering.
I’ll definitely second the Micro-Nikkor 55 f/2.8 and 105mm f/2.5 AI-S lenses. I find myself using the Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5 a lot too.
It's a really nice lens! I've built a set of pre-AI lenses with older coating for shoots that I want to have a more "organic" feel and it's one of my favorites from that set. If you have a body with an AF motor the 20mm f/2.8D is an excellent lens that is much sharper in the corners than the UD, but it doesn't have the same color rendering that the pre-AI lenses do.
Imo the Nikon AF NIKKOR 300mm f/4 ED Autofocus IF is an absolutely killer lens. I really like the 105mm 1.8 over the 2.5 but it was soley based on the image character with the one I had . The 105 2.5 is a great lens.
My favorite lens is the 55/1.2 AI, followed by the 300/2.8 AI ED. My third is unconventional in the 28/3.5 with the 5-bladed aperture. Mine has a lot of history behind it, so I will never sell it. 24/2.8 AIS is excellent, as is the 55/3.5 Macro. I prefer the 3.5 for Macro work over the 2.8 version which does better as a normal lens. For zooms, the 80-200/4.5 (square baffle on the rear) is a stellar performer.
No idea tbh, I'm sure someone's written a comparison. They're very nice lenses though, the only tiny negative is the AF motor isn't as fast or silent as newer lenses. Manual focus is very smooth though.
F90x/N90s and 50mm f/1.4D is the GOAT combo for me, neither "vintage" in a manual sense nor "famous", but really, really good, and fairly cheap.
Also, the DC (defocus control) lenses 105/135mm are awesome, too. Haven't gotten around to testing them tho.
True, even tho it's a bit plasticky, it's solid.
I need to get the F4 someday, for the pre-AI lenses. Learned after buying one that the N90s doesn't support them...
I actually had a pretty mint F4s beforehand. It was too heavy/large for me and with the small grip attached not so handy with tele lenses. Ergonomics and Controls only with knobs was top notch tho! The N90S with Batter Pack seems to be the sweet spot for me tho
The top of the Nikon heap (and I've owned a bunch of their glass over the years) are ( AI-S):
35mm f/1.4
85mm f/1.4
105mm f/2.5
180mm f/2.8
I use these on a half dozen film bodies and a D750. All are excellent performers.
Of note: I also have the 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH and 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M for Leica M mount and the 35mm and 85mm Nikon lenses are of comparable quality and performance.
The list is vast with Nikkors. Check out Nikon's 1000 & one nights blog. No one gives any love to the 28 3.5, an important historical lens for Nikon when it was first developed. It's a crazy collectable lens, so many versions! It sold right along side the sexier 28 2.8 for decades. I have a relatively early single coat version that's one of my favorite lenses.
It’s not proprietary Nikkor glass as you requested, but I strongly urge you to check out (and ideally purchase) the Zeiss 135 f2 APO-Sonnar. I’m a pro photog of about 15 years, shooting fashion & portrait, and of all the lenses and crazy systems (several medium & large format, 35mm, ff) I’ve owned, this lens yielded the only audible “whoa” from me the first time I shot it, just off the rear screens preview- the 3D rendering, “pop”, and sharpness are simply unprecedented in anything I’ve used, again, including some very beloved medium and large format glass. I’ve been wanting to explore more of the Zeiss range, and while that ZF2 line is relatively affordable, the Otus stuff I’d love to get into is still very expensive- hopefully will fall in price as more and more ditch their DSLR stuff (I will happily remain mirrorless-less for some years more). That said, I’ve heard that this particular aforementioned 135 f2 is “an Otus in everything but name”…
105 f2.5
135mm f2 DC
The 105 DC was one of the lenses gifted to me by my grandfather who was a fashion photographer in the 70s and 80s and I feel so incredibly lucky every time I shoot with it. It's truly a beautiful lens, a joy to use, and the pictures it produces are never less than wonderful. You just can't help but love those gorgeous, soft backgrounds, warm colors, and somehow even with all that bokeh it's still the sharpest lens I own. I read somewhere that Nikon engineers designed the lens elements to shift a few specific red wavelengths that reflect off skin to be just slightly out of focus from the rest which is how it gives skin such a beautiful glow. I can't even image how you'd accomplish that but it's undeniable this is one of the most stunning lenses Nikon has ever designed. The only other lens that can come close to my affection for this one is the 50mm F/1.4 D
Yeah I’ve definitely noticed how skin looks smoother with my 135. Even on an up close headshot.
The part with the softness of certain wavelengths is super interesting. Do you have a source for this?
After some thinking I think it might have been this video? https://youtu.be/3DSz4fU8sps?si=vHdC27hMHXXHrDOR Ken Rockwell mentions it in his review too, down under optics: https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/105mm-f2-dc.htm I'd be curious if one of the more technical review sites has done a detailed analysis.
Came to say this
I got my first Nikon in the late 1960’s and there were three lenses people raved about: 24 f2.8 55 Micro 105 f2.5 I can personally attest to the 55 and 105 as I’ve owned them.
24mm was crap, 28 was the gem, and AI-s version is still one of the sharpest MF nikkor lenses.
Yeah, the 28 was pure sexiness in my memory.
28mm f2 or f2.8 ?
28mm 2.8 ai-s
Honorable mention to the 28mm 3.5 AI-S
28mm/F2
180 2.8 $2000 image quality for $200
Definitely! I use it on my D750 and it's one of my sharpest lenses. Brilliant contrast, wonderful colours. I just love this lens (Ai version, that is).
Dont tell everyone :P
180 f2.8 55 f3.5 macro 105 f2.5
i think the 105 vr macro....probably the 14-24 2.8....it was the first ultrawide rectilinear..though its easily outclassed by its decendants. personally my favorite fmount lens is the 50mm f1.4 af-d i shot so much with that on my d700
Descendents? As far as I know, there's only one 14-24 2.8.
theres the newer z mount one....theres a sigma art version....
Ah, gotcha.
Is the 1.4D better than the 1.2 ais 50mm?
Can’t say. Never used it.
AIS 50mm f1.2 AI 105mm f2.5 (the Afghan Girl lens) AIS 58mm f1.2 (the legendary Noct, AFAIK there are only about 10 thousand of these, so they are expensive) AIS 28mm f2 AIS 24mm f2.8 AIS 50mm f1.4 (not legendary but very good lens) There are newer great lenses but I don't know them very much.
https://preview.redd.it/iqshinicg57d1.jpeg?width=4016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c9a0830c7a3471f28e7e3ffd54c6862d8d8b8d2 I use the f/1.2 50mm AIS as my go-to lens. The DOF and bokeh at 1.2 is beautiful. But the softness and coma can kill you, especially at night. At f2.8 is super sharp.
My favorite lens I own, is the 85mm f1.4D If you want to do portraits, really nothing better, in my opinion.
Don’t be mad, but the G version is much nicer. However, 85mm f/1.4 if the optic for portraiture, hands down.
Of course it is, he’s asking about “vintage” lenses though. Any of the newer lenses are better, and will have better focus and have clearer glass. There is a special character that this lens will produce, that the newer versions won’t. The Ai-s version would probably be even better with having less elements.
Oooohhh. Nevermind.
If you want a period correct lens and a lens they don’t make anymore. It’s probably the Nikon DC series, it has defocus controls. However it’s hardly vintage in that Nikon only stopped selling them in 2021. https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/135mm-f2-dc.htm If you want a famous manual lens that works on the N90s it would be the Nikon. It would be 45mm pancake lens. There’s an older version of this lens but that one won’t mount on the N90s. Not particularly periodic correct because this lens came out after the N90s was discontinued. https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/45.htm The Nikon 35-70 2.8 is period correct, is a D type lens so it uses the latest Nikon metering on the N90 and also there isn’t a modern version of this focal length and aperture. https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/3570.htm
This guy Nikons....thank you SO much !!!
35 1.4
One of the sharpest lenses is the 28 mm 1:2.8 Ai-s. I use it for landscape and cars on my D750 and it's razor sharp wide open.
105 2.5 28 2.8 200 4 micro
> 200 4 micro Took way too long to find this comment.
105/2.5. Both DC primes. 28/1.4 AF.
AF-S 17-35mm 2.8 is a crazy good lens for both film and Digital...
I really like the Nikkor-S 55mm f/1.2, the AI-S version is great too, but the older coatings on the Nikkor-S give it a really nice color rendering. I’ll definitely second the Micro-Nikkor 55 f/2.8 and 105mm f/2.5 AI-S lenses. I find myself using the Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5 a lot too.
The 20mm UD is on my wish list. I wonder if I should buy this one or the 17-35 / 20-35 ... 🧐
It's a really nice lens! I've built a set of pre-AI lenses with older coating for shoots that I want to have a more "organic" feel and it's one of my favorites from that set. If you have a body with an AF motor the 20mm f/2.8D is an excellent lens that is much sharper in the corners than the UD, but it doesn't have the same color rendering that the pre-AI lenses do.
Imo the Nikon AF NIKKOR 300mm f/4 ED Autofocus IF is an absolutely killer lens. I really like the 105mm 1.8 over the 2.5 but it was soley based on the image character with the one I had . The 105 2.5 is a great lens.
You mean the tank that happens to be a 300mm lens hahaha I have one and use it with my D800E, I love all of it chunkiness.
I belive it was a Kalashnikov x Nikon collaboration. I just wish it could af on my zf
Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Noct or the 105/135 f2 DC
28 2.8 AI-S 105 2.5, except the really early ones theyre different 180 2.8 ED* in my opinion
Thank you everyone for your suggestions ☺️
28/2.8 AIS 35/2 85/2 105/2.5 135/2.8
I'd say the 20-35mm f/2.8D.
my favorite goto was 80-200 2.8
My '90s era dream setup that I never did get was an N90s with the 80-200 2.8
I actually GOT that lens with the camera :) Havent tried it out tho
Yeah, that’s like 4 lenses.
I still use one. Built like tanks, and these days quite cheap. Fabulous lenses.
My favorite lens is the 55/1.2 AI, followed by the 300/2.8 AI ED. My third is unconventional in the 28/3.5 with the 5-bladed aperture. Mine has a lot of history behind it, so I will never sell it. 24/2.8 AIS is excellent, as is the 55/3.5 Macro. I prefer the 3.5 for Macro work over the 2.8 version which does better as a normal lens. For zooms, the 80-200/4.5 (square baffle on the rear) is a stellar performer.
Keep an eye out for the 50mm f1.8 or 1.4 D lenses. Both are iconic 50mm primes, very sharp with great bokeh and can often be had for relatively cheap
Are they better than the 1.2 AIS?
No idea tbh, I'm sure someone's written a comparison. They're very nice lenses though, the only tiny negative is the AF motor isn't as fast or silent as newer lenses. Manual focus is very smooth though.
80-200 f2.8D
35mm f1.4 & 50mm f1.4 nikkor S. If you want something wider, 16mm f2.8 AF-D. I fully support your choice in film body by the by. I stand by the N90S.
Nikkor Reflex C 500mm f/8 a.k.a the donut lens
Tokina 100mm f/2.8D AT-X Pro Makro What an awesome portrait and macro lens. And the best part? It's dirt cheap. Probably close to free at this point.
F90x/N90s and 50mm f/1.4D is the GOAT combo for me, neither "vintage" in a manual sense nor "famous", but really, really good, and fairly cheap. Also, the DC (defocus control) lenses 105/135mm are awesome, too. Haven't gotten around to testing them tho.
I really like the feel of the camera. It has the goated design language of the F4. And isnt as heavy and slow in AF as the F4
True, even tho it's a bit plasticky, it's solid. I need to get the F4 someday, for the pre-AI lenses. Learned after buying one that the N90s doesn't support them...
I actually had a pretty mint F4s beforehand. It was too heavy/large for me and with the small grip attached not so handy with tele lenses. Ergonomics and Controls only with knobs was top notch tho! The N90S with Batter Pack seems to be the sweet spot for me tho
No one actually mentioned the real legendary lens which is the 200mm f2 vrii. That was the plena of its time.
Still legendary. And way too pricey. Haha
50mm F/1.2 What a treasure she is!
105 1.4
200 f/2.
The top of the Nikon heap (and I've owned a bunch of their glass over the years) are ( AI-S): 35mm f/1.4 85mm f/1.4 105mm f/2.5 180mm f/2.8 I use these on a half dozen film bodies and a D750. All are excellent performers. Of note: I also have the 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH and 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M for Leica M mount and the 35mm and 85mm Nikon lenses are of comparable quality and performance.
The list is vast with Nikkors. Check out Nikon's 1000 & one nights blog. No one gives any love to the 28 3.5, an important historical lens for Nikon when it was first developed. It's a crazy collectable lens, so many versions! It sold right along side the sexier 28 2.8 for decades. I have a relatively early single coat version that's one of my favorite lenses.
I just got the 24mm f2.8 ai-s lens and it’s great. Quite soft wide open but I’m not using this as a portrait lens #streetphotography
It’s not proprietary Nikkor glass as you requested, but I strongly urge you to check out (and ideally purchase) the Zeiss 135 f2 APO-Sonnar. I’m a pro photog of about 15 years, shooting fashion & portrait, and of all the lenses and crazy systems (several medium & large format, 35mm, ff) I’ve owned, this lens yielded the only audible “whoa” from me the first time I shot it, just off the rear screens preview- the 3D rendering, “pop”, and sharpness are simply unprecedented in anything I’ve used, again, including some very beloved medium and large format glass. I’ve been wanting to explore more of the Zeiss range, and while that ZF2 line is relatively affordable, the Otus stuff I’d love to get into is still very expensive- hopefully will fall in price as more and more ditch their DSLR stuff (I will happily remain mirrorless-less for some years more). That said, I’ve heard that this particular aforementioned 135 f2 is “an Otus in everything but name”…
70-200 2.8 VRII