AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm F2.8G IF-ED

Is the VR optimized for a certain vibration frequency range? The frequency of camera movement/vibration would be alot less underwater vs topside.

The internal focusing may change port requirements. This may fit in some 60mm ports?  Which would be handy for travel.

 

Alex

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You will definitely need extension ring for the 60mm port.

I saw the sample of the lens already and it is about the same

size as the 17-55mm DX. Only a few mm smaller in diameter but

otherwise almost identical in size.

I already put my name down for one

I CANT WAIT...ALREADY ON THE LIST WITH MY SUPPLIER!! SHOULD GO WELL WITH MY NEW D200!!

The ancouncement says that the TC14E,TC17E & TC20E are supported but not with autofocus.

 

Can anyone hazard a guess as to why this might be ?

In regards to these multipliers, AF only works with fast aperture, since this macro lens when doing 1:1 will actually give around a slow F:5 to F:5,6 (same as the current 105) real aperture, this being cause by the extension of the lens. I recall seing many lens such as the 300mm AF-S f:4 not being AF with these multiplier. and as I recall the situation is not only Nikon but Canon also. the rational behind this I suspect is : if the focusing will be crappy with a multiplier, might as well shut it down, I just think i'm grown-up enough <_< (yeah, really) to make theses decisions and it would be nice to leave that one to me to switch the damm thing off if i'm not happy with the AF performance.

in short ; Proper AF-S result are not attainable at aperture beyond F:4, hence the embargo on these TC guys.

I believe Nikon says autofocus is only possible with a lens with a prime aperture of f5.6 or larger (eg. 1.4, 2.8, 3.5 etc). So, a lens with an aperture of 2.8 with a 2x teleconverter is only just bordering the specifications as set out by Nikon.

I've measured the 60mm micro Nikkor. I reckon it is approx 16mm shorter when extended out at min focus than the constant length of the new 105 VR Nikkor.

I would guess unless you have 16mm spare inside your current port with the 60mm, something like a 20mm extention ring will be required. I think a lot of folk may currently use a 40mm ring when changing between 60 and 105 lenses.

Like a kid in a candy store...

Today we got in our first 105VR Lens and our first Subal housing for the D200, by total coincidence we had a D200 body here as well!

The 105 VR will setup the same as the original 105 lens, it's too long to work with the standard macro ports on the Subal and Sea & Sea housings I tested it on today.

The real bad news: The 105VR is sooo wide that I could not mount the port onto the Subal D200 housing. It will require modification to the inner barrel on the port to mount properly. I'll be sending photos off to Subal so they can decide how to handle this problem.

I did some more focus tests with this lens and found the lens to be very fast, just at it behaved at the PMA show. Here's a couple of photos of the 105VR compared to the 60/2.8 and the lens mounted in the Subal D200 housing.

Thanks for the update Dave, I was going to buy one of these lenses ASAP, but now I will wait for Subal to come up with a port before doing so.

Luiz

Thanks for the update Dave, I was going to buy one of these lenses ASAP, but now I will wait for Subal to come up with a port before doing so.

Luiz

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Hi Luiz,

As I'm sure you already have macro ports for your housing, they could be machined to allow room to clear the control panel on the side of the 105VR lens.

FYI, The control panel sticks out so far that I had to pull back on the zoom control knob to that the drive cog did not hit the lens.

I have already sent photos to Subal!

Dave,

How about the girth within the Sea and Sea ports? I can see it's going to need an extension like the old 105 needed on Sea and Sea, but it also looks very meaty width wise, I could see the focus collar being a very tight fit.

TIA

Like a kid in a candy store...

 

Today we got in our first 105VR Lens and our first Subal housing for the D200, by total coincidence we had a D200 body here as well!

 

The 105 VR will setup the same as the original 105 lens, it's too long to work with the standard macro ports on the Subal and Sea & Sea housings I tested it on today.

 

The real bad news: The 105VR is sooo wide that I could not mount the port onto the Subal D200 housing. It will require modification to the inner barrel on the port to mount properly. I'll be sending photos off to Subal so they can decide how to handle this problem.

 

I did some more focus tests with this lens and found the lens to be very fast, just at it behaved at the PMA show. Here's a couple of photos of the 105VR compared to the 60/2.8 and the lens mounted in the Subal D200 housing.

 

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Dave - What did you think of the AF/MF switch? Unlike the silver knob of the old 105mm, it looks like any gearing on the HOUSING will not work to switch. Maybe a lever on the PORT? Anyway, the traditional AF/MF select gearing we have been using on housings with old 105mm Micro Nikkor is not going to work on this lens. Got a solution in mind or is it AF or MF only?

Canon offer option of Custom Function 4-1 to use in conjunction with 100 macro USM for both AF and MF functionality underwater. What will be the solution to same issue with this lens for Nikon shooters?

Steve, no need to mess with the AF/MF switch, this is an AFS lens and it works in AF/MF all the time. You can lock the focus with the focus lock switch (or half pressing the shutter) and manually adjust if necessary.

Luiz

Stephen, the lens is an M/A lens so you dont need to switch between manual and auto. If this lens works with TCs, that would be great because then you can actually 'switch' between manual and auto with a TC attached, something thats otherwise not really possible. (on subal at least the auto/manual gears dont reach anymore when you attach a TC and port ring)

I would probably still use it manual most of the time, but it's nice to be able to go to auto.

Cor

Steve, no need to mess with the AF/MF switch, this is an AFS lens and it works in AF/MF all the time. You can lock the focus with the focus lock switch (or half pressing the shutter) and manually adjust if necessary.

 

Luiz

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Luiz - Why won't the AF override your MF preset? Admittedly, I haven't shot the AFS, but if it is anything like Canon's USM, there needs to be a way to remove AF functionality from the shutter release, like CF4-1. What happens if you MF on something very small, say in bottom left of the frame and AF zone is still in the middle? Will focus stay bottom left or shift to middle when you execute shutter click?

What I do with AFS lenses (mostly topside) is half-press the shutter to get initial focus, keep it pressed and adjust manually if necessary (only works on single servo AF, if on continous AF the AF will override MF). I understand that it can be hard to keep the shutter half-pressed while MFing (but it is not a problem for me, since my hands fit around the Subal very well), and there is a solution.

Both the D200 and D2x (I don't know about the D70) have an AF-On button that can be used to activate AF and there is a custom function on both to disable AF-ON while pressing the shutter. Bad news is that this control (AF-ON) is not accessible on the Subal D2x housing (don't know about the D200). Good news is that there is a custom function on the D2x that allows you to use the AF-L/AE-L buttom (accessible in the Subal) to activate AF (again, I don't know about the D200 or D70).

So, to summarize, in the D2x it is possible to disable shutter activated AF-ON, and enable AF-ON with the AF-L/AE-L button, which is accessible in the Subal housing. You can then use AF by pressing the AF-L/AE-L button when necessary, and/or manual focus with the housing knob (if the focus gear reaches) or dedicated port.

Let me know if you need to know what the custom functions are on the D2x and I can pass them to you.

Luiz

Good question Stephen, im not quite sure how this would pan out. I just put my 18-200 AFS VR lens on my D2x, and did just what you described. I manually focus on something in the corner, with center autofocus on something else. If i press fast enough, it doesnt seem to refocus but I wouldnt trust this really.

For me it would still work, as Ive got my release button reprogrammed to not focus but only release (menu a5). I use my AE-L button to focus (menu c2). And I guess you could always focus lock it. But I agree, for some people it may be handy to switch to full M.

Cor

The best way to do this is to remove autofocus functionality from the shutter release and reassign it to the AE-L/AF-L button on the D2x/D70/D100.

This can not be done on the D200, but custom A6 removes AF from the shutter release, making AF only activated via the AF-ON control.

The subal D200 housing is not setup by default to activate af-on, but I just modified a housing to activate it, and am taking it diving in a few minutes

So Dave.... got an Aquatica to try it on?

Aquatica has a wider port than most, think it would fit?

Dave, got the old 105mm to compare in a side by side pic? that would be more useful than the 60 i would think...