Opinions about Nikon defocus control (DC) lenses: I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone...

CO

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

CO wrote:

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

Sounds like something I would do with Photoshop! And a skilled Ps master can do nearly anything. That is not me and not that I would do that anyway.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

Yes; I had one, but apart from specialised usage, I didn't use it a lot. OK if you have the use for it, but otherwise... I sold mine.

DennisC. Loc: Antelope, CA

CO wrote:

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

I have the 105 f2D DC and have been using it for portraits on on both crop sensor and full frame bodies, currently the D500, D850 and Sony A7s II. It’s a beautiful lens, built like a tank and very sharp, even wide open. You can get some nice effects from extra foreground and background blur to soft focus effect depending on the aperture and DC ring position.

The 135mm is the same quality but has a lot chromatic blooming when shot wide open.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

CO wrote:

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

I have one of each and I agree with what DennisC has said.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Might find interesting: https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/135mm-f2-dc.htm

CO

Thanks for all of the replies. There are often discussions about bokeh here on UHH. I've never seen any discussions about the defocus control lenses. I shot with the 105mm a little and liked it.

I understand that it's an AF lens but not AF-S. That just means the camera body needs to have its own built-in focusing motor. I have a D500 now which would do fine but it's probably best on a full frame camera. I might be getting that in the fall.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

The 135mm is an awesome portrait lens, I have one.

CO wrote:

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

If you're interested in something like this, you might want to check out Lensbaby https://lensbaby.com/.

applepie1951 Loc: Los Angeles,California

I have both lens and love them for portraits and when I travel over seas to Asia I shoot with them 90% of the time, get lens.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

CO I shoot the AF 135mm f/2.0 regularly on a Nikon D3x and it is simply awesome! razor sharp stopped down a tad...
However it is dependent on the camera body... shooting this lens on a D7200 is unacceptable... it suffers from serious CA wide open and must be stopped down considerably to eliminate... This lens was designed for film not digital... and mastering it's DC control is a long arduous process...

btw, I had to wait many mouths for B&H to get one in... it appears Nikon now realizes the popularity of this optic and has continued to produce same to meet demands...

Keep in mind this is strictly a portrait lens which works beautifully on full frame...
No way would I attempt to use this for indoor sports etc... it does not handle point source high contrast lights well...
That said, it is a gem for those days when the sky is overcast... a.k.a. a beautiful soft light lens..

Also for evenly lit sunlight it is awesome...
see below...

Hope this helps or is at least food for thought...

AF 135mm f/2 DC on a D3x Nikon

(Download)

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

CO wrote:

I was wondering if any UHH members have used Nikon defocus control lenses. Nikon makes a 105mm f/2 DC and a 135mm f/2 DC lens. Someone in my camera club has the 105mm and let me shoot with it. It's awesome how the out-of-focus portions of the photo can be changed. You can change it from soft and creamy to more defined out-of-focus areas. I was thinking about possibly purchasing one. Do any UHH members have experience with them?

Yes, I have both of them, and and I consider them as some of Nikon's most high-resolution glass. Also, the DC allows one to do quite a few "tricks".

BTW: I have absolutely no problems with CA on any of my cropped body cameras.

CO

Thomas902 wrote:

CO I shoot the AF 135mm f/2.0 regularly on a Nikon... (show quote)

Thanks for the tips. Is it unacceptable just on the D7200 or cropped sensor cameras in general? Right now I have a D500 but want to get a full frame camera (waiting to see what's announced at the Photokina show in September).

That's a great shot. Beautifully done.

CO

rfmaude41 wrote:

Yes, I have both of them, and and I consider them as some of Nikon's most high-resolution glass. Also, the DC allows one to do quite a few "tricks".

BTW: I have absolutely no problems with CA on any of my cropped body cameras.

Thanks for the info. No problems with chromatic aberrations on cropped sensor cameras then.

Naldo

Great shot Thomas902

Perfect model. . . perfect moment. . . great artistic photography. Publication-worthy for sure! Just a wonderful shot.

Thank you very much for sharing this and your thoughts on the lens in question