Skip to main content

Nikon’s new 105mm f/1.4 is a stellar performer, according to LensRentals test

nikon 105mm f14 tested f1 4 on gold
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Nikon wowed the photography world with the introduction of a 105mm f/1.4 portrait lens earlier this year. The first lens of its type, it combines the flattering compression effect of a telephoto with the super-shallow depth of field of an f/1.4 aperture. And now, thanks to testing from LensRentals, we know that it’s an objectively great performer.

“I don’t get blown away very often,” writes LensRentals’ Roger Cicala in a blog post. “Well, I’m blown away. From an MTF standpoint, this is the sharpest f/1.4 lens Nikon has made. It may be the sharpest f/1.4 lens, period.”

MTF stands for modular transfer function, and an MTF test basically reveals how sharp a lens is by measuring its effectiveness at different resolutions measured in line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm). It also measures sharpness from the center out to the periphery of a lens. Therefore, if a lens is very sharp in the center, but suffers in the corners, the MTF chart will illustrate this with a drop in the graph.

With Nikon’s 105mm f/1.4, however, that graph remains almost perfectly straight at 10 lp/mm. And at all resolutions, it outperforms even Nikon’s own 85mm f/1.4G, which is itself a highly regarded portrait lens. Even compared to the older 105mm f/2.8 Micro, which should have a leg up with its smaller maximum aperture, the new 105mm f/1.4 comes out ahead.

Cicala continues: “This is a spectacular performance, especially for a lens type which hasn’t been available previously in any major mount.”

He goes on to pit it against the venerable Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 and Canon’s excellent 100mm f/2.8L Macro. Here, the Nikon holds its own, remaining neck-and-neck with others despite being half the cost of the Zeiss and having an aperture two stops brighter than the Canon.

This is great news especially for Nikon D810 shooters, as the new 105mm f/1.4 should provide ample resolution to meet the demands of that camera’s 36-megapixel full-frame sensor. It’s also great for low light and portraits, where users won’t have to worry about sacrificing sharpness to shoot at a wide aperture. At $2,200, one would certainly hope for superior performance, and the test results show that this lens delivers very respectable results for the price.

Daven Mathies
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…
Fujifilm’s successor to the wildly popular X100V has just landed
fujifilm unveils x100v successor x100vi

FUJIFILM X100VI Promotional Video/ FUJIFILM

Fujifilm has finally unveiled the successor to its super-popular X100V camera.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more
Astronaut captures stunning images of a snowy Grand Canyon
A snow-covered Grand Canyon seen from space.

In the final days of his six-month stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen took some time out of his science work to snap some striking photos of a snow-covered Grand Canyon.

The images were captured from the station in recent days as it orbited Earth at an altitude of around 250 miles.

Read more