| Home | Gallery | Lenses | KnowHow | Legal Notice | |
|
Nikon 100mm 2.8 Series E is a discount lens from late 70s. The mechanical quality is clearly worse compared to the legendary Nikon 105 f/2.5. The build quality is more like AF-D lenses which came later on. Today (2020) you will pay about 100 Euros for the Series E and at least twice for the 105mm f/2.5. My copy has some oil on the aperture blades. Sometimes, in cold weather they are stuck. This is not unheard of for that lens. It also has some optical issues. The right side is by far not as sharp as the left side. So we are looking here at the better left side. |
Clicking on a crop loads the whole image in original size. A tip for Retina display users: Zoom in 1.5x or 2x. Otherwise you are not really in 1:1 mode.
Images are developed from RAW files in Ligtroom 5. All adjustments are Lightroom standard (sharpness: 25/1/25/0). |
A little soft.
Softness has gone.
It doesn't sharpen up much.
Same as f/5.6. Somehow I expected that it gets sharper but it doesn't!
| For the price the Nikon 100mm 2.8 Series E is a decent lens. Sharp in the center. Edges are a somewhat behind. Is it an excellent one? No, at least looking at my copy, clearly no. For excellence it lacks of resolution, contrast, micro contrast, and sharpness across the frame. |
My copy looks almost brand new, and it doesn't look as if someone has opened the lens and tinkered around. I assume this is the typical quality of Series E lenses. One lens less, only single coating, wider tolerances, worse quality control, use of cheaper grease and so on. And now the famous sentence has to come: If you get a good copy... Recommendation: Spend the money an get a 105mm f/2.5 instead, and live with it happily for the next 30 years. |
Sharpened up and chromatic aberrations removed.