Nikon DC Lenses

rogermbyrne

rogermbyrne

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Roger
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Hey Guys

I have a serious itch for a Nikon Defocus Control lens probably the 105mm, I will be using this on a crop sensor mainly for street photography.

I've heard some stories about front or back focussing issues on this lens.

Does anyone have one, used on a DX?

As the D90 has no AF micro adjustment I'm a little worried as it's not a cheap outlay.

Any thoughts?
 
I bought the 135mm DC for my D700 last week and had to mess about with the microadjust and I've read some folk using +15 or some resorting to +20. If I were you I'd maybe rent it, go for the 85mm f/1.4 D or Sigma 85mm.
 
You can have a 0 adjust copy or a +10 copy, luck of the draw really. If it was me I'd either get an 85mm f/1.4 D or if you have to have 105mm I'd maybe go for the 105mm VR. If I had a camera that could micro adjust I'd get the 105mm DC, but it is a shot in the dark if you are working with a crop that can't micro adjust.
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys, I think I'm going to delay this purchase until a. maybe never or b. if i could actually get one in my hands and try it on my own body. c. I get a D700 ;)
 
Just picked up a 105 DC on Friday.

Took it to a wedding with me on Saturday :gag: (don't worry I did actually test it first and had plenty of other glass...)

First impressions are very very favourable - it rips the subject out of the b/g like very little glass I've seen.

Unwise adjustment of the DC dial could easily lead you to believe it's front or back focusing. I've yet to figure out what wise adjustment would be so after a bit I left it on 0.

BTW before we had in camera lens adjustment.....people just sent camera and lens in to Nikon for calibration to each other. They still do this as a (chargeable) service.
 
Nothing wrong with the lens or the 135 mm I think it's people who just don't understand how it works or how the autofocus works with this lens.
There is no way that there could be so many of this lens not working correct.
It's a absolute gem and specialised with the DC but not hard to use.
Never put a filter on it and read the manual.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2FnnsvMj6Y



While pushing the DC ring lock release button. rotate the DC ring toward the R
(rear) side to blur the background. or toward the F (front) side to blue the
foreground (see illudt, A). To effectively blur background or foreground images.
turn the DC ring so the f-number on the DC ring (aligned to the DC ring index) is
same as the aperture in use. Turning the ring beyond the aperture in use lets you
create a soft-focus effect.
• Defocus control should always be performed before focusing. If you rotate the
DC ring after focusing, or during focus lock in autofocus photography. your
subject will be out of focus.
• With the DC ring at either the F or R side, the distance scale may not show the
correct distance.
• The effect of defocus image control depends on subject conditions such as
subject-to-background distance. subject-to-foreground distance, etc.
• Image blur cannot be verified through the viewfinder. To obtain the desired
effect, take a series of shots with the DC ring at various settings.


example if you use f2.8 set the defocus before you focus to 2.8 i only ever use rear.
you don't have to use the DC
nightime concerts with a black background i keep it of.
minimum speed 125/s handheld but i prefer at least double that
 
Last edited:
My next lens purchase. Would've been sooner rather than later if I would've called mpb quicker off the mark lol
 
I've often thought about this lens, especially when I still had a film camera, but I'm not entirely sure that you couldn't achieve a very similar effect in PS. Or is it like trying to achieve false OOF area in PS, it never looks quite the same?
 
straycat said:
Turning the ring beyond the aperture in use lets you
create a soft-focus effect.
Click to expand...

Ah cool. Yeah I was getting a soft effect by pushing to to the ends. Not entirely unpleasant :)

But also, it was late, I was tired and I was shooting at like 1/60 - 1/40 and 3,200 ISO. It was hard to tell why the shots were soft.

I turned the DC off and it gave some pretty nice images. Can't show most of them yet. But this gives you some idea....

105dc.jpg
 
It's a heavy ish lens unless your rock steady or on a tripod faster shutter speed is better.
 
straycat said:
It's a heavy ish lens unless your rock steady or on a tripod faster shutter speed is better.
Click to expand...

Depends what you're used to....

It's not a style of lens I'd typically use on a tripod. Might try it with a monopod though.
 
rogermbyrne said:
@JonathanRyan did you need to use micro adjust on your copy?
Click to expand...

Nope. But that tells you nothing about whether you would need to on another copy.

Or even if mine's spot on. It looks OK to me but I bet if I checked it I could get it better.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Nope. But that tells you nothing about whether you would need to on another copy.

Or even if mine's spot on. It looks OK to me but I bet if I checked it I could get it better.
Click to expand...

Agree, that's why I think it's better for me to wait until I can physically try a copy(s) on my camera, Thanks
 
Focus is very critical withthe Dc lenses. I have had a 105 for 5 years or so and it is quite my favourite lens. It is a specialist portrait lens that can be used for other things.

There are plenty of arguments about how to use these lenses and a great deal of misunderstanding of how the lens is intended to render a portrait subject. If you go back and look at some of the Holywood photographs, the iconic portraits of the early film stars, they were shot with a lens that exhibited exactly the same characteristics as the DC, in that the highlights were deliberately softened to give the dreamy feel.

When Nikon set out to create this pair of lenses, that was the effect they were after. The difference between the Kodak lens of the 1920s - 1950s was that was on a 10x8 film camera (but still with the lens designed to diffract the different wavelengths so as to deliberately defocus the image around the contrast) and the Nikkor is for 35mm size...but the effect they were after is exactly the same. Photographs by the likes of Clarence Bull, his pictures of Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Jane Russell, Greta Garbo and the others...iconic pictures and it was the soft lighting with that soft focus portrait lens that created them.

Use your DC lens to produce the kind of result that it has been designed for. In the modern era we have become fixated on SHARPNESS and have searched for more and more sharpness, but that isn't always the best for portraits - smooth, creamy skin is more flattering for portraits of ladies than absolute detail, razor sharpness.

I have used the lens to produce "olde worlde" type feel to pictures of classic bikes. The likes of the Brough Superior SS100, Vincent Black Shadow and BSA A10 Rocket Gold Star - bikes that wouldn't have had ultra sharp lenses to photograph them in their heyday, so the result using the DC provides the feel of n image taken on an old lens, pre Apo, pre nano coating.....that is what this lens is for. Only you are spoiled, it will also produce absolute sharpness if you don't dial in the deliberate aberration with the spectrum being focussed at different distances.
 
straycat said:
Read what I said in my post above
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info still doesn't alay my fears, with the amount of people claiming the need for micro adjustment I can't believe that so many are just not using the DC correctly.

@Jonathan nice pic
 
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