Nikkor-P Nikon 105mm f/4 Macro Bellows NEX 3
How does this old bellows macro lens stack up with a modern camera?
These old bellows macro lenses were designed with no extension in the lens, so you must mount it on a bellows or an adjustable macro tube of some kind to focus the lens. An advantage to this is on a proper bellows the lens can focus from infinity all the way to close focus around 2:1 magnificationHow large an image appears on the image sensor compared to how big it is in real life. Life size magnification means the image is the same size as the real object. My charts are photographed at 1:53 magnification, so if I photograph an area 53" wide it would appear as 1" wide on the sensor., depending on lens focal length and bellows size. A traditional lens mounted on a bellows can only focus very closely since the extension is already built into the lens.
This lens is a solidly built pre-set style lens. It has two aperture adjustment rings, one controls the stop point, and the other open and closes the diaphragm. This allows nice precise adjustments and quickly open the lens to focus and close to take your photo.
The lens has a 12 bladed aperture with straight blades. The lens is 5 elements in 3 groups, and weighs approximately 230 g. It has 52mm filter threads and has f/stop settings from 4 to 32. It is small for a 105mm lens, but needs the macro bellows, making it a lens to use for tripod only.
Optical Performance
Please click on the tab you want to view. Only 1 tab may be active at a time. MTF, Distortion, and Lat CA data acquired using
ImatestComments on the Results
This lens performs well enough, but there is a noticeable step up in contrast from f/4 to f/5.6. SharpnessI use this to refer to the MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. and resolutionI use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20I use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20 graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. are fairly flat across the field at all settings, with the largest occurring at f/4 in the corners. My data were no good for f/8 so I removed them. It performs about the same at f/8 as f/5.6 or f/11.
Distortion is negligible.
Lateral CADifferent wavelengths (colors) of light have different magnifications and produce colored halos around high contrast objects near the frame edges. is very well controlled and improves on stopping down. Unfortunately, longitudinal CADifferent wavelengths (colors) have different focus points, causing colored halos in out of focus regions of the image; typical is magenta in front of focus plane and cyan behind. is very visible at f/4 and only slightly better stopped down, and probably worse than average compared to a modern macro, but average for the time.
Purple fringingPurple fringing occurs around high contrast edges in a lens with high longitudinal CA in the focused areas; the slightly out of focus red and blue are fairly balanced and combine to create a purple halo. The sensor microlenses and color filter can aggravate purple fringing as well. is visible mostly at f/4, and improves somewhat on stopping down.
ComaPoints of light are distorted near the edges of the frame. A circular point of light might be more comet shaped. and astigmatismDifferent angle edges have different focal points. A picture of an X might have one / of the X sharper than the other \. Has the appearance of slight motion blur or softness, and tends to be worst at the edges of the frame. are pretty negligible.
FlareInternal reflections on the lens elements causes ghost images and other artifacts to appear in the captured image. Most common is internal lens elements and diaphragm shapes will show when a bright light source like the sun is in or near the frame. wasn’t tested, but being an older lens I imagine it isn’t great. I did notice issues with veiling glareA specific type of flareInternal reflections on the lens elements causes ghost images and other artifacts to appear in the captured image. Most common is internal lens elements and diaphragm shapes will show when a bright light source like the sun is in or near the frame. in contra light where the overall sharpnessI use this to refer to the MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. of the image is reduced but resolutionI use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20I use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20 graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. remains. Large glass elements, scratches, fungus, and poor/no optical coatings can lead to veiling glare. A lens hood can reduce this type of flareInternal reflections on the lens elements causes ghost images and other artifacts to appear in the captured image. Most common is internal lens elements and diaphragm shapes will show when a bright light source like the sun is in or near the frame. dramatically. by a large bright window.
I measured the focal length to be 110mm at 1:53 magnificationHow large an image appears on the image sensor compared to how big it is in real life. Life size magnification means the image is the same size as the real object. My charts are photographed at 1:53 magnification, so if I photograph an area 53" wide it would appear as 1" wide on the sensor..
Pros and Cons
- Across the frame f/5.6-11
- Build Quality
- Peak resolutionI use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20I use the term resolution to refer to the MTF20 graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. graph. This is how well the lens can resolve fine detail, but the contrast is low at this point. could be better
- Requires use of Bellows
Bottom Line
This is a nice macro lens, pretty average for the day. It will deliver good across the frame results in the f/5.6 to f/11 range. I recommend using focus stacking if you need more depth of field, rather than stopping down to f/22 or f/32. At f/16 the lens borders on decency levels (this is true for all lenses).
Understand that you need a macro bellows to use this lens effectively, but you do maintain infinity focus with the proper bellows, making it more convenient to use than a traditional lens on a bellows. I think a modern lens will be better matched to a new sensor, but this is a good value.
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Gallery
The gallery images are © 2012 Eric Tastad, and may only be used for personal evaluation of the lenses. Click the play button and click “visit gallery” in the upper right to download full size images.
- Sku
- lens0001
- Description
- Nikon 105mm f/4 Bellow Macro with Vivitar Bellows
- Product Options
-
| # |
Option |
Price |
Stock |
| 1 |
Lens with Bellows, Used |
$299.00 |
1 |
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