Lens test: Portrait Face-off — Nikkor vs. Canon

[lighteye]

[Текст на српском] Today we have a clash of old and new. You might think this might be an unequal duel, but wait until you see the conclusion…

If you have ever had a chance to listen to Nikon photographers from pre-digital era, they always had a full consensus about one portrait lens — they all loved Nikkor 105mm f/2.5… No, it was not the best ever portrait Nikkor option, but it was compact, extremely well made, reliable, optically excellent, and always highly recommended lens. Of course, it is a full manual lens, which is not a problem with the modern focus assist options on the mirrorless cameras. How does it stacks today against a modern digital era optics? We had a chance to compare it to the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro USM, a versatile lens that is excellent as both, macro and a portrait “specialist”. Canon’s first EOS USM Macro lens (later upgraded with IS and marked L) was dubbed “speed demon”, because of unusual fast autofocus for a macro lens. At the time it was the sharpest, fastest AF macro lens with a quite moderate price. Still can be found today, and it has my warmest recommendation. And now, let’s see the…

Contenders

Today we have, in the black and yellow corner:

Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AIs, made in pre-AI F mount and AI variants from 1959, and as the AI-s from 1981 until 2005.

Summary	Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI-s
Mount	F mount, metal
Filter	52mm, built-in telescoping hood
Optics	5 elements in 4 groups
FOV	23°20' deg FF / 15°30' APS-C (160 mm equiv.)
Min. focus	1 m / 3.5 ft
Diafragm	7 blades (stops to f22 at full stops)
Weight	435 g
Length	78 mm

And in the white and red corner:

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM (non IS) EOS, EF mount, in production since 1990.

Summary	Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Mount	EF, metal
Filter	58mm
Optics	12 elements in 8 groups
FOV	24 deg FF / 15°40' Canon APS-C (160mm equiv.)
Min. focus	31 cm / 1.02 in (Macro Reproduction Ratio 1:1)
Diafragm	8 blades, rounded (stops to f32 at thirds of stop)
Weight	600 g
Length	119 mm

Construction

The first obvious difference that you can’t escape is — size. Canon’s “multipractic” is much larger, and it is not surprising at all…

Inside the Canon lens tube you have much more glass in a far more complicated optic formula and also very fast ultrasonic ring motor. Furthermore, Canon’s lens is big because it has internal focusing mechanism that prevents dust sucking inside the tube. This lens probably has metal base, but has obvious plastic elements also. Despite this, construction quality is very high with only one slight fault — a tripod collar (not included) could be designed far better. Canon corrected that at the new, IS L-version.

Nikon does not have any electronics inside, it is full metal construction, and it looks like one of those lenses that you buy only once in a lifetime. It also has very useful retractable lens hood. An exemplary design. Both lenses are a joy to use with excellent manual focus rings, which is particularly significant on a macro lens.

Pixel Peeping

This is a test of the lens sharpness. Both lenses cover FF sensor, but unfortunately, I’ve never had an FF camera, so all the results are from my trusty Fujifilm X-T20, 24Mpix APS-C sensor.

DISCLAIMER
Still haven’t constructed a perfect test setup. Computer screen and equal conditions should give a proper relation between optics. The final results has a certain subjective component, so please do not expect an absolute quality estimation. Thank you.

As with a previous lens test, you can blame possible inconsistencies to a human error — I am not so reliable like I was in the previous millennium 😉

As you may imagine, all Nikon’s lenses from that era goes up or down only for a full stop on a mechanical ring. Canon has an elecronic controled f-stop to a 1/3 steps. For this occasion we will adapt a test to an older Nikkor, and give you the results for a full stop only.

All test photos were made at ISO200. We are going to start with Nikon at f2.5…

Nikkor f2.5, 1/105, Center	Canon N/A

Nikkor f2.5, 1/105, Lower Left	Canon N/A

Wide open, Nikkor is not perfect, but it is not bad at all. Slight center softness is still plenty sharp for portaits with a nice blurred background. Corners are soft with the hints of chromatic aberrations, yet not so much as you would expect from over 40 years old optic formula.

Nikkor f2.8, 1/100, Center	Canon f2.8, 1/105, Center

Nikkor f2.8, 1/100, Lower Left	Canon f2.8, 1/105, Lower Left

At 2.8 Nikkor gets marginally better both in center and in corners. Canon starts from its wide open aperture stunningly sharp in center and in corners. This high-performance macro has been one of dpreview.com’s standard studio lenses — and here we can see why.

Nikkor f4, 1/52, Center	Canon f4, 1/50, Center

Nikkor f4, 1/52, Lower Left	Canon f4, 1/52, Lower Left

At f4, center sharpness of a Nikkor is very good, and corners are visibly better. With Canon everything looks so good that it is hard to find any fault!

Nikkor f5.6, 1/26, Center	Canon f5.6, 1/25, Center

Nikkor f5.6, 1/26, Lower Left	Canon f5.6, 1/25, Lower Left

At f/5.6, Nikkor is almost as good in center as Canon, and it is coming very close in the corners.

Nikkor f8, 1/13, Center	Canon f8, 1/10, Center

Nikkor f8, 1/13, Lower Left	Canon f8, 1/10, Lower Left

Nikkor f11, 1/6, Center	Canon f11, 1/6, Center

Nikkor f11, 1/6, Lower Left	Canon f11, 1/6, Lower Left

At f/8 and f/11 both lenses show fantastic sharpness across the frame.

Nikkor f16, 1/3, Center	Canon f16, 1/2, Center

Nikkor f16, 1/3, Lower Left	Canon f16, 1/2, Lower Left

At f/16 first signs of diffraction are visible on the Nikkor, but Canon still holds surprisingly well — this is extremely important with macro lenses which must be stopped down for a deeper DOF in the macro region photos.

Nikkor f22, 1s, Center	Canon f22, 1s, Center

Nikkor f22, 1s, Lower Left	Canon f22, 1s, Lower Left

At f/22 diffraction are showing in Canon’s frame and Nikkor is now visibly softer. Which is not unexpected, the physics must do its own at these apertures.

Overall, Canon is a fantastic lens, but the old Nikkor is not a slouch either! You can’t feel anything but respect for a design that old, and so good even today. Let’s see them in the field.

Real world example

Our youngest favorite model, Paul, wanted a portrait in front of his Christmas tree. Which is a perfect opportunity to check a bokeh quality in the blurred highlights. Here is Nikkor at f/2.5 first:

^{Fujifilm X-T20, Nikon, f2.5, 1/60, ISO1600}

And here is a Canon’s version of ‘Home alone’, also wide open:

^{Fujifilm X-T20, Canon, f2.8, 1/60, ISO640}

As already seen with Nikon’s Nikkor 35mm f/2 test, and consistent with the Nikkors of the time, Nikkor 105mm has a slight warm note, pushing the skin tones towards yellowish. Canon has very nice neutral rendition with more pleasing skin tone, which is a trademark of Canon lenses and cameras alike. Much older Nikkor also is showing bit of chromatic aberration (visible at “Rock Star” sign). Don’t panic. There are many new lenses with this problem pronounced much worse. If you find it distracting, have in mind that modern photo editing software can remove it with ease.

Both lenses can be proud with its bokeh quality. While bokeh bulbs are somewhat larger with Nikkor, it still has some slight onion rings inside them, Not visible in Canon photo. On the bright side, it is hard to believe that it could be a dealbreaker even with the most demanding photographers. Another nice feat for the 7-bladed aperture of an old lens:

Conclusion

In the showdown of these two lenses, Canon is a clear winner, no doubt. And it is a steal with the current price at around $600. Yet, if you are portrait photographer on a budget, and you find affordable (I really cannot say ‘cheap’) and highly respectable second hand Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI-s, do not hesitate. You won’t regret. You will have a reliable optics that has withstood the test of time, and you won’t feel it heavy in your bag. On a mirrorless camera manual focus will not be much of a problem, and the joy of use is guaranteed…

Acknowledgment

Nikon’s Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI-s lens was kindly provided for this test by the professional photographer Zoran Marjanović, whose works you can see at this link. Thank you!

* * *

Related links:

Lens test: 35mm Oldies — Nikkor vs. Zeiss

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