DC of course
Excellent build quality, the built in velvet lined lens hood is a nice touch.
Fast aperture, one stop better than the 2.8's
Fast enough autofocus
Sharp enough to draw blood if you want.

Some sample variations that were front focusing. I found two that had this problem. I don't think I would buy this lens used without being able to check for this abnormality.
Auto focus is a tad noisy if you're used to AF-S lenses.
Pro Quality=Pro price. It always seems to be that way with Nikon. Not really a weakness, just the way it is.
None of this would stop me from buying this lens again.

Thought I'd bring this review up to date and reconfirm what most have already stated. This 'fast prime' remains a phenomenal lens. An absolutely wonderful piece of glass to have and use. If you haven't discovered it yet, there is something magical about working with Nikkor's best and this is one of them.

Professional quality build and handling coupled with a performance level that rarely manifests itself so easily make this an easy selection for a 'Go To' lens at this focal length.Portrait work of course is a given here but this lens on a 'DX' format also turns into a blazingly fast f2 200mm.

This lens was designed for portraiture and in that respect performs amazingly. Mastering the Defocus Control parameters was not that difficult, just remember to refocus after making changes. There are several web sites that document how to use this lens better than the resources available in this forum. The 'soft focus' capability in my opinion is unique and can't be matched by filters. Bokeh is unrivaled and beautiful enough on my sample to equivocate it to...dare I say it, the other 'Cream Machine'?

Balances extremely well on a D200 without the intimidating look of the larger fixed aperture zooms like the 70/80-200. Don't be concerned about previous posts chastising the lack of an f22 stop. If you have this lens you'll find it difficult enough to stop down to f5.6. This lens begs to be used wide open. Very good sharpness at f2 and still retains good contrast and color, sharpness peaks to excellent at f4-5.6 with DC set at R2.

My absolute favorite prime...but I've always been a sucker for a piece of fast glass :^)

Customer Service

Always professional, thorough and reasonable.

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17-55 AF-S f2.8, 80-200 AF-D f2.8, 50 f1.8

Solid build, relatively quick, hunt resistant focus in dim light, f/2, sharp wide open, defocus function, easily handheld, price for good used reasonable.

Not obvious to me.

This is one of my best lenses. I purchased the lense for indoor, available light photography. Mostly musical performances and dance events. My copy is the non D version and is sharp wide open. Armed with this lense, a monopod, and my D2H, D70, or Fuji S2 cranked to 800 or 1600 ASA/ISO allows me to shoot as I please with great results. I am learning how to use the defocusing function for portrait and still-life photography.

Customer Service

None.

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80-200 f/2.8 ASF and 70-210 f/4 cover the focal length, but nothing like this lense.

build, optical quality

price, weight to some. Have yet to really utilize the defocus aspect of the lense so I can't comment with authority on that aspect of the lense.

If you have seen my other reviews, you would know my love/hate relationship with the 28mm f/1.4 AF and 200mm AIS F/2 Nikon glass. When it comes to reaching for a lense, outdoors or in a gym, if the light is right and I have enough distance to work, then this is my first choice. Sometimes its too long for basketball, but it will cover soccer well if you set up near one goal. I recently shot a amateur boxing match, and was able to snipe away of the fighters getting ready with stealth. Also, this is a fantastic portrait lense. There are lenses where a cheaper alternative will save you tons of money for little penalty in optical quality. This along with the 85mm focal length are my two most used lenses.

Compact, fast, reasonably sharp, and on the D1H becomes effectily an autofocus 200mm f/2. I can crop to 1/4th of original D1H images at ISO 400-1600 and blow up to 8X12" and obtain publishable photojournalism type images.

No AF-S focus

I use this lens primarily for indoor action photography where flash is precluded (rodeo, high school ladys' volleyball, etc.). I also use it virtually exclusively on digital SLR cameras (Fuji S2, Nikon D1H). Used as such it seldoms sees any other aperture than f/2 and often I'm trying to track, focus on and shoot very fast moving subjects. In this capacity the 135/2 has performed very well for me. It has provided high quality images (newspaper, county fair, and state fair fair quality), and has held up well to adverse dusty conditions very well. If this lens were an AF-S lens, I would give it a full "5" rating.

Customer Service

Not required to date

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Nikkor 85/1.8D & 80-200/2.8D ED

Excellent color rend and good sharpness, especially for a portrait. the Defocus allows you to use the lens a f/4 or 5.6 and still "blur" the back ground. I especially like it on a digital so you can "learn" how to use the lens as you go

Not overly fast Auto focus or "silent". Nikon should make all their "better" lens ~ any costing over $200 ~ Silent Wave of AF-S (what ever you want to call it). Canon uses USM on almost all their lens

A really nice portrait lens. I use it now on my D100 or Kodak 720x. I like it on a digital because I can make minor adjustments on the spot. You have to remember, that most portraits are not "Razor" sharp. If you want Razor Sharp, use the 85mm f/1.4 at F/2.5. Or better yet the 85mm PC tilt/shift ~ very sharp lens Personally, I like the Defocus control, it just takes practice to learn to master it and understand it.

Customer Service

never used it

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Nikon 85 f/1.4 Nikon 85 f/2.8 tilt shift Canonn 135mm f/2 USM

The optics and the build quality...its a truly exceptional portrait lens with no compromises

none for portrait photography

This lens produces images with a gorgeous look. Unquestionably, this is my favorite lens for my portrait photography (I use a variety of excellent lenses). It can deliver razor sharp, soft, or ethereal images with beautiful color. The lens is perfect for hand held shots: having a very solid heft, without being too heavy, and it has an exquisitely smooth focus (I mainly focus manually). This may be an erroneous assumption, but it seems that the 2 unfavorable reviews were of previously owned lenses. I wonder if these previously used lenses had been mis-used or damaged internally? Also, I wonder if one of the new owners did not receive the lens manual to learn how/when to set the DC ring?

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My other portrait lenses: 85mm 1.8 AFD 105mm 2.8AFD micro 80-200 AFS 2.8 (when my movement is limited)

very fast lens.built like an anchor.very original bokeh, thanks to DC

can hardly find

Extremly sharp.fantastic resolution.for creative portraits - the dream lens.no distrortion at all.one of ma best nikkors.

Customer Service

not necessary

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80 - 200,f/2,8 ,85, f/1,4 ,60 mikro f/2,8 and some more

Very sharp
Fast
Defocus Capability is a huge time saver
Built in hood

minimum aperature is 16, should have made it 22
doesn't focus as fast as the Af-S lenses

For portraits it is excellent, very good for all other purposes because it is very fast and very sharp. I really would have liked to see a f22 setting. And for the cost it should have been an AF-S

Customer Service

Not needed

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105 micro
105 dc
28-70 AF-S

The sharpest Nikkor I have owned out of ten lenses over the years. Great portrait lens.

A little on the heavy side.

Sharpness is out of focus highlights are outstanding. Combination of wide aperature and focal length causes good separation from background. Sharp!!!!

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None

Fantastic sharpness even wide open, great for portraits. Very pleasing defocus effects.

Don't know any...

One of the best Nikkor AF lenses. Incredible quality.

Customer Service

Needed it only for Nikon bodies - very fast and professional.

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Many other Nikon lenses.