When Nikon Corp. of Japan releases a new lens, one notices a number of bizarre acronyms appearing in its name. Case in point, the newly released Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G VR Micro. The letters “VR” in the title of this post stands for Vibration Reduction – and as the name implies, it does exactly that. It is very effective technology to reduce the detrimental effect of a photographer’s hand shake/vibration on an image.

The VR implemented in this lens is actually its second incarnation and is referred to by Nikon as “VR II”. It effectly allows a photographer to shoot a static subject at a shutter speed upto 3-4 stops slower than normal. Why do I say static? VR will not help if your subject if moving.

Nikon has updated one of their most popular micro (macro for the rest of the non-Nikon world) lenses with VR and also changed the coating on the lens elements. The result? A micro lens that is handholdable and razor sharp.

Handholdable? Macro photography typically requires the use of a tripod since the large depth of field required to get your subject in focus often results in a slow shutter speed. There are times when I have gone hiking without a tripod and of course, the perfect macro shot would present itself. More often than not, I attempted the shot only to find out it was not as sharp as it could be because of the slow shutter speed that I used.

VR does help. A lot actually. For the sharpest images possible, I will of course use my tripod, but for those occasions when I do not have it with me, it is nice to know that VR is there to assist if needed.

I also use this same lens for portraits. Nikon used nine rounded aperature blades and it provides for very pleasing bokeh. And not to forget, the contrast and colour acuity is excellent.

On the downside, this lens is about the same size as the Nikon AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8G DX (man, that’s a mouthful, eh?) so it is larger than one might think. The new Silent Wave Motor and VR circuitry added to its size over the previous version.

People have asked me if this lens is worth $USD 170.00 more than its predecessor or $USD 340.00 more than the excellent Tamron Telephoto SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro (which I owned in the past).

In a word: yes.

There are several equipment reviewers that have given this lens ratings from “thumbsdown” to “good/lukewarm”. Personally, I disagree with all of the yawning going on about this lens. The incremental cost over its predecessor is worth it (to me) to have VR and AF-S. Images snap into focus on my D2 bodies and I have yet to shoot an out of focus image with VR on. This lens also doubles very nicely as a portrait lens with VR. I have even sold my Nikon 85mm f/1.4D (a Nikon classic) – the new 105mm Micro is that good so I can shoot wide open at f/2.8 and get a sharp image with great colour, contrast and bokeh.

So, all I have to say is, “Well done, Nikon! Keep those lenses coming!”