Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA compared to Nikon Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 non-Ai

I find I don't normally need much focal length.  On those occasions when I do, there is the 70-350 G Sony that is actually quite brilliant on the APS-C bodies.  When coupled to the A6000, there's nothing to stop me making a decent image from far away.  Cars and motorcycles at the autodrome.

This leaves me wondering how I've accumulated this many manual focus telephoto lenses.  I still have four of them.

Question: Why have so many long-ish lenses have passed through my hands?  Why I buy them and then after several years sell them on? 

Answer: Manual focus telephoto lenses are a PIA, but... but... but... I get caught up in "this is a great lens that nobody knows about."  

I need to get with the program and remember why I don't like using manual focus telephoto lenses and nip future manual focus telephoto lens purchases in the bud.

Sure, there is focus peaking, but it's really only successful if I'm careful and paying attention.  I've found that my eyes aren't what they used to be.  Either that or I've grown impatient.  AF is Dialing for Dollars at the home of this Grumpy Old Fart.  Am I smart enough to pick up the phone?

Yet... I just can't seem to part with a Nikon Nikkor-P (Xenotar-type) 105mm f/2.5 pre-Ai.  I'm not sure why, but I just can't let this one go.  Before deciding once and for all if it stays or goes, I thought I'd better put the 105mm up against the much more modern 55mm f/1.8 Sony ZA.  If the 105mm came out poorly, then I'd know which way to proceed.

While I'm at it, why not compare these against an old Nikon Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4 Ai?  It's reportedly the "Cat's Meow" when it comes to resolution.  I've never really taken to the Micro-Nikkor 105mm.  An old 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor?  Yes.  That's a brilliant lens from wide open.  This 105mm f/4?  Eh, not so much.  I'll be happy to sell it when a buyer comes along, like in 20 minutes.

This would leave me with two manual focus zooms that pass through 105mm, this Nikkor-P, and a beautiful 16-70mm Zeiss on APS-C that ends at, well, 105mm FF equivalent.  That still makes four 105mm lenses.  Gads, I'm rich in focal lengths I seldom use.

Setup ~ 

• Camera - 
• Sony A7, 100ISO, 2sec timer, "A" mode
  
• Lenses - 
• Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA
  
• Nikon Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 pre-Ai
• Nikon Micro-Nikkor f/4 Ai
  
• Bogen tripod
  

• RawTherapee -
• Snug up the curves
• With and without "Capture Sharpen" 
• _No_ chromatic aberration correction on any of these lenses
  

 

Comparison ~

As always, click on the image and enlarge to 100percent to see whatever there is to be seen.

 

 

Comments ~

My new (to me) Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA is brilliant from wide open and straight across the field.

The Nikon Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 pre-Ai is a Cats Thin Whisker behind the Sony from wide open and straight across the field.

Wide open the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4 Ai is visibly softer than the previous two lenses, but cleans up nicely at f/5.6

Add a bit of Rawtherapee Capture Sharpen and things appear quite equal between the three lenses.

It wouldn't cost me a dime to keep the 105mm Nikkor-P and I really should keep it as a "just in case" optic.  The only time I question the move is when I think about picking up an AF Sony 85mm f/1.8 or Sigma 90mm f/2.8 DG DN.  

 

What stops me?  The Sony is large-ish with a 67mm filter diameter and the Sigma suffers from pincushion distortion. The Nikkor-P is pretty much perfectly sized and suffers no distortion.

 

So to me there is no easy, clear answer just now.  If Sigma or Tamron were to make at the "right price" an AF lens as perfect as the Sigma 60mm Art and Sony 50mm SEL OSS are for APS-C, I'd probably reconsider my Nikkor-P.  Until then, I've pretty much decided this old Nikkor-P with current day levels of performance will stay in the kit.  Manual focus will remain an annoyance.

The Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4 Ai was, in fact, sold 20 minutes after I wrote that earlier sentence about wishing it to be gone.