Used Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX Micro ED (VR-II) Macro Lens

2024-01-29T09:56:49

Great kit! Love this lens

sarah f.

2022-06-14T09:23:51

Dx lens sold with dx camera sold lens but not worth any real money

JESSE Z.

2022-04-17T17:16:34

I purchased this for micro photography. Works great !

Lisa R.

2019-11-19T09:33:49

Tack sharp macro. AT 60 mm met it translates to a 120mm FF. With a f/2.8 max aperture it is very good for both macro and portraits.

MORRIS T.

2019-10-11T09:24:52

Fantastic macro lens. also useful portrait lens.

NOEL F.

2018-10-12T08:10:03

This is a very nice APS-C macro lens for Nikon. At this point, I have used this lens mostly for handheld flower images. It has worked very well in the manual/auto mode with VR.

Gilbert L.

2017-12-15T14:33:26

needed a shorter lens for some macro work. I found the 105 I have some times a little long. very happy with this addition.

WAYNE S.

2014-07-07T21:00:00

The lens for macro work is outstanding . Very clear and clean close-up photos. For the money, this was a great purchase.

pep

2014-03-17T21:00:00

Not just for macro work. Great lens for portraits. Auto focus is spot on.

THOMAS P.

2014-03-10T21:00:00

I loved taking pictures of flowers with my point-and-shoot, so I was missing the ability to picture the small things in life after upgrading to dSLR. This is my first true Macro lens and I'm not disappointed. Outdoors in full daylight, I'm shooting flowers, and tiny bugs on the top of flowers, with around 3/4 of shots coming out sharp handheld. It is also a great portrait lens, the focal length produces very flatering images and the f/3.5 is just about right for having most of the face in focus. I photographed an entire party the other day with just this lens and was very happy with the results, a compliment from someone who normally likes her super zooms. My only complaint is the occasional focus-hunting, although I would knock off only 1/2 star for that if I could.

Dasa

2013-08-12T21:00:00

Great Lens for close up as small animal, flowers, details

WISLIA O.

2013-08-05T21:00:00

The autofocus on this lens is super smooth. However, I find manual focus will give you a much sharper image when shooting extremely close to the subject. The only thing that isn't so great, is the minimum aperture, which can cause slow auto focus. But, this isn't a deal breaker for me, it just requires a little more patience on my part for certain lighting requirements. This is an awesome lens; I find I can use it in a variety of platforms besides macro.

AMANDA E.

2013-05-27T21:00:00

I wanted to do some macro photography, to catch the small details in life. This lens does it very well.

CHRISTINE H.

2013-04-22T21:00:00

I purchased this lens because I wanted to photograph flowers. I have had the lens for several weeks and so far it is great. As an added benefit, it is a very good portrait lens, particularly for outdoor use.

H S.

2013-03-20T21:00:00

Used this on a couple of trips and easy, fast lens. Worked great at a couple of horse shows.

JONATHAN B.

2013-03-07T19:00:00

I love this lens. It is a great lens and a great value. Being unable to afford the 100 2.8 VR lens, this was the next logical choice for me being a D7000 user. It is small, light and most importantly produces great and extremely sharp photos. A very fun lens to own. I highly recommend it for macro photography. I also own the 85 1.8G lens which is much better for portrait work then this lens, but the 85 macro is still fairly capable in this regard as well.

JOSH R.

2012-12-30T19:00:00

Mid range telephoto Prime with VR. I've found focus to be sharp and accurate. I have not had the opportunity to use the Micro capability. We have the good fortune to have wildlife that share the area where we live and we can get quite close without either causing ourselves danger or scaring them away. The 85 mm lens allows sharp photos without being too close for comfort. I am anticipating great results with the Micro capability based on some quick tests I have performed at home.

Diesel D.

2012-12-12T19:00:00

This 85mm f/3.5 lens is used with both my D80 and my D5100, mostly the latter. I had done quite a bit of review and article reading about many Nikon, Tokina, Sigma and Tamron f/2.8 aperture prime lenses in the 60mm to 105mm range for my macro work, and then I literally stumbled on this beauty and became intrigued by it, the more I read. While I am not a pro, though have sold photos, I do have the desire to capture artistic images. I do a lot of macro photography with flowers. I have taken many excellent close-up shots with my earlier 18-105mm as well as more recently with my 18-200mm, but I find that the consistency of obtaining truly crisp images is nowhere near what this 85mm lens will do for me. The yield of top quality shots is a much higher percentage, as it should be. The auto focus is definitely fast and very sharp and this lens produces outstanding color and has a very nice bokeh. The VR function works exceptionally well for me in AF mode. I do have pretty steady hands and find that I rarely need to use a tripod for my flower macro work to obtain striking results. I even did a test, taking a dozen or so handheld shots and a similar number of tripod shots. I could really not see a difference until I was at home on my 23 inch monitor and started seriously zooming in on specific stamens. Then I could see a slight difference. Do keep in mind, however, that these images were not taken in low light, but fairly well-lit botanical gardens. Having said all of that regarding AF mode, I find I do need the tripod in manual. However, since I end up with such crisp shots in AF I find I am rarely using MF. The build quality seems quite good. Yes, lots of plastic, but that is what we live with nowadays except for the most expensive options available. The bright side of that is the weight is quite minimal and it does not feel cheap. Using the 85mm with my D5100 is a pleasure. If you don't have $1,000 to spend on a higher quality lens, and need a very good DX macro lens, this is certainly one to consider. I highly recommend this lens.

SCOTT W.

2012-05-23T21:00:00

Have purchased and used the 40, 60, and 105 micros. They're all fine lenses. This 85 lens is especially nice for close-up photography because of the working distance at 1:1 and is quite suitable for portrait work. Nikon has always made fine macro lenses. This 85 micro is an excellent compromise between size, weight, and working distance.

DONALD C.

2012-05-13T21:00:00

I only use this lens for very close-up photos of bugs and other small objects, but it can be used as a regular 85mm lens. I saw a comment from another person who said he preferred the 105mm macro lens because it takes bigger photos. I have the 105mm lens and the 85mm takes the bigger photo. Taking a photo of a page of text, the 105mm lens gets more text in than the 85mm. Therefore the 85mm makes the text bigger. A professional reviewer said that optical stabilization is worthless on a 1:1 macro lens, yet they all have this feature, now. And I like it! It works!

JOHN H.

2012-04-06T21:00:00

Given good light, this lens lets you get close to insects and butterflies without scaring them as much as a 60mm macro.

MARTHA C.

2012-04-01T21:00:00

Before I bought a 1:1 macro lens a couple of years ago, I did some research. One man said that we need at least a 200 mm lens, and he showed sample photos. Not only was such a lens hard to find but it was cost-prohibitive, so I settled for a 105 mm lens. It didn't take long to learn that I didn't even need a 105 mm. He also said not to get one with VR. So I didn't but wish I had. Since I changed to a newer camera I found the macro lens no longer worked. It would need a firmware upgrade but still would not autofocus with the new camera as it did with the previous one. A $50 (plus shipping) upgrade seemed out of the question if it wasn't going to autofocus, so I decided to go with this 85 mm lens. I am truly pleased with this lens because it does everything I wanted, and I can still take 1:1 macro shots just as big as the longer focal length lens I had. It is lighter and smaller than the previous lens, too, so it's an all-around winning situation!

JOHN H.

2012-01-31T19:00:00

I bought this lens to use in close-up photos such as plants, insects - stuff like that and to use it to do photostudies of people. That is what it has been most on. It does do a very nice portrait with a great bokah.

NICHOLAS P.

2011-12-31T19:00:00

Light weight and easy to use for close up.

Ninh

2011-12-11T19:00:00

Macro shots are super, super clear. Made hundreds of macro shots with this lens all perfect. A big plus is that it doubles as a portrait lens when needed.

MARK S.

2011-09-06T21:00:00

Lightweight and inexpensive, this DX macro lens has a reasonable working distance and VR, making hand-holding possible for super-close-up photos. Works great on my D7000 but it's a bit too "slow" for portraits, except in certain conditions. I use this lens a lot more than I thought I would--it's just too much fun!

RODGER C.

2011-09-06T21:00:00

Great lens for macro or portraits. Super price.

MARK S.

2011-09-03T21:00:00

Not Nikon Japan's usual quality. A cheap lens [...] Does an OK job with limited scope.

alex d.

2011-02-06T19:00:00

Works well out doors without tripod for macro shots.

PanamaCarl

2011-01-11T19:00:00

As soon as I got it I had to take close ups of each of my grandson's Lionel trains ... Fantastic!

DrJohn