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The following chart presents a comparison between the tested Nikkor MC 105 mm f/2.8 VR S and other macro 100 mm class lenses designed for full frame mirrorless cameras.

Although the Nikkor is a significantly big lens, the Canon rules in this category - you should remember that its mapping scale is better. Both these lenses, along with the Sony, are equipped with an image stabilization unit.

In the photo below the Nikkor Z 2.8/105 MC is positioned between the reflex camera Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8L IS USM and the mirrorless Sigma A 105 mm f/2.8 DG DN. When you compare it to the older Canon model, also featuring with the silent USM motor and optical stabilization, it's conspicuous that the Nikkor is quite large, definitely bigger than its Canon rival.

The tested lens starts with a metal mount surrounding contacts and an immobile rear element, 32 mm in diameter. The area close to it is properly blackened, ribbed, and matted, without any electronic parts peeking at you. From this side everything looks perfect.

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The first part of the proper Nikkor's body is an immobile, black ring made of metal with a white dot, making an alignment with a camera easier. Then you see an inscription with the parameters of the lens, an AF/MF switch used to control the focusing mechanism working mode, and another switch, allowing you to set the autofocus range (FULL, 0.29-0.5 of a meter), the serial number of the device, its focusing mechanism working range (∞–0.29m/0.96ft) and also information that the lens was produced in Thailand.

Further on you find a ribbed control ring, 7 mm wide, that can be used either for setting clicklessly the aperture control or for exposure compensation. It moves smoothly and is properly damped.

An immobile part of the barrel with an OLED display that shows you the most important information is the next part of the lens - the display allows you to check quickly aperture parameters, distance, and DOF. The DISP. button, positioned right next to the display, is used to change displayed parameters. Even further on there is the L-Fn function button that can be alloted one of many functions available. It is situated right next to a plate with the name of the series, 'Nikkor s' and the logotype of the producer.

A manual focus ring covered by rubber ribbing, as wide as 47 mm, is the biggest part of the lens. The ring, a focus-by-wire construction, moves smoothly and it is properly damped. There is no distance or depth-of-field scale next to it. Its focus throw depends weakly on the speed of your turning, amounting to an angle of about 700 degrees. It is a very high value, allowing you very precise settings. Still you have to remember that the majority of this range belongs to the macro range. When you take normal photos, passing from 0.5 of a meter to infinity needs a much smaller angle, that of 100 deg. It still ensures you a very comfortable performance.

Then you see an immobile ring made of plastics, also partially covered by rubber ribbing. It turns into another ring, smooth this time, with the name and parameters of the lens. The instrument ends with a mount for a hood that you get in the accessory kit.

The front element doesn't move, is relatively flat, and 47 mm in diameter. It is surrounded by a ribbed tube, and a non-rotating filter thread, 62 mm in diameter.

Producer emphasizes the fact that all movable parts of the casing and its shoe are sealed – it is supposed to ensure good protection against dust and humidity. The fluorite coating on the front element protect it against water, dirt, and dust.

It's also worth mentioning the fact that, in case of 1:1 mapping the front element of the lens is positioned in a distance of about 11 centimeters from the photographed object and the maximum relative aperture decreases to f/4.5.

When it comes to optical construction you deal here with 16 elements positioned in 11 groups. Three elements are made of low dispersion ED glass, one among them is aspherical. Inside you can find also a round aperture with nine blades that can be closed down to a value of f/32 at the maximum.

Buyers get both caps, a hood, and a soft pouch in the accessory kit. That pouch is very flimsy so I doubt it can provide you any kind of protection. I admit at this price-point and in class of equipment I would expect something definitely more solid and stylish.

Image stabilization

In order to check the efficiency of the optical stabilization mechanism of the tested Nikkor we took several dozen photos with exposure times ranging from 1/160 to 1/2.5 of a second and the stabilization switched on and off. For every set of photos we determined a percentage of out-of-focus shots; then we presented it in a form of a graph of exposure time which was expressed in EV (with 0 EV being an equivalent of 1/125 of a second).

The maximum distance between both curves indeed reaches almost 4 EV and such is, in our view, the real efficiency of the stabilization mechanism of the tested lens. Every result up from the proximity of 4 EV we consider to be very good so the tested lens should be praised for its performance in this category.