The small 85mm is hefty for its size (hardly longer than a normal lens), and when you look at it from the front, it appears to be a solid cylinder of glass with only a thin metal sleeve around it. It feels solidly built. The focus action is slick and easy, perfect for quick adjustments, and the large f2 aperture allows in so much light that the finder is very bright and the image pops in and out of focus, making focusing simple.

After I'd been using the 85mm happily for years, I noticed that reviews of the 85mm f2 Nikkor were rare. Article after article would sing the praises of the older 85mm f1.8. A few mentioned, as an afterthought, and with no attribution, test data or anecdote, that the later f2 Nikkor was not as sharp. And article after book after article would wax poetic about the Nikkor 105mm f2.5. For every article or review of the 85mm f2 I'd find in print, it seemed I'd see an off-handed mention of it in other articles as "fuzzy," or "less sharp."

That still holds true today on the Internet. I've been able to locate only one other review of the 85mm f2 on the Web (at Ken Rockwell's excellent site), and he likes it, too. But I've run across several mentions of it in a not-favorable light. For example, Bjorn Rorslett, who has a terrific website filled with very useful information, offers a short review of the Nikkor 85mm f2, in which he says he tried several copies of it and consistently found the images he took with it were "dull and lifeless." Elsewhere on Rorslett's site, he says the Nikkor 105mm f2.5 is among the sharpest lenses ever available. One of the most-mentioned websites for reliable, repeatable lens tests is www.PhotoDo.com. Technicians for that site use the world's best optical testing gear to grade various lenses. Look up the Nikkor 105mm f2.5 at PhotoDo, and you'll see it tested as one of the sharpest lenses ever. Then check the Nikkor 85mm f2, and you'll notice that its test score is identical to the 105mm. As far as I can discern, PhotoDo is widely respected and trusted. I think the 85mm f2 is exceptionally sharp, and PhotoDo agrees.

I understand why the 105mm is put on a pedestal - it is a great lens. I don't understand why the 85mm f2 continues to get a bad rap, even though it is just as great a lens.

Elsewhere, I've seen other negative mentions I see of the 85mm f2 (including an off-the-cuff put-down in Moose Peterson's book on the Nikon system). I find myself forced to assume that most of these folks heard about the good reputation of the 85mm f1.8 back in the 1960s and for some reason assumed that the 85mm f2 - perhaps because it had a relatively short production run - wasn't as good.

My now-battered f2 has been with me through thick and thin and is my most-beloved lens. It's a joy to focus with, a delight to focus and creates sharp, contrasty images. It's just plain great! The 85mm focal length is good for many indoor sports, for intimate portraits, for following quick-moving children or animals (no comparison intended), and for narrowing the field of view in landscapes.