The Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI is one of Nikon’s signature portrait lenses: compact, sharp, and famous in part because Steve McCurry used a 105mm Nikkor to photograph Afghan Girl, the portrait of Sharbat Gula.

I bought this lens more than 10 years ago for a pretty affordable price. While I used it a lot on my Nikon F3 bodies, I also found a specific adapter that let me use my Nikkor lenses on the Canon 5D Mark II. At the time, that gave me a beautiful portrait telephoto on both film and digital while staying on a college-student budget.

It is not a modern stabilized portrait lens, and manual focus at 105mm takes care, but that is part of the rhythm. When you nail focus, the lens gives that classic Nikon short-telephoto look: flattering compression, clean sharpness, and a rendering that still feels very natural.

The Good:

• Beautiful portrait focal length with classic Nikon rendering.

• Compact for a 105mm telephoto.

• Very sharp when focused accurately.

• 52mm filter thread fits the classic Nikkor ecosystem.

• Strong value compared with faster or rarer vintage telephotos.

• Works well on Nikon film bodies and adapted digital cameras.

The Bad:

• Minimum focus is not close by modern portrait-lens standards.

• Manual focus at 105mm and f/2.5 demands care.

• No autofocus or stabilization.

• AI versions are generally less collectible than some earlier or AI-S variants, though that matters less if you buy lenses to use them.

• Get it if you want a classic Nikon portrait lens.

• Get it if you shoot deliberate film portraits, details, and compressed landscapes.

• Get it if you want strong quality without carrying a zoom.

• Pass if you need autofocus, stabilization, or close focusing.

• Pass if you want the more expensive AI-S version for collector value or specific handling preference.

• Pass if 85mm or 135mm better fits your portrait style.