>>4232397This lens isn't very popular, there's only a few people I've seen discuss it and there's one japanese guy who made a youtube video about it, this is all for a reason, although I do really like it it's missing some usability features of later lenses.
It's pre-Ai and doesn't have an aperture prong either so you have to stop down to meter. It also doesn't have an automatic diaphragm so you have to stop down the lens manually with a dual aperture ring system like on the helios 44-2 (one ring locks one ring rotates freely with no detents) which is fine by me since the only roundish aperture settings are f4 and f11 so I set the lock to f11 and just rotate the other ring between f4 and f11. I intend to mostly shoot it wide open for the bokeh effect anyways. It also doesn't have helicoil focus but a cam which isn't as smooth. It's uncoated.
It's also the least corrected lens nikon made for F mount it's a cooke triplet design so by modern standards it's not sharp and it's not fast.
I personally like the look of low element count lenses like this but a lot of people especially pixel peepers would be frustrated.
It's also not the cheapest 105mm nikkor, you can easily get the f2.5 for less money with a 5 element 4 group design and it would also be a bit easier to use because you will have an auto diaphragm and the aperture ring is in the usual spot so you will see it in the aperture direct readout in your viewfinder. I want to pick up the 2.5 still but I think the triplet has a unique look. I bought mine in japan so the dollar to yen conversion made it significantly cheaper than if I bought it on ebay. You can still get one for ~$250 in good condition but the f2.5 can be had in good condition for under $200. Both are still cheaper than a new lens.
I suppose whether it's worth it or not depends on if you like what it does over the f2.5 version with all the usability features.
