Ok, I have the 85mm Nikon VR micro and wanted to see what everyone thought of it. Should I sell that and get the 105mm Nikon VR micro? Is it worth the extra money? I'm going to be using my D90 or D5000 and using indoors for pictures of knives. I'm looking for great quality closeup pictures. What does everyone think? No reason to have both is there?

Given the past threads on this, I don't believe that either the 85 or the 105 are necessary for what you want to do. Even the 18-55VR kit lens will do a wonderful job. The fact that the 85 and especially 105 are going to be very awkward for your larger items, neither of them seems like a particularly good fit for your application.

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Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

Well, I understand but more of the important pictures I want to take are of smaller knives, with an overall length of under 12" and many times I only take pictures of what the call a damascus blade which has multiple layers of steel. Here is an example. Keep in mind the blade length is only about 3" long...




So that's why I would have to get into high details. So what I'm wondering is if there is a huge difference between the two to really be able to notice the difference to make up for in the cost. Sometimes, I go so clear that I take pictures with dust on the blade and I have to be very careful to wipe all fingerprints and smudges off the blade...

The 105 is better, but I wouldn't call it a huge difference. You aren't making a 24" print from this - you're reducing the file to Internet resolution. What difference does it make if you capture additional detail in the full 12mp (or more) file, then reduce it down to what, 800x600? That detail won't be apparent. Even if you take a 800x600 crop out of the full resolution file, it won't be an enormous difference. The 85 is a prime (eg single focal length) macro lens. There are NO mediocre or even average macro lenses. The "worst" of them are excellent. So if you got, say, a Zeiss 100/f2 Makro-Planar ($1700, manual focus only), you'd be upgrading from excellent to "really excellent."

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Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

Thanks for the reply. I do love my 85mm micro, it's a great lens. I just wasn't sure if there was more then just the very very fine details in print. I'm just fine tuning my lens options to get the best as I learn to perfect my skills.
Dan