Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great lens
Comment: This lens is, as expected, great for micro photography, but it is also a excellent for portraits and just as general mid range telephoto.
Customer Rating:
Summary: worth the money.
Comment: i took off one star because of the autofocus issue, discussed at the end of this review.
i just added the 105mm f/2.8G VR micro-nikkor lens to my collection, after dreaming about it for months. i am very happy with it so far.
first off, the build on this lens - it is not cheaply made. it's made mostly of metal and feels durable. so, for $800, you don't get a plasticky feeling lens (and so many lenses are plasticky these days).
this lens works very nicely with my d80. the d80 being so small, looks kind of funny with such a large lens on it, but that is irrelevant. it works perfectly. in terms of speed, this lens is fast. it focuses faster than the 60mm AF-S micro in comparison. the manual focus is also very easy to use, just turn the ring.
i personally find the bokeh outstanding with this lens. nicer than the 60mm, once again. also nicer than most other nikon lenses i've used so far.
this lens has VR vibration reduction. it's useless when shooting macro. but if you're shooting subjects at a distance it is quite useful.
lastly, this lens has minimal distortion. i won't say "no distortion at all" because frankly i am not sure of that, but i can say after using it heavily for the past few weeks, i have had no issues with distortion.
now, the one con to this lens:
i find that the autofocus can be a bit of a pain when you are shooting macro, it will focus in and out repeatedly and the image size changes significantly while focusing. at this point i haven't figured out a way to try and keep that from happening.
overall though, i think this lens is definitely worth the money you have to spend on it. it's well built and feels sturdy, really an excellent macro lens (even despite the AF issues), bokeh is superb, and you will undoubtedly get great shots with it. definitely recommended and it is one of my favorite lenses to use.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice lens
Comment: I am new to macro photography. Depth of fields is critical so a tripod helps. Great lens/tool. But it takes some learning to prefect the art of macro photography
Customer Rating:
Summary: The NIkkor 105 VRII Micro is an excellent lens
Comment: If you're looking for a Nikkor micro lens, this could be the one for you. I photograph coins, flowers, insects and various jewelry items. This lens is very versatile and quite sharp and contrasty. The VRII works very well, though, realistically, for macro photography, I'm not sure the VR is of any value, since you turn it off when the camera is mounted on a tripod.
I find the lens doubles very effectively as a short telephoto lens on a DX frame camera, providing excellent bokeh at wider apertures. As such, it doubles as an effective portrait lens, though that is not it's primary purpose (in my book.) It also performs well for other forms of photography; I've used it to get architecture shots, and find that it introduces very little distortion.
For macro photography I like this lens because of the effective working distance at 1:1. You still have 6-8 inches between the object and the front glass...plenty of room to get your lighting set up the way you want it.
The only downside, if there is one, would be that it's a rather bulky lens; some people don't like the way it fits their hand or balances on the camera. I've used it on the smaller D80 and a larger D300. I find the lens easy to handle, and both camears produce exceptional photos with this lens. I have medium sized male hands...but those with small hands may find the lens a bit more awkward?
The second party lenses from Tokina, Tamron and Sigma are also good...and a bit cheaper. Only you can decide what features are of value to you. For me, the VRII was "worth it" because I use the lens occasionally for interior shots at dinner events where I work. With f/2.8 and VR, I can often avoid using my SB800.
I've never regretted getting this lens.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great lens that hunts a little to much
Comment: This lens is an excellent Macro lens...The only thing that prevents 5 stars is that the lens tends to hunt too much and will hang up at one end of the focal range or the other. When not hunting, however it provides crystal clear images and color quality is outstanding, as well as wonderful Bokteh....
Summary: Great lens
Comment: This lens is, as expected, great for micro photography, but it is also a excellent for portraits and just as general mid range telephoto.
Customer Rating:
Summary: worth the money.
Comment: i took off one star because of the autofocus issue, discussed at the end of this review.
i just added the 105mm f/2.8G VR micro-nikkor lens to my collection, after dreaming about it for months. i am very happy with it so far.
first off, the build on this lens - it is not cheaply made. it's made mostly of metal and feels durable. so, for $800, you don't get a plasticky feeling lens (and so many lenses are plasticky these days).
this lens works very nicely with my d80. the d80 being so small, looks kind of funny with such a large lens on it, but that is irrelevant. it works perfectly. in terms of speed, this lens is fast. it focuses faster than the 60mm AF-S micro in comparison. the manual focus is also very easy to use, just turn the ring.
i personally find the bokeh outstanding with this lens. nicer than the 60mm, once again. also nicer than most other nikon lenses i've used so far.
this lens has VR vibration reduction. it's useless when shooting macro. but if you're shooting subjects at a distance it is quite useful.
lastly, this lens has minimal distortion. i won't say "no distortion at all" because frankly i am not sure of that, but i can say after using it heavily for the past few weeks, i have had no issues with distortion.
now, the one con to this lens:
i find that the autofocus can be a bit of a pain when you are shooting macro, it will focus in and out repeatedly and the image size changes significantly while focusing. at this point i haven't figured out a way to try and keep that from happening.
overall though, i think this lens is definitely worth the money you have to spend on it. it's well built and feels sturdy, really an excellent macro lens (even despite the AF issues), bokeh is superb, and you will undoubtedly get great shots with it. definitely recommended and it is one of my favorite lenses to use.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice lens
Comment: I am new to macro photography. Depth of fields is critical so a tripod helps. Great lens/tool. But it takes some learning to prefect the art of macro photography
Customer Rating:
Summary: The NIkkor 105 VRII Micro is an excellent lens
Comment: If you're looking for a Nikkor micro lens, this could be the one for you. I photograph coins, flowers, insects and various jewelry items. This lens is very versatile and quite sharp and contrasty. The VRII works very well, though, realistically, for macro photography, I'm not sure the VR is of any value, since you turn it off when the camera is mounted on a tripod.
I find the lens doubles very effectively as a short telephoto lens on a DX frame camera, providing excellent bokeh at wider apertures. As such, it doubles as an effective portrait lens, though that is not it's primary purpose (in my book.) It also performs well for other forms of photography; I've used it to get architecture shots, and find that it introduces very little distortion.
For macro photography I like this lens because of the effective working distance at 1:1. You still have 6-8 inches between the object and the front glass...plenty of room to get your lighting set up the way you want it.
The only downside, if there is one, would be that it's a rather bulky lens; some people don't like the way it fits their hand or balances on the camera. I've used it on the smaller D80 and a larger D300. I find the lens easy to handle, and both camears produce exceptional photos with this lens. I have medium sized male hands...but those with small hands may find the lens a bit more awkward?
The second party lenses from Tokina, Tamron and Sigma are also good...and a bit cheaper. Only you can decide what features are of value to you. For me, the VRII was "worth it" because I use the lens occasionally for interior shots at dinner events where I work. With f/2.8 and VR, I can often avoid using my SB800.
I've never regretted getting this lens.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great lens that hunts a little to much
Comment: This lens is an excellent Macro lens...The only thing that prevents 5 stars is that the lens tends to hunt too much and will hang up at one end of the focal range or the other. When not hunting, however it provides crystal clear images and color quality is outstanding, as well as wonderful Bokteh....