In article <19970215154700.KAA15514@ladder01.news.aol.com>, estoque@aol.com says...

>According to John Shaw, many photographers carry some lenses only in macro
>versions for the added close-up capability, and because they have smaller
>f-stops, adding "Modern lenses are so good that the images are
>indistinguishable " (The Nature Photographer's Complete Guide to
>Professional Field Techniques).

John Shaw is a very fine photographer, and very knowledgeable about
gear, but one possible exception that I can think of to the above is
the 60mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor - it is the best macro lens that I have
seen (among Nikkors, and some others), and it is really fine at
infinity-focus, but ONLY if used stopped well down (it is very sharp
over most of the frame at infinity by f5.6, but requires f11 to pull
the corner performance up to being nearly equal the center).

>I'm buying a Nikon 105mm 2.8 Macro, will use it as my portrait and
>close-up lens and was wondering specifically what optical effects to
>expect with far subjects.

You did not say whether you will be buying the MF or AF versions,
which are different lenses. The MF is unusually good at infinity focus
(very sharp to the corners wide-open), but requires some stopping
down near minimum focus (DOF interests may encourage that, anyway...),
especially if used on the PN-11 for 1:1 (when the floating-element
set-up will be upset). The AF is sharp at infinity focus, but fine
focus control is difficult due to the too-fast effect of the focus ring
near infinity focus (mid-distance manual focus with this lens is OK).
In two out of three samples of this lens I checked, I noted a bit of
misalignment (lens focus plane not quite parallel with the film plane)
which reduces apparent edge sharpness with an infinity subject. The
lens focuses directly to 1:1, though it requires a bit of stopping down
near minimum focus for best performance.
BTW, I see no advantage in having very small stops on lenses made for
35mm, if good sharpness is important - f16 is about the smallest stop
that gives excellent performance (though noticeably reduced from that
at f8). F22 is useable, but f32 is too soft for my tastes. The culprit
is diffraction (combined with the magnification of the image).
Hope This Helps