cheap macro lens

[taffy047]

is there a cheapish macroo lens that will be able to go on my nikon d5000
dad has one for his d3 but for some reason it doesnt fit so does any one know a good chaep macro lens


thanks

 

[AUZambo]

Define cheap and the desired focal length. You can get a set of good extension tubes for around $150.

 

[usayit]

Extension tubes and reversal rings are cheap.

 

[taffy047]

Extension tubes and reversal rings are cheap.

how cheap and which ones would fit the nikon d5000 stanterd lens do you know or how i can find out

 

[Derrel]

All the "baby Nikons" (D40,D40x,D60,D3000,D5000) lack an Ai Follower Tab at 1 o'clock AND also lack the minimum aperture sensing tab at 7 o'clock--meaning that those five Nikons can use pre-AI lenses in F-mount with no modification to the body or to the lens. That means that the baby Nikons can use a whole slew of older manual focus lenses, which are available cheaply. Lenses like the 90mm Tokina macro are available pretty affordably, as are older Tamron Adaptall mount 90mm macro lenses. There is also a relatively newer lens, a 100mm f/3.5 macro lens marketed under the Phoenix or Cosina brand; as recently as three years ago that 100mm f/3.5 mcro lens was selling brand new for $119 from Adorama and B&H Photo,and the results were pretty good. I saw some reviews of the 100/3.5 on the Nikonians pay site.

If you're willing to manually focus a macro lens, there are a number of older macro lenses available for pretty low prices. Nikon's 55mm f/3.5 Micro~NIKKOR is a decent lens, available for under $100 in its native Non-AI-modified condition. This lens is built very,very solidly, and even in UG (Ugly) condition for $65, this lens is likely to be mechanically very sound. The baby Nikons will accept almost anything ever made in F-mount,so you could also buy a REALLY inexpensive. non-AF extension tube like the Nikon M-2 extension tube,which often retails for $15 or so,and use that with almost any older,manual focusing prime, like say a cheap-o 135mm f/3.5 Nikkor or 135/2.8 and have a poor man's macro for very little cash.

 

[Overread]

hmm since aperture control is so key for macro work (working wide open at f2.8 at macro distances is possible, but its very very hard, especailly if you are working handheld and with a moving subject (moving can be anything from gentle wind to a fly washing its head)) how to the older macro lenses on the Nikon system stand up with controling the aperture blades? I know that most of those older nikon lenses did come with aperture setting controls on the lens itself (an aperture ring) so selection of the aperture is not a problem, but triggoring the control of the blades so that they close when the shutter is pressed would be my main concern.

This would most certainly be a problem with the highly cheap extension tubes - whilst its a cheap option - it does give limitations in that have to shoot with the lens wide open at f2.8 or you have to close the blades manually on the lens itself (taking away time as well as increasing the demand to use a tripod so that closing the blades does not cause the frame to move too much) or you have to use the lens with the blades closed before you start to focus on the subject (giving you a dark image to work with through the viewfinder)

 

[Derrel]

hmm since aperture control is so key for macro work (working wide open at f2.8 at macro distances is possible, but its very very hard, especailly if you are working handheld and with a moving subject (moving can be anything from gentle wind to a fly washing its head)) how to the older macro lenses on the Nikon system stand up with controling the aperture blades? I know that most of those older nikon lenses did come with aperture setting controls on the lens itself (an aperture ring) so selection of the aperture is not a problem, but triggoring the control of the blades so that they close when the shutter is pressed would be my main concern.

This would most certainly be a problem with the highly cheap extension tubes - whilst its a cheap option - it does give limitations in that have to shoot with the lens wide open at f2.8 or you have to close the blades manually on the lens itself (taking away time as well as increasing the demand to use a tripod so that closing the blades does not cause the frame to move too much) or you have to use the lens with the blades closed before you start to focus on the subject (giving you a dark image to work with through the viewfinder)

Nikon is very different from Canon in terms of aperture control; all "conventional" Nikkor lenses and all lenses in Nikon F-mount have automatic diaphragms, with a mechanical diaphragm actuation system in each and very Nikon body. Every Nikon SLR and d-slr body controls the diaphragm with an actuation arm in the camera, and every F-mount lens that has a diaphragm has a small,mechanical actuation lever at just above the 3 o'clock position when viewing the lens from the rear. This is the complete, polar opposite from Canon EF mount lenses. Also, a complete polar opposite is that Nikon lenses stop down to minimum aperture when removed from the body; Canon lenses open UP, to maximum aperture.

Even though older Nikon lenses have aperture rings on the lens barrel, and the newest Nikon mount, the G-type mount has no aperture ring, ALL conventional Nikon F-mount lenses rely upon a mechanical aperture control system that premiered in the 1959 Nikon F body, and which is used in every single Nikon SLR and D-slr body made since. The aperture is actuated at the moment of firing mechanically, by every Nikon body; the Nikon body holds the lens wide-open as soon as it is mounted,and the camera's diaphragm actuation arm moves with each shutter release, "allowing" the spring-loaded lens diaphragm system to stop down to smaller apertures. In every single Nikon SLR, with every single conventional lens.

So, as stated, the five "baby Nikons" can mount, shoot, and use EVERY conventional F-mount lens made since 1959,with full mechanical control over the lens f/stop, and full automatic diaphragm control; this is the hidden feature of the five baby Nikons! Over 50 million F-mount lenses made by Nikon will work, as well as untold millions of third-party lenses made by Sears, Quantaray,Tamron,Tokina,Sigma, Spiratone, etc. The Nikon F-mount incarnation used on the five "baby Nikons" makes them the perfect camera for the person who wishes to be able to use old,cheap,oddball lenses that are all over the world in pawn shops, second hand stores, and sold at garage sales for $5-$25.

With a Nikon camera, there is never any need to shoot with the aperture stopped down--that is a Canon system quirk. Canons use electronic control and actuation of the lens diaphragm. Nikons from 1959 to 2010 use a purely mechanical diaphragm actuation system built into **every body**, and into every "conventional" lens (defined as every lens with an iris diaphragm, excluding a handful of rare collectible early fisheye Nikkors and the 21mm f/4 MLU lens). This fundamental difference is one of the main advantages Nikon has over Canon in terms of reverse-mounting lenses, bellows, and oddball macro lash-ups.

 

[Overread]

Ahh right well that is one major worry out of the way then
And - for taffy - the limitation in using older, non AF lenses, and being restricted to manual focus only is not a limitation in terms of macro work. Most macro shooters shoot macro work only in manual focus, since AF is not reliable enough (even in modern lenses and cameras) to get an accurate lock on at close distances. Further the AF is prone to hunt as well if it loses its lock and that will waste time you don't have (insects don't aways stay still for example).
So manual focus only is not a problem and really only exists as a limit when you focus on further off subjects, where, I at least, find with a macro lens its preferable to use the AF when possible because they lack finer control of their focus - manually - at longer distances; mostly because you don't have far to turn the focus wheel to move the focus a great distance in the scene (whilst for macro distances they have a lot of fine control scope).

 

[djacobox372]

Hmmmm... I'm surprised that your dads lens doesn't fit. Any nikon lens should mount on any nikon camera with VERY few and rare exceptions (none of which are macro lenses).

Your dads lens will probably work, it may just need to be used in M mode if it's an older non-cpu lens. Only the D3 and D200-700 line of cameras meter with old manual focus lenses.