Looking for a Good Macro Lens

jake337 · Apr 27, 2011

Markw said:
It does give a beautiful bokeh, I'll give it that.

Mark

It also feels just as solid in my hands as my nikon 85mm f1.4 af-d. I like tokina's build. i really wish they would start making more fast primes. I would like to see their take on -- 14 f2.8, 24 f1.4, 35 f1.4, 50 f1.2/1.4, 85 f1.4, 135 f2(or faster), 200 f2(or faster) and would like it if they brought back their 300 f2.8

Bgagnon127 · Apr 27, 2011

jake337 said:
You can find a used tokina atx pro d 100mm f2.8 macro for around $350 used.

heres a few non 1:1 macro examples.

The last shots focus distance shows .30 m in the exif data.

Dude those are great and the quality is definitely high. I have the Tokina 11-16 mm and I love it. I think these samples just made up my mind. Thanks

jake337 · Apr 27, 2011

If you can, most definitely go somewhere and try them out. I'm not sure if you have a flash but I'm sure you"ll want one.

jwbryson1 · Apr 28, 2011

jwbryson1 said:
O|||||||O said:

Expect to spend around $600 for a (new) macro lens... Reversing rings and macro couplers can be had for $10.

Check out the used market if $5-600 sounds too high. KEH.com has tons of used stuff. Then also will generally have he best price to quality ratio. They tend to under-rate their gear, so you get stuff better than you were expecting for a good price.

They're mostly known for their film stuff, but they have a lot of digital equipment too.

Click to expand...

I shoot with the D90 too and I bought the Tokina 100mm Macro from B&H and LOVE IT!! It's an off brand lens, but it's a fraction of the cost of a Nikkor macro and the reviews are great. The Tokina is $449 NEW, but they are hard to get because they are so popular and well priced, and with the tsunami in Japan and the inability to manufacture lenses, they may be getting harder to find and more expensive.

Try this link: Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D Macro ATXAF100PRON B&H

Good luck.

To compare, here are a couple of macro shots I took with my D90 and my Tokina 100mm. You can see for yourself if you like the quality or not.

Macro Flower | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Macro Bumblebee | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Nod · Apr 28, 2011

I have a couple of friends that are into macro big time and both use the Sigma 105 F2.8 EX DG. It goes for $480 new at B&H and Butterfly Photo. They have done some amazing shots with this lens. I'm looking into getting one myself.

Markw · Apr 29, 2011

Here are a few examples of mine if you were interested:

SIGMA 180mm F/3.5 EX DG HSM APO IF
Only PP was convert from RAW.

SIGMA 105mm F/2.8 EX DG

I have TONS more if you're interested. The main thing to remember, though, is that any of these photos could have been taken with either of the lenses. They would have produced similar image quality, only the 180mm tends to scare off critters MUCH less, while adding a bit of shake due to the extra length.

Mark

Markw · Apr 29, 2011

Wow. There seems to be quite a bit of compression and degredation of the photos for some reason on here. Could have to do with Photobucket too. I dont know. I promise you that the image quality is immaculate.

Mark

jake337 · Apr 30, 2011

Any macro lens you choose should work out great as seen by everyones posts. Just go by the focal length you think will work best( for you) and have fun!

Markw · May 1, 2011

+1

Mark

TheFantasticG · May 1, 2011

Tell ya, I wasn't thrilled with the Nikon 85 3.5G, to the point I sold it. Kept the Siggy 150 2.8, and will after the new one comes out.

Bgagnon127 · May 3, 2011

I ended up getting my hands on a nikon 60mm nikor micro lens. The only thing I don't like is that the aperture is not fixed, so it's 2.8 at the largest but as you move in close and need to focus it changes. Are any/all of the lenses mentioned in this thread fixed aperture?

TheFantasticG · May 3, 2011

Yes, all "macro" lenses have an aperture effective change the closer you focus... not sure why you'd be shooting 2.8 when you are 1:1 though.

jake337 · May 3, 2011

Bgagnon127 said:
I ended up getting my hands on a nikon 60mm nikor micro lens. The only thing I don't like is that the aperture is not fixed, so it's 2.8 at the largest but as you move in close and need to focus it changes. Are any/all of the lenses mentioned in this thread fixed aperture?

Are you sure it's changing? On my tokina it displays the "effective" aperture or light loss. So at 1:1 it displays f5.6 but the DOF is still relative to f2.8. I'm not sure about the nikon. That's why I asked if you had off camera flash because if you want a deeper DOF at 1:1 or closer you will need to stop down a lot and need more quantity of light to properly expose your subject. Even after all that you may need to use focus stacking to get your whole subject in focus.

Josh66 · May 3, 2011

Bgagnon127 said:
I ended up getting my hands on a nikon 60mm nikor micro lens. The only thing I don't like is that the aperture is not fixed, so it's 2.8 at the largest but as you move in close and need to focus it changes. Are any/all of the lenses mentioned in this thread fixed aperture?

TheFantasticG said:
Yes, all "macro" lenses have an aperture effective change the closer you focus... not sure why you'd be shooting 2.8 when you are 1:1 though.

Yes, that is true - all macro lenses are like that. Canon lenses still report it as being wide open to the camera body though - so the f/# will not change on your display, but it is actually changing. I think the focal length changes too to counter that. That way, it is always effectively the same aperture, because the focal length is changing too.

Nikkor macro lenses = constant focal length, variable aperture.
Canon macro lenses = constant aperture, variable focal length.

I think that's accurate anyway. I'm not too up on the physics of it all, but that's basically what's happening.

If HelenB sees this thread, I'm sure she will know. Probably the most knowledgeable person on this forum when it comes to how lenses actually work.

Bgagnon127 · May 3, 2011

TheFantasticG said:
Yes, all "macro" lenses have an aperture effective change the closer you focus... not sure why you'd be shooting 2.8 when you are 1:1 though.

I don't claim to know everything about photography so I'll admit you've stumped me

I know that a 1:1 lens reproduces the image on the sensor at the same physical size of the actual object your shooting however I don't understand why you wouldn't want to shoot at 2.8 other than maybe the depth of field would be too shallow. Is that correct? Appreciate the info, I love always learning something new.