Getting CLOSE UPs

BmDubb · Oct 10, 2009

Ok, so Im sitting here... ANXIOUSLY awating the delivery man to knock on the door with my Nikon D80... And I was just curious.. Is it possible to get really nice close up pictures without using a macro lens? Like take real close up pictures of flowers and butterflies etc... ( I will be buying a macro lens soon... but its gonna be a few weeks - couple months ).. Spent most of the extra money on the D80 setup lol

bp4life71 · Oct 10, 2009

Definitely. I get amazing results with my kit lense. Zoom all the way out, manual focus. Easier with macro lense, but can get good results without. Just more flexible options with macro.

Overread · Oct 10, 2009

AS said kit lenses tend to have a pretty good close focusing aspect to them and for larger subjects like flowers and butterflies you can get some decent close up shots of them.
Manual focus can be a bit tricky with them though, since most are geared towards using AF and so have small focusing rings (at least mine is tiny) and they are not as finely controlled as a dedicated macro lens will be, but its certainly very usable.

If you want to get a bit closer you could look to getting some extension tubes which work by moving the lens away from the camera body and thus reducing the minimum focusing distance, letting you focus closer and thus get more insect into the shot. Note though that they will also remove the lenses infinity focusing as well, so you will be limited in how far off you can focus (a few cms to a few feet depending on the lens and the amount of tubes used). I would recomend getting a set of Kenko AF tubes over the ownbrand (Nikon) tubes since the Kenko are far better priced for what you get and since tubes have no optics in them at all you get identical performance no matter which you choose. However do make sure you get the tubes with contacts in them - the ultra cheap tubes (around 5$/£) might be very cheap, but they don't have any contacts in them at all, which means you won't have any contact from lens to camera, so not only is AF not an option, but you also cannot close the aperture blades on the lens either, which means you have to shoot wide open - not something that you want with macro work (typically done between around f8 and f13)

Plato · Oct 10, 2009

BmDubb said:
Ok, so Im sitting here... ANXIOUSLY awating the delivery man to knock on the door with my Nikon D80... And I was just curious.. Is it possible to get really nice close up pictures without using a macro lens? Like take real close up pictures of flowers and butterflies etc... ( I will be buying a macro lens soon... but its gonna be a few weeks - couple months ).. Spent most of the extra money on the D80 setup lol

If you're just getting your D80 now, I wouldn't worry about macro for a while, especially since you expect to buy a macro lens in several weeks or months. I got my D80 some two years ago and, with over forty years of SLR experience, it still took me several months to get comfortable using it.

BmDubb · Oct 10, 2009

Thanks so much for all the info! You guys are RAD

DennyCrane · Oct 10, 2009

At least get SOME kind of tripod for closeup work. It really does help keeping a nice sharp image.

mtfd635 · Oct 10, 2009

All lenses have a minimum focus distance, know that. My two favorite lenses are both 19".
With a tripod I have gotten many perfect bee, bttrfly n flower closeups with my non-macro lenses
tripod is a key component as is patience
enjoy!!

NateWagner · Oct 10, 2009

as far as tubes are concerned, another brand I have had decent success with is from linkdelight. They are about 1/2 to 1/3 the price I've seen of Kenko's and still have the contacts.

As was mentioned, with tubes because there are no optics, there is not too much to worry about with quality of the tube.

EhJsNe · Oct 10, 2009

Yeah...you wont get a razor thin DOF...but you can get some really interesting shots!

You can buy some macro extension tubes, they allow you to focus closer. Nifty things them extension tubes are.