Macro lens help?

[Michiyo-Fir]

I'm looking for a macro lens or a lens with excellent bokeh for my D90.

I will mainly be shooting dogs/animals' nose and eyes and my grandfather will be using the same lens to shoot flowers.

Lenses I'm considering are:

70-200mm f2.8 Not sure how good this would be as a macro lens but the boken is really nice

80-200mm f2.8

200mm f2 (probably can't afford this..) or 200mm f4

85mm f1.4

50mm f1.4 (not really for macro but this lens I really liked, had and sold)

60mm f2.8

105mm f2.8 micro

Which one is able to take a macro shot a little further away from the subject?

I have around 1500-2000 to spend..so if it's the cheaper ones I may be able to get 2.

 

[Derrel]

I think you also ought to consider the 300mm f/4 AF-S. It works very much like a macro lens. Has good bokeh, and high magnification, from 4 feet away, or closer with a tube or diopter like the Canon 500D.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Good suggestion, thank you.

The only problem I have is that I'm considering a faster lens because animals move around too much. Especially indoors and I don't really want to use flash a lot of the time. I typically find it hard to use shutter speeds of less than 1/400 for our animals.

 

[Markw]

Youre not going to end up using your macro lens for anything less than F/7.1 and still be happy with the DOF. A fast aperture lens isnt exactly a necessity in this case, especially not if the aperture in question is F/4 instead of F/2.8. You have to really know what youre looking for in the lens. A true 1:1 macro lens will be wonderful for anything at all, and you generally dont have to worry about moving too close to get focus on larger objects. In this case, with the 300/4..if you accidentally hop a few inches past 4' (without tubes), you'll lose focus all together. Have you ever thought of a Tamron or Sigma 180mm F/3.5 Macro? This seems to be a fantastic lens, and still gives you 1:1 magnification, plus extra reach should you need it. Sigma's 150mm F/2.8 Macro is a phenominal lens as well.

Mark