Macro Lens - Other

[blueeyedsuzie]

Hi,

I want to purchase a macro lens because I do a lot of macro work for flowers. What other lens besides Nikon can I use, and what would the maker and lens type would I need?

I have a Nikon D3100 with lens of AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G DX and AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED DX

Would I fisheye be good to have?

Sorry if this has been posted elseware....

 

[digital flower]

Well a lot of people here seem to say that this lens is too short but I find it works great for flowers. The price has seemed to go up a little lately but it is still a good deal IMO.

Nikon micro-nikkor 60mm/2.8

 

[emoxley]

Tamron's 90mm f/2.8 macro is great. Good price too at Amazon.com. Six yr. warranty, and they have rebates right now. I like mine a lot............

 

[mjhoward]

A fisheye certainly wouldn't be good for Macro work

For Macro lenses other than Nikon, there are many. Some are even better than the name brand. Any lens from Tokina, Sigma, and Tamron with an F-mount (Nikon's mount) will work. Some of these may not autofocus with your body, but that shouldn't really be a problem since any macro work will pretty much require manual focus anyway. Just be sure the lens you are looking at is a 1:1 macro and not a 1:2

 

[Dillard]

Tamron's 90mm f/2.8 macro is great. Good price too at Amazon.com. Six yr. warranty, and they have rebates right now. I like mine a lot............

This.

I have this lens and its wonderful. Cheap, sharp, just an all around fun lens!

 

[Spektor]

Another vote for Tamron 90mm 2.8
Very happy with mine

 

[jriepe]

And the Tamron 90mm for Nikon does have the built in motor so if you do need auto focus for your D3100 you will have it.

Jerry

 

[tbrunke]

I want to get a good macro as well but I have a D70..

and suggestions

 

[Overread]

There are pretty much no bad true macro lenses on the market at present. There are lenses of varying costs, features, focal lengths, but no actual bad lemons in the bag. Optically speaking performance of all is a very high level and whilst there are some differences, they are generally very minor (and in many areas won't even show up after processing the shot).

An idea of budget helps however a few ideas to consider:

1) Longer focal lengths give you more working distance, this is the distance between the front of the lens and the subject itself when focused at the lenses closest focusing point (ie at a magnification of 1:1). Note this is not to be confused with the minimum focusing distance which is measured from the sensor/film to the subject.

2) Longer focal lengths render increased blurring to background areas of the shot. Typically you've got to go to the extremes of focal length options to really see a massive difference, but it is present. Note that whilst background blurring changes the depth of field remains the same.


Tamron 90mm is a popular budget choice macro lens and typically the shortest recommended if you want to start shooting insects. For subjects like flowers you can use shorter macro lenses (though personally I'd say you want something 60mm or longer - under that and lighting becomes much more tricky as the working distances are tiny) though of course if you want increase background blurring the longer lenses will be what you want.

There is a wide range on the market from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Nikon including; Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro, Nikon 60mm micro, Nikon 105mm VR micro (has the VR feature for aid in handholding, has less effect at macro distances), Sigma 70mm macro, Sigma 105mm macro, Sigma 150mm macro OS (older edition without OS still on the market), Sigma 180mm OS (older edition off the market, but still worth considering second hand - a very popular choice along with the 150mm), Tamon 60mm macro, Tokina 105mm macro, and a few others as well.


Note Nikon calls macro micro on its lenses. Furthermore Nikon camera bodies report effective aperture to the user, this means as you increase the magnification closer to 1:1 the maximum aperture (smallest f number) will get smaller (number gets bigger). Typically at 1:1 likely be somewhere around f5.6 (not exactly sure of values but around that amount). Note this is the same no matter the lens brand its just that Nikon reports the changes whilst some other companies (Eg canon) don't report the change in effective aperture, which means those lenses keep reporting f2.8 even though the effective aperture might be smaller.

 

[r a y]

Tamron's 90mm f/2.8 macro is great. Good price too at Amazon.com. Six yr. warranty, and they have rebates right now. I like mine a lot............

^ I support this statement

 

[xj0hnx]

Tamron's 90mm f/2.8 macro is great. Good price too at Amazon.com. Six yr. warranty, and they have rebates right now. I like mine a lot............

Does it auto focus with the 5100?

This one will

 

[joebrachocki]

Hello,

I wanted to offer you a free guide that I put together called "The Essential Guide To Buying Your First Macro Lens". It explains all the things you should consider when buying your first macro lens. There is a section about what you should look for in your lens if shooting flowers. There is also a section on what you should expect from a lens for the amount of money you will spend. While you are shopping for lenses, you could use this as a guide. You can download it at macrolensesforbeginners.com |. I also have a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/macrolensesforbeginners.com. I hope you take some time to check them out. I'd love to have you on board and answer any questions you have.

Either way, good luck and congratulations on making the decision to delve into macro photography! Cheers,
Joe Brachocki

 

[markj]

I went the Nikkor 105mm 2.8g route, and couldn't be happier. EXCEPT that there is two annoying realities that I'm try to cope with. Number one,
the lens cost more than my D5100. Secondly, the 105mm is so sharp (and I mean razor sharp) that I find my 50mm 1.8g soft in comparison.
Good luck with your search.

 

[blueeyedsuzie]

Thanks everyone for the info... this will help. I enjoy doing Macro photography and wanted to find out what is the best option for me.