which macro lens do i buy?

[ByeTheWay]

hi everyone.
I'm new to photography so excuse my ignorance, I'm headed to australia for christmas and new year and im looking to take a macro lens for the local creepy crawlys.
my camera is a Nikon d3200 and i have a budget of around £450-500 GBP absolute max, which covers alot of lenses. i want to shoot spiders and weird insects aswell as flowers etc. there are just so many options and im not sure which way to go.

in your opinion whats the best macro lens for my d3200 under £500 gbp for spiders?
any suggestions welcome.

 

[usayit]

I much like the Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 macro.

 

[Light Guru]

Why not rent one.

 

[ByeTheWay]

renting one isnt a bad idea light guru but ive got the photo bug bad and to be honest i'd rather buy my own lol. i have the money sitting but i just dont want to choose the wrong lens. would i be better renting a more expensive lens for spiders?

usayit, yeah i like the look of the tamron 90mm. the other main one ive looked at is the nikon 85mm. the nikon is slightly more expensive but still in budget. is it worth the extra cash??

thinking about ordering this tonight but still dont know what to go for. cmon then guys spiders at 500 uk pounds, nikon or tamron?

 

[Overread19 7]

How big are these spiders? (serious question)

 

[JaronRH]

I too would recommend the Tamron 90mm

 

[Overread19 7]

as a guide - if said spider were upon a 2p coin would it cover this much or less

 

[usayit]

Macro is one of those things that generally requires additional supporting equipment in order to get the most out of your macro lens (no matter which one it is).

Things like

Heavy duty tripod
Focusing rails
Ring light and such

etc..

So the money you save between the Tamron and NIkkor may be considered best invested in other macro related stuff.

 

[pgriz]

^^^ What he said. I do a fair amount of macro-photography, and to do it reasonably well, you need a tripod (because at macro sizes the DOF is vanishingly thin, and you need the stability of a tripod to be able to focus on something), focusing rails (not a must-have, but again, given the thinness of the DOF, every time you need to get something in focus it is better to move the camera incrementally, rather than using the focusing ring), a flash and connector (because at macro scales, there is light loss due to lens extension, and a flash helps freeze motion and movement), a diffuser (because direct flash can create very harsh light), a remote shutter release (again, to reduce camera shake)... It IS possible to do macro with just a macro lens, but you'll find that you will be frustrated very quickly.

 

[usayit]

With that... you don't have to go all out either. I don't do macro "that" much so I worked within a budget.

1) Tamron 90 f/2.5 (adaptall) - The predecessor to the current AF Di 90mm f/2.8 - Under $100 USD
2) 1:1 matching teleconverter. - The old adaptall version was 1:2 unlike the current one which is 1:1 - Under $50 USD
3) Used focusing rails of ebay - Under $50 USD
4) Sunpak G8Xr ring light with a Wein safe-sync - Way powerful! I actually use an ND filter to compensate at times. I get fast cycle times with a modified TR-pak high voltage power pack. Under $150
- Alternatively, you can get DX8R instead.
5) Bogen 3021 tripod - Mine was $35 at local camera swap.

I almost went with the current 90mm f/2.8 tamron. I borrowed it a few times and liked it very much. Then I realized that I really wanted to fund the other items as well. Besides, I can adapt it to my numerous systems: pentax, canon, macro 4/3 etc..

You can find a setup for almost any budget....

 

[ByeTheWay]

thanks for the advice folks. again excuse my ignorance but i didn't know about all the additional gear required to get good macro shots.

I already have the remote shutter release and a semi decent tripod but i was hoping to not lug the tripod all the way around the world and back. thinking about buying a good one over there and posting it home to myself when i leave.

as for the lens, light ring and focus rails, there is a shop in edinburgh (45mins away) that sells a good range and some s/h gear but i cant get there until the weekend. that gives me the week to do some reasearch on what i need so i can go ask for exactly what i want and know the alternatives.

i think the smallest spider im interested in capturing is the sydney funnel web spider (deadly and worringly common). they range from 1pence piece size to maybe a bit bigger than the 2p. but how large a subject could i shoot with the 85-90mm lenses? would say a fully grown tarantula be too big for that size?

ive scraped together another £120 so my budget is now £615 ofcourse thats for the lens the light ring and rails. i'll buy the tripod on spending money over there.

again sorry for the dumb questions. i value your opinions.

for that money and subject matter. what would you buy???

btw

 

[jaomul]

No such thing as a dumb question. Your budget should be fine. For living things such as spiders, bugs etc it is better to be a little distance away while shooting them. There are many focal lengths for macro shots but the 90-105mm range is probably best for your purposes. If you look at reviews at any macro lens in this range it is very hard to find a bad one. The tamron one above mentioned is a very well respected lens, as is the Tokina atx100. If you prefer to stay with Nikon you wont go wrong either. Image stabilization is available in many newer macro lenses but because the distances you use it at are so close it is not as effective as using it in a normal lens. All these macro lenses double up as nice prime lenses though they usually focus a little slow. I would in your position buy the tamron, also I would try get a hold of some extension tubes with electrical contacts allowing even greater than 1:1 magnification. You prob get both sets for 400 pounds

 

[binga63]

hi everyone.
I'm new to photography so excuse my ignorance, I'm headed to australia for christmas and new year and im looking to take a macro lens for the local creepy crawlys.
my camera is a Nikon d3200 and i have a budget of around £450-500 GBP absolute max, which covers alot of lenses. i want to shoot spiders and weird insects aswell as flowers etc. there are just so many options and im not sure which way to go.

in your opinion whats the best macro lens for my d3200 under £500 gbp for spiders?
any suggestions welcome.

.. just what we need is another tourist killed by one of our friendly spiders.. you are coming in summer right?.. funnel web spiders are most aggressive during summer it's mating season, while you are at it, go swimming off the coast of western australia ... you might get some great white shark shots or eaten... during summer our animals aren't happy... the snakes are more active, bushfires are more prevalent and tourists from the British isles suffering from heat exhaustion/ sunstroke double...
good luck

 

[theraven]

Personally I would buy a setup to reverse your lens if you are a beginner, give you a better idea of DOF and focus without breaking the bank! Just an option as this is what I'm doing!

 

[ByeTheWay]

Lol binga. I've been to oz before and I'm well aware of the dangers involved as I have worked with spiders before. I won't go chasing anything in to the bush without a suit of damn armour lol. I just wish I'd had this camera when I went the last time.

It's looking like the tamron 90 is you guys favorite so far and I'll have a look into these extension tubes you talk about jaomul.

So what kind of distance from lens to subject are we talking about with the 90mm maybe 3ft or closer?

Thanks for the advice again you guys are awesome