Macro Lenses

[thouts]

I hope i'm using the right term here forgive me if i'm not. But I would like to take close up shots of things...macro lens, right? I've been doing some searching online for macro lenses...i'm just not sure if i'm looking at the right thing. Could someone please point me in the right direction of a lens with this capability for a Nikon D60?'

Thanks in advance.

 

[Techguy172]

Yes Macro is the correct term. Now you were unclear on what you actually want. This really depends on how close you want to get. If you want shots of small insects then you need 100+ mm lens. However if you want flowers or something larger then 50mm could probably do. Nikon offers a few lenses and what your looking for is the largest Aperture, Closest focusing distance and something in your price range. If nikon has nothing within your price range then look at other brands such as Sigma and Tamron. Hope that helped.

 

[LeviG]

Nikon own brand macro lenses usually come under micro or micro nikkor instead of the standard macro term, nice of you to follow the standard term nikon

Main choices are 60 and 105mm if you go for Nikon (others generally do 50, 90/100), personally I would go for the 105 (90/100) as this also gives you the option to use the lens for portraits if you wanted.
As said Sigma and Tamron both do excellent lenses which are generally cheaper than nikon etc and I also agree that aperture is important, although how close a lens focus's isn't quite so much of an issue if you can afford to get the below as well

Depending on your budget you could also look into extension rings/tubes (might be manual focus only) - these basically allow a standard lens to focus from a closer range (it shifts the focal point so to speak) and maybe a cheaper alternative to look into.

 

[luminosity]

You're not taking the 1.5 crop factor for DX lenses into account. The 60mm AF-S lens is actually the best portrait lens among macro choices.

 

[compuwar]

I hope i'm using the right term here forgive me if i'm not. But I would like to take close up shots of things...macro lens, right? I've been doing some searching online for macro lenses...i'm just not sure if i'm looking at the right thing. Could someone please point me in the right direction of a lens with this capability for a Nikon D60?'

Thanks in advance.

You have choices, which come in varying prices and capabilities for taking macro shots, but a lot depends on WHAT you want to take macro shots of...

Diopters screw on the front of an available lens and come in magnification factors like reading glasses. Usually they're sized for the lens you want to use them in front of. They'll act differently on different lenses, and come in a variety of price/quality levels. I like the B+W ones, but they're very expensive for dioptors.

Extension tubes are tubes that fit between your camera and lens, and come in varying lengths. Unlike diopters, the only issue is wall thickness- the rest of the "make it work" part is just air- no quality issues there! Kenko makes a set for Nikon AF mount lenses that are generally well-regarded. You can get a whole set or just a single length- depending on what you want to shoot.

Macro lenses are generally the most expensive option- Nikon's most popular macro lenses are 60mm, 105mm and 200mm lenses with the "Micro" designation, the longer the focal length, the more working distance- better if you need it- but you'll also need a sturdy tripod and a good tripod head- people who do it a lot use focusing rails or gear heads- neither is inexpensive. Tamron also makes an excellent 90mm macro lens which comes in a Nikon mount. I don't know if it will AF on the D60 when used normally, most macro shots are manually focused. Most folks go with a macro lens of around 100mm to get a good amount of working distance.

Finally, reversing rings- you can use a reversing ring to mount a lens backwards. You need lenses of suitable focal length to do this, but it's dirt cheap if you already have suitable glass, but it requires the lens be stopped down- maybe an issue with modern lens/body combos.

You can use step up and step down rings with diopters and reversing rings, but generally that's where you really need to know what you're doing or you may have vignetting issues.

 

[LeviG]

You're not taking the 1.5 crop factor for DX lenses into account. The 60mm AF-S lens is actually the best portrait lens among macro choices.

oops, yeah you're right, still thinking 35mm formats

 

[flinch13]

Try a reversing ring with your kit lens at wide angle. You'll get higher than 1x magnification for cheap as free.