Ok, All these lenses confuse me to the core. I have a great all around lense and it does take awesome pics, but i need a macro lense as well. Can someone post what lense I should be looking at, maybe some pics to show what it can do, and a link where to buy? I was surprised my bestbuy had no macro lenses including canon. Thanks,
Kristy
There is a wide world of macro lenses available. And lots of factors you have to consider when you buy a macro lens.
First some terminology. Magnification, magnification is the size of the image at the plane of the image sensor (film or digital sensor). 1:1 magnification means that a frog 20mm long (like a medium size thumbnail) will show project an image 20mm long on your sensor (when an image is taken straight on), when the photo is taken at the closest focus distance the lens will focus to. At 1:2 a frog 40mm long would project an image 20mm long on the sensor. A Nikon DX sensor is 23.6 x 15.7 mm in size, so it doesn't take a very big object to fill the picture at 1:1 magnification.
Working distance is the distance from the image sensor (not the front of the lens, you need to subtract the length of the lens, plus the flange mount distance to get the distance to the front of the lens, there should be a mark on the top of your camera showing you where the image sensor plane is) that the lens provides at it's highest magnification. A longer working distance means you will be farther away from the object you are photographing, potentially not scaring it off, and makes it easier to get flash lighting on the object. A shorter working distance means you will be closer to the object when you are photographing it, it can sound bad, but sometimes you just need to get closer to a subject than a long macro lens will allow. My only macro lens right now is a 180mm Sigma macro lens, with a long working distance (longer focal lengths give longer working distances), and I often find that I have trouble getting far enough away from a subject to take a good photo, I am often halfway across the room with the camera when trying to take a picture of a big flower, which just doesn't work in a cramped frog room (like a lot of people have), it's also hard to isolate the subject with flash lighting from a long distance away.
Some good macro lenses to consider are, all of which do 1:1 macro magnification, remember that working distance goes up as the focal length goes up:
Amazon, B&H Photo and Adorama are all good, well known online stores to get lenses at. You also might find these at a local photography store (look in your phone-book).
thank you. Here's my issue. I want to get real close-up detail of just the object I am focusing on. With my current lense, i find myself having to step back in order to focus clearly. I hate this as I can't get the detail I want or as close -up as I want when photographing something that isn't normal daily things such as family and scenery. If I want to say get a good closeup on a pumilio, what lense recommendation would you say?
I love the pictures some of the members can take of their frogs showing great detail closeups as if you were right there with the frog in real life. I just can't get that quality with the all-around lense i have. Its a good spendier lense, but I do need macro to complete my camera i believe.
I think this one was the one i was looking at online. Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G VR Micro
can you explain the blonde question of what's the difference in mm on lenses? so a 60mm vs. a 105mm
thanks,
Kristy
The "mm" on a lens is called it's focal length. The focal length of a lens is defined as the distance from it's optical center to the plane of infinity focus (where it brings rays of light from infinity to focus). The longer the focal length of a lens, the larger they will appear in your photo (when photographed from the same distance with lenses of differing focal lengths).
Another number to be aware of is the relative aperture or F-number, this is the relative size of the lens's entrance pupil to its focal length, or, how much light it lets in. Smaller numbers are "faster," i.e. they let in more light, which allows for a faster shutter speed (the speed of the shutter is why they are called fast or slow). F-stops are a geometric sequence, so an f-stop twice as big as another f-stop allows 4 times less light (f/4 allows 1/4 the light that f/2 allows, and f/2.8 allows 1/2 the light). Smaller f-stops are called larger because the number is actually on the bottom of a fraction. All things being equal a larger f-stop lens is usually considered better, but things are never equal, and larger f-stop lenses are typically more expensive, heavier, and often have lower image quality wide open (set to their maximum or largest f-stop) than stopped down (set to a smaller f-stop).
Another thing to keep in mind regarding the "mm" or focal length is this is calculated with the lens focused to infinity. As you focus closer with the newer macro lenses, the lens begins to behave differently and the effective focal length changes and becomes smaller, so your 100mm macro focused to its closest, say 1:1 (lifesize magnification) may now have an effective focal length of say 70mm. Maybe not such a big deal, however, keep in mind if you are looking at a 60mm macro, when it is focused to its closest, it might behave like a 40mm lens, which has a different field of view than a 60mm, so you will get more of the surrounding background. This plays an important role in your photographs, especially if you are trying to isolate your subject in the composition. If you have a cluttered background, this can be distracting and more difficult to get a nice clean background.
So, a 180mm or 200mm macro is great for being able to isolate the subject but you then have a longer working distance. A 50mm or 60mm macro lets you get physically nice and close (working distance) but the focal length at lifesize brings its own set of problems. A 90mm, 105mm or 100mm macro can be a nice starting point and a good compromise - good working distance.
I have a 100mm macro (have owned 50mm macros, bellows units and used to work a lot with the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1x-5x) and it is a nice all around macro. In a pinch I can attach a 25mm extension tube and 1.4x converter to give me a little more working room and a little more magnification.
Looking for an inexpensive, a little harder to work with option? Try buying an extension tube or set of them. You can pick some third party brand up for around $100 and since it has no glass, does not really matter who makes it. This fit between your lens and the camera and allow the lens to focus closer, increasing your magnification. It is not as easy to use as a true macro and the techniques are a little different, but it an inexpensive foray into macro and you get to use your existing lens.
you could get some kenko extension tubes, they will make your focal distance greater. i was thinking of going with these or a sigma 105mm i have a sigma 50mm but you have to get to close to take the shot. but the extension tubes are like 80 bucks and i think it would work well with the vr feature. but i dont think its going to beat the macro.
good luck!
help on macro lense for Nikon d90 SLR
Re: help on macro lense for Nikon d90 SLR
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