Posted: 3/4/2012 5:35:03 PM EDT
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Ok well as some of you might have remembered I posted a week or two ago asking for a replacment for my good old D40 that got stolen. Well I now have a D80 in hand thanks to theliberating1 well the problem is the only lens I have for it right now is a Quantry 70-300mm. Its a decent lens but I certainly want something for up closer. I love doing a lot of close of photos of stuff likes guns, flowers, bugs that kind of stuff. I am very out of date on the current technology so I am not even sure where to start. I had the kit 18-55mm on my D40 and got a lot of use out of it. Should I pick one of those up? They can be had for around $100 it looks like (the nikon model) Or should I look into a macro lens or something like that? Thanks Luke |
| If you are really interested in a dedicated product photo lens, look for a macro prime, that is, a fixed focal length lens designed to take close photos...I'm unfamiliar with the Nikon lineup but Canon has a few...100mm f/2.8 is the standard and is great for many situations. I think the crop factor on your Nikon is larger than what I used so maybe something in 60mm would be more appropriate? If you are really serious about photography, you should start looking into primes instead of zooms, and this is a good place to start. |
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Quoted: If you are really interested in a dedicated product photo lens, look for a macro prime, that is, a fixed focal length lens designed to take close photos...I'm unfamiliar with the Nikon lineup but Canon has a few...100mm f/2.8 is the standard and is great for many situations. I think the crop factor on your Nikon is larger than what I used so maybe something in 60mm would be more appropriate? If you are really serious about photography, you should start looking into primes instead of zooms, and this is a good place to start. What kind of price range am I looking at here? And I do this for fun so something that is more versatile would be better. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
If you are really interested in a dedicated product photo lens, look for a macro prime, that is, a fixed focal length lens designed to take close photos...I'm unfamiliar with the Nikon lineup but Canon has a few...100mm f/2.8 is the standard and is great for many situations. I think the crop factor on your Nikon is larger than what I used so maybe something in 60mm would be more appropriate? If you are really serious about photography, you should start looking into primes instead of zooms, and this is a good place to start. What kind of price range am I looking at here? And I do this for fun so something that is more versatile would be better. Again, I know little/nothing of the Nikon lens lineup...and this seems to be on the cheap side generally, but: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/656971-USA/Nikon_2190_AF_S_DX_Micro_NIKKOR.html or http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/424744-GREY/Nikon_2160_105mm_f_2_8G_ED_IF_AF_S.html |
| When I had my D80, this lens was on it 90% of the time. The other 10% was split between a 70-300mm, and a 60mm Micro. |
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I like the looks of that one. Very wide range of power. Gonna be tough spending 8 times what I paid for the camera on a lens though haha Quoted: When I had my D80, this lens was on it 90% of the time. The other 10% was split between a 70-300mm, and a 60mm Micro. |
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Here is a list of micro/ macro Nikkors and third-party lenses available at B&H. Have you checked out some of the photography sites (Nikon Cafe, Fred Miranda, etc...) yet? Wealth of info and people are usually willing to offer assistance/ opinions. The DX 40mm Micro can be used as a normal-ish prime on your D80, and the USA model is about $280 new. You can also use older auto-focus lenses (AF, AF-D, AF-I) with your body. AI and AI-S manual focus lenses will mount, but not meter, on the D80. |
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It's been a few days since this was up, but I just found it and want to add a question.
I have a D7000, and I have had many people say that older lenses are a really good choice because the camera can auto-focus them. What older-model lens would yall recommend for macro/micro work? And how does one go about finding a good old lens? |
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The 18-55 VR kit lens is pretty decent. If you want to have some close-up ability you could try this one... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/670041-REG/Sigma_668306_17_70mm_F2_8_4_DC_Macro.html I have it on my D90 and it's an excellent lens. At some point I would consider this lens for a good walk around... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/606792-USA/Nikon_2183_AF_S_Nikkor_35mm_f_1_8G.html It's worth every penny. |
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The third party macro glass has a GREAT reputation and infact none of the true macro glass is even fair. Its all good stuff. The old MF AI and AIS glass is very good as well though as mentioned it won't meter on your body. No biggie though. Macro shooting is done mostly manual focusing and you can chimp to adjust
The exposure. The great thing about the old glass is that it's cheap. I just got a 105 f4 AI micro nikor for less than $120 at a pawn shop. The kit lens performs great for its price but a dedicated macro lens will be vastly better for what your looking to do. |