what lens?

[alan1572]

i want to take some really close up shots, insects and what not, what do you recomend for my d300? Is the 12-24 as close as i can get? I don' really understand the whole macro thing but have seen some stunning shots on here and would like to give it ago.

[Oldboy]

No, the 12-24mm F4 is a landscape or wide angle lens. You have a good choice of Macro lenses, Nikon 60mm F2.8, Tamron Di 90mm F2.8, Sigma 105mm F2.8 or the best Nikon 105mm F2.8 VR, but also the dearest at £600. Nothing wrong with the Tamron or Sigma Macro lenses, as many on DCM use them. I have both the Nikon lenses but most of my macro shots are taken with the Nikon 105mm plus 2x converter giving me 210mm F5.6. 

[stevebedder]

Theres a review in this months DCM about macro lenses and which to choose.

The Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 IF-ED (£750) came second with 89%, the winner was the Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro (£495) which is available in various fits.

Personally, I use a Canon EF 75-300mm with a set of Kenko extension tubes but I used my father in laws Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro yesterday and it's a world away from my current macro set up. The 60mm macro is so much faster and sharper - heres one I took yesterday:



Most of the macros in my Flickr gallery were taken with the kenkoo extension tubes & the Canon EF 75-300mm, the extension tubes are good cost effective way of getting macro pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebedder/sets/72157605125407019/

Hope this helps

Steve

[alan1572]

Thanks to both of you, i thought there was more to it, i was thinking of spending maybe £200 so i think i'll have to look on good ol' ebay.
nice shot btw steve

[alan1572]

is this the kind of lens i should lok at?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/sigma-105mm-f2-8-ex-dg-macro_W0QQitemZ280365991280QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item41471d8570&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[stevebedder]

That lens got 76% (4th out of 6) in the recent DCM macro lens test.

The handling and image quality got 3 out of 5, whilst features, build quality and overall got 4 out of 5.

The RRP is £385 so if you can pick it up for around £80 on ebay (as it is at the moment) it will probably be a good value lens.

The one on ebay is a canon fit though, didn't you say you were after a Nikon fit?

Cheers

Steve

[alan1572]

Indeed i do need a nikon, cheers steve

[alan1572]

what about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AF-Micro-Nikkor-105-2-8D_W0QQitemZ140331070741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item20ac623515&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1690%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

or this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AF-Micro-Nikkor-105-2-8D_W0QQitemZ140331070741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item20ac623515&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1690%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[stevebedder]

Hmmm.....not 100% sure but I don't think they are compatible with your d300

I use Warehouse Express for lenses, they have quite a few Nikon fit macro lenses:

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/category/basecategory.aspx?cat03=3078

Just change the 'special function' list to Macro and it will give you a list of available lenses.

Steve

[alan1572]

wow.....the choice is mind boggling, all those numbers and what-not
i can eliminate any above £350, but that still leaves a few
this is the place i bought my nikon 18-70 from