Macro lens shopping

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fred on February 27, 2010 at 8:11pm

It entirely depends on what you are going to photograph.
The 105 is great for nature
The 85 is a great portrait lens
The 60 is great for still life.

The choice is yours

Permalink Reply by Sara on February 27, 2010 at 8:26pm

Is there one that does all the above? Lol..

thanks for the help! I'm still trying to remember all the vocabulary when lens shopping so i get a little confused at times.

Permalink Reply by Fred on February 28, 2010 at 1:31am

There is not a one does everything with a lens. As you still have not mentioned what you are photographing I would say go for the 105. It will still give you the 1:1 ratio. It will allow you to do still life. I am not sure about a portrait as I have not seen any portraits with this lens, a lot of photographers use the 85 as a portrait lens. The choice is yours.

Permalink Reply by Mike Noble on February 28, 2010 at 3:55am

I have the 105mm f2.8 lens. I love it. It has 1:1 macro capability and is an excellent portrait lens. Highly recommended.

Good luck.

Mike

Permalink Reply by Sara on February 28, 2010 at 10:30am

yea I'm thinking of getting the 105. I want to use it mainly for close ups, and possibly some portraits. I'm tired of playing trombone with my other lenses trying to get them focus well enough. I hope the high price will make it worth it when I get to use it :S

Permalink Reply by Robert D. Perry on March 31, 2010 at 9:26pm

I have the 105mm 1:2.8D. I'm luv'n it. You don't have to get right on top of your subject for a good close up. And for portraits, the 105 provides a nice comfort distance between you and your client. Any professional will tell you image quality is all about the lens. High quality comes with a price. Pro lenses are not cheap.

Permalink Reply by Larry Van Valkenburgh on May 6, 2010 at 2:38pm

For many years when shooting film, I used the old Nikkor 55 Micro for many things and I had the extension tube for it and a Nikkor Bellows with the slide duplicator attachment for it also.
I did a lot of copy work with it and I took a lot of photos of collectable duck decoys for a special book.
The photographs were always awesome every time and extremely sharp.
So when I started shooting digital, I wanted the same thing only with autofocus, available to me also.
So, I replaced my old standby with the newer AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED.
Needless to say, I'm very happy. Keep in mind now, that it's an FX lens, so on a DX camera (aps size sensor) that it would actually work out to be around a 90mm lens.
See if you can find a stocking dealer somewhere around you and go check them and the cameras, out, in person.
If you have to, take a trip to a dealer just to check them out.

Permalink Reply by Bill Perry on May 10, 2010 at 1:04pm

I have the 105mm f/2.8 and it is a great lens for most situations, works great in low light also, just my 2 cents worth!! For close up portraits and still life I use a 50mm f/1.4 in natural light.