Macro Lens ?

[David W]

Thinking about getting a macro lens, looking at

Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8d

Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8d

Has anyone any experience of these lenses ?

Are there any others i should consider ?

[S_Leeper]

The tamron 90 is very highly regarded...

[lightwrangler]

I have the Tamron SP90mm and am quite pleased with it. It is very sharp and bright and I like the manual focus on it. The auto focus isn't bad either but it's really nice to just change to manual at the lens without having to go to the camera. I can get very shallow depth of field with it (suits my portrait style) and when I do closeup work I can be a bit further back than with the 60mm.

However the 60mm Nikkor is one of the sharpest lenses that Nikon makes and would be an excellent choice as well. It too would work well for portraiture. It really comes down to personal choice, each suits a different photographer. You should think about how much macro you shoot and what else you might like the lens for. Remember too that a 90mm lens becomes the equivilant of a 135mm and a 60mm becomes a 90mm. Another macro that I have my eye on is the Tamron SP180mm Di XR Macro. It's a long macro and a nice medium tele in a small and easy to handle package. I do think that this is a more specialzed choice though and wouldn't suit as many shooters as the 90mm or 60mm would.

[sandman]

David
I asked the very same question several months back. http://www.s2pro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1340

And got many helpfull replys. i settled on the nikon 60mm, and the nikon 105mm, unfortunately the 105mm was on back order, ,i cancelled it ,as i was really happy with just the 60mm. It might be available now though.

Brian

[David W]

Sam, Lightwrangler, Brian

Thanks for your help, i think the 105mm may be a little long for the sort of uses i had in mind. The 60mm uses 62mm filters and i already have them, which will help keep the cost down. The Tamron SP90 sounds good as well, so i have changed my choice from 2 lenses to 3 and now back down to 2.

Now the hard bit finding a retailer in the UK with both on the shelf to compare !

Thanks again

David

[sandman]

Blimey you and Gary are keeping me busy ,waiting for lunch.
David you'll be very lucky to find a retailer with any in stock let alone both , my 60mm took 2 months waiting untll nikon UK had one in stock, the Tamron was on my short list , no chance, told 6 months .
But that was a few months back ,so it might be better now (don't hold your breathe). Jessops were the only retailer who might have one in stock .
now i'm going to have dinner, get a bit of shut eye, and watch Southampton and Everton grind out a scoreless draw. (if your a soccer fan). :) .

Brian

[David W]

Brian,

Sorry not a soccer fan, but i a few friends of mine are ardent Southampton fans, the rumour is it will be a 1-nil result.

Enjoy the match, i am of into town to browse the camera shop windows.

David