Macro Photography
Discussion
I'm looking at buying a Macro lens for my Nikon d3100 I found this one on Amazon anyone used it before?
Will it be a good lens for close-ups and is there anything else I'm going to need to take good shots.
Amazon is selling this for £76 sounds like a good price for lens?
Nikon AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D Lens
Will it be a good lens for close-ups and is there anything else I'm going to need to take good shots.
Amazon is selling this for £76 sounds like a good price for lens?
Nikon AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D Lens
Many people swear by this inexpensive fast lens. It can be useful in low-light situations or when you want a very shallow DoF, but personally I had no use for it for MY photography when I had it. It made a great paper-weight though!
True macro lens will give you a 1:1 magnification by itself. 100mm f2.8 is the standard. You can get 50mm too but the working distance is shorter, so it may not be suitable for some subjects (e.g. shy insects).
True macro lens will give you a 1:1 magnification by itself. 100mm f2.8 is the standard. You can get 50mm too but the working distance is shorter, so it may not be suitable for some subjects (e.g. shy insects).
You would use it for anything and everything depending on what you're trying to achieve. A 50mm on a full frame camera gives a field of view similar to the human eye, so photos would reflect what you actually see. On a crop sensor you have an equivalent of around 75mm, which may be useful for portraits.
They are cheap and light, don't stick out like a sore thumb (good for candids), and at f/1.8 (or f/1.4 for the more expensive version) let in a lot of light removing the need for a flash in some cases, at the expense of depth of field. That narrow depth of field is also a selling point. Stopped down a bit they (primes) are usually very sharp too.
Bang for buck I think everyone should have one.
They are cheap and light, don't stick out like a sore thumb (good for candids), and at f/1.8 (or f/1.4 for the more expensive version) let in a lot of light removing the need for a flash in some cases, at the expense of depth of field. That narrow depth of field is also a selling point. Stopped down a bit they (primes) are usually very sharp too.
Bang for buck I think everyone should have one.
milner993 said:
.... a good lens for close-ups and is there anything else I'm going to need to take good shots.
Depends upon what you are intending to photograph (and how close you want to get)Other needs:
Stability - a damn good tripod
Lighting - again depends what you are intending to shoot and how close you want to get.
milner993 said:
Yeah I would rather like the AF version makes life easier in some cases I guess I need a little more knowledge before I purchase something
Whilst most macro lenses for your sort of camera have autofocus, it isn't very useful for macro-photography. Most likely you'll find yourself using manual focus.Anyway, if you want to get closer than your current lens allows you've got a few good choices:
- Extension tubes. These go between your existing lens and the camera and allow it to focus more closely. E.g.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Polaroid-Focus-Extension-D...
- Close-up filter. This goes on to the front of your existing lens and magnifies the view. E.g.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raynox-DCR-250-Macro-Attac...
- A specialist macro lens. These can be used in conjunction with the above and can be used for normal photos too. E.g.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-Micro-NIKKOR-85...
- Extension tubes. These go between your existing lens and the camera and allow it to focus more closely. E.g.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Polaroid-Focus-Extension-D...
The extension tubes seem to be a good idea and would fit into my bag I might look a little more closly at these
Thank you everyone for all your comments you have all really helped
The extension tubes seem to be a good idea and would fit into my bag I might look a little more closly at these
Thank you everyone for all your comments you have all really helped
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