achenator

Interested in a macro lens for my Nikon D80. I am mainly interested in taking up close pictures of my aquarium inhabitants. Any ideas?

ChodTheWacko

How big are your fish exactly?

Macro lenses are only necessary if you are taking pictures of very small things. For example, a typical macro lens has a 1:1 magnification, which means you can take pictures of things as small as 24x16mm. (1x the size of your sensor). That's less than an inch long.

My experiences with macro lenses is that they are for taking pictures of tiny things, or more often - for parts of things. Tiny bits of surface texture or
whatever. Flowers, for example, are way too big to require a macro lens.

I got a macro lens, and just couldn't get used to thinking in terms of macro.
It now basically sits in my closet.

- Frank

achenator

Mainly I was thinking of up close pictures of my corals.

zguy95135

You would only need a macro for that if you had the camera in the water, an inch or two away from the subject. A zoom or a good prime lens would be fine for what you want to do.

moeronn

Not necessarily. Most standard lenses have a minimum focusing distance of a few feet. If you put your lens up to the tank glass, you may be too close to focus with a non-macro lens.

I just have no clue about Nikon lenses, but I believe many of the off-brand lenses come in Nikon mount and have macro capability.

jupitersolo

If you have some money and want a true macro lens, there's the Zeiss 100mm f2, about $1600 (can't wait to buy this one). Others would be Nikon 105mm micro2.8 VR about $800, the there's Sigma with a 105mm, 150mm or 180mm. There are also some older Nikons that I couldn't begin to talk about.

But I think a good zoom 70-200mm or 200mm prime would work best for aquarium shots.

Dan Martin

I like fast prime more than a macro for shooting my aquarium critters. Extension tubes work great if you need to get closer than the minimum focus distance.

zguy95135

The 105mm VR Micro is a great lens . The VR doesn't do a whole lot, but it's so sharp.

Sarlacc

I have my friends old 105mm Nikkor. Metal housing with built in hood.

I dont play with it nearly as much as I should.

achenator

I think this is the problem I'm having.

moeronn

Do you have any links to suggested tube/lens combinations for specific distances? When I tried tubes, the focus range was so small, that I wouldn't think to use it for moving objects. Sure, that might work for corral, but not for the fish.

Dan Martin

Here's a good calculator that will make a chart for any lens: http://www.flybacon.com/Cameras/Macro.aspx

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

50mm 1.4 i got some good fish shots http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcrazya...7611493974005/

18-200 vr

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcrazyaznl/3131659552/" title="_DSC9770 copy by lcrazyaznl, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/3131659552_fcc06685e5.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="_DSC9770 copy" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcrazyaznl/3131661772/" title="_DSC9884 copy by lcrazyaznl, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/3131661772_2e96e6bc0a.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="_DSC9884 copy" /></a>

I can;t say all are great but had to work with low light and the inside light.
Also some times a flashed helped or made the glass glare worse,

moeronn

^^ Thanks. Those are really some razor thin DoF numbers it comes up with. Just a quick calc with a 50mm on the 30D with a 12mm tube yields only 1.2 mm DoF. @ f/1.8 and 45 cm

Though, I'm confused about the output size.