Macro lens for Nikon?

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spacester

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I have a d5100, plus other bits and bobs, but no dedicated macro lens. Work wants me to take some macro photos of damage done to materials when exposed to non-ionising radiation (basically, stuff gets scorched/burned). They offered to buy me a dedicate macro to do the job, up to about £700.

A nice deal in my opinion.

I was thinking about the Nikor Micro AFS f2.8 105mm VR. Thoughts? It's quite a meaty lens for such a small body..... Anything else I should consider? I could go for a cheaper 60mm, but then I would be under budget... A bad precedence to set...
 
There is also the 90mm tamron which is also excellent.
 
I have the Sigma OS 105mm Macro and it's a very fine lens indeed. I'm a Canon user and I found it sharper than the L series lens that has the IS feature so plumbed for it as it's quite a bit cheaper too.
 
That is also under budget!!! Can you not make a deal with the shop to get 2 lenses and you only show one?? Tbh. Very dishonest. I would go with the 105 in this instance.
 
Buy the lens and a macro-light then! That might take you over budget so go back and ask for more money :D
I once did some work for work and had to buy a bellows, macro lens and light and also got paid for working at home doing the pictures - many many moons ago that was.
 
I had the older 150mm Sigma lens a couple of years ago. Nice sharp lens and a joy to use but it's BIG and I was glad it had a tripod collar on it as it definitely needed it. The OS version will help when taking hand-held shots if they're needed.
 
I only recently sold my Nikon 105mm and bought that Sigma 150 OS - it's a fantastic lens for the money for sure. But if I was still on crop I'd have kept the 105mm. It's as good as you can get up to the 105 range. I just wanted something a little longer, to couble as a nice portrait/tele too. Both are brill though.
 
I'd recommend the sigma 150. An epic lens. Unfortunately I have to sell mine, but I'll be looking for another as soon as i can!
 
Hadge said:
Buy the lens and a macro-light then! That might take you over budget so go back and ask for more money :D
I once did some work for work and had to buy a bellows, macro lens and light and also got paid for working at home doing the pictures - many many moons ago that was.
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I second that as I find the macro ring flash very handy in low light situation
 
Thanks all. I never considered the Sigma 150... I've had a bad experience with 3rd party lenses, so I know it really depends on what lens you get (of courses it's probably the same for Nikor.... But I have had a better hit rate with them). Would 150 be too large for a crop sensor? Also, I might upgrade toFX at some point, so is the sigma 150 FX compatible?
 
The Nikkor 105mm Micro VR is a bit over £600 and the VC version of the Tamron is a similar price (the non stabilised version is considerably cheaper). The OS Sigma 105 is around £550. OS/VC/VR is of limited use in Macro but is handy when the lenses are being used as shortish telephotos or portrait lenses. There's little to cjose between the Sigma and Tamron non stabilised lenses and I would imagine that the stabilised versions are also very similar. The Nikkor does have a slight edge over both though IMO.

FWIW, my money went on a Tamron 90mm at first but I recently upgraded to the Nikkor having found a private buyer for the Tamron. I originally ended up with the Tamron since it came up for sale locally on a second hand shelf before a Sigma did - I would have been happy with either!

ETA, all 3 of the lenses I've mentionned are FF compatible but my Tamron was screw driven so wouldn't AF on your body. The 150mm Sigma is also a DG lens so FF suitable but I'm not sure it's HSM (Sigma's version of AF-S).
 
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Hadge said:
Buy the lens and a macro-light then! That might take you over budget so go back and ask for more money :D
I once did some work for work and had to buy a bellows, macro lens and light and also got paid for working at home doing the pictures - many many moons ago that was.
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What is a good macro light? There are several available. Could be I go for a cheaper lens (e.g 80mm Nikor) and a light :-) I am happy with the deal of £700 for a few evenings work, especially as the actual damage bit of the project is my job (just they didn't know how to image the damage, so I suggested a good way of doing it.....). I dnt want to go back for more....
 
rajp said:
There is also the 90mm tamron which is also excellent.
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I have this lens and it is indeed excellent. It's very very sharp and a joy to use.
 
Nod said:
The 150mm Sigma is also a DG lens so FF suitable but I'm not sure it's HSM (Sigma's version of AF-S).
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It is. Full title is: 150mm 1:2.8 APO MACRO DG HSM OS

It is quiet as the Nikon, just as snappy to focus too. It'll hunt at 1:1, just like the Nikon, but you should be manual focusing at that point really. On any macro lens.
 
spacester said:
What is a good macro light? There are several available. Could be I go for a cheaper lens (e.g 80mm Nikor) and a light :-) I am happy with the deal of £700 for a few evenings work, especially as the actual damage bit of the project is my job (just they didn't know how to image the damage, so I suggested a good way of doing it.....). I dnt want to go back for more....
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I have this one with my 105 f2.8

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nissin-MF18...ZNJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360433841&sr=8-1
 
spacester said:
Fleabay isn't an option. Needs to be bought with a corporate purchasing card (visa), and finance are funny how it's used....
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its a company on fleabay contact them seperately to buy with visa/purchase order...
 
If on FF, the 150mm Sigma is very hard to beat IMO. On DX, I'd go for the Tamron 90mm unless you absolutely must have the 105mm VR.
 
OP is on DX, so I'd find it hard to push the sigma 150, but, it does have lovely creamy bokeh and if you're using it mostly outdoors then it wouldn't matter so much.

The 105mm is pretty great for teh bokeh too -


Thaw 1 by Cagey75, on Flickr
 
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These were taken with the Nikkor 105mm on my D5100, slight exposure bump on the water, otherwise untouched for all of them. The flower and the leaf were also taken handheld.
 
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Thanks all.

I think probably the Nikor 105 is the best bet. It's future proof (eventually I will go from DX to FX), whereas the 150 Sigma I think is a bit too large a focal length for DX I currently have if I were to use it as a portraits prime (is that right?) and the Tamron 90 isn't FX compatible.

Of course, the only problem is that I wouldn't get a ring flash within my budget. That'll be my birthday present then!
 
spacester said:
Thanks all.

I think probably the Nikor 105 is the best bet. It's future proof (eventually I will go from DX to FX), whereas the 150 Sigma I think is a bit too large a focal length for DX I currently have if I were to use it as a portraits prime (is that right?) and the Tamron 90 isn't FX compatible.
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The Tamron is compatible with full-frame...what made you think it wasn't? The Tamron is also a fantastic lens (and length) for portraits on both cropped and full-frame sensors.
 
Well in the end, I discounted the Sigma 150 as it is a bit too long on the DX. So it was a choice between the Nikon 105 and the Tamron 90, thanks to your great advice. After looking at the internet, it seems that the Tamron is indeed a cracking lens for image quality, but some reviews noted that it doesn't have internal focussing. Not sure if they have updated the model since the review, but I didn't like this....

Anyway, since it is also a cracking lens for image quality, a shiny new Nikon 105 is winging it way towards my work as we speak, expected delivery Wednesday. It might be £200 more, but on the scale of the £1.5M equipment budget the project I am on has, it pales into insignificance.

Thanks guys for all the help!

Now I have some time, back to my 52 that I am waaaay too late on :-)
 
The most useful lens in this category, for me, is the Nikon Zoom Micro Nikkor 70-180mm. The ability to zoom in or out from the subject just makes this type of work so easy. If you want to take that lens to 1:1 and beyond just add a Nikon T6 filter. I have the 60mm 2.8 AF-S and used to have the 105mm. I use neither of them, always opting for the 70-180mm instead.

There's a review you can read here:

http://www.bythom.com/70180Macrolens.htm

The only downside is the cost. The lens was discontinued some time ago and is quite sought after and therefore not cheap. I think there was one on Sales Forum here not long ago. Not sure if it's still for sale.
 
Yeah I did consider that lens, but there were two problems with it. Firstly, it's a work purchase and they wouldn't/couldn't settle for 2nd hand. Secondly, it's not AFS and my current camera doesn't have a focus motor. Not a problem for macro work, but if I were to use it for anything else, then I wouldn't be able to autofocus.

It is a cracking lens, though, agreed. If only Nikon did a 5:1 lens, like Canon....
 
spacester said:
Yeah I did consider that lens, but there were two problems with it. Firstly, it's a work purchase and they wouldn't/couldn't settle for 2nd hand. Secondly, it's not AFS and my current camera doesn't have a focus motor. Not a problem for macro work, but if I were to use it for anything else, then I wouldn't be able to autofocus.

It is a cracking lens, though, agreed. If only Nikon did a 5:1 lens, like Canon....
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Ahh, I'm with you. Well, keep in mind your camera is DX, right? With the 60mm you're going to get a working focal length of about 90mm which is quite comfortable for this kind of work. If you were on full frame I'd say go for the 105mm but on DX I personally find the 60mm more comfortable and more usable for other types of photography, too.
 
Already gone for the 105 - it's future proof that way :-) At some point, if for example the c d800 keeps dropping like a someone of a d800 keeps dropping like a stone, I would dearly like to upgrade to FX :-)
 
Well the 105 has arrived. I've played with it and I think I have made a mistake. It's the best lens I own by a very long way. Problem is, it totally dwarfs my d5100. So now I find myself lusting after a lovely FX body to compensate. That'll be more money then..... :-) And a divorce if I get one.... This hobby is going to get veeeery expensive....

The lens is a cracker though.... Thanks all for the help :-)
 
You don't have to get an FX body, you could always go for one of the "prosumer" bodies like a D7000.
 
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