What lens?

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Stubbsy27

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I am pretty new to photography so just looking for a bit of advise, what would be a good cheap end of the market lens for a Nikon d3100 camera for nature mainly close up of animals and mainly insects to get the fine detail and also a good flash attachment? Thanks in advance
 
Unfortunately getting close means spending money for macro lenses. I did hear of a very cheap and cheerful method of getting close-ups and that was using a magnifier on the front of any existing lens. My son used to have one but for the life of me I can't remember who made it. It was seriously cheap though and although the pictures you could get through it were usually rubbish, there was a sweet spot where objects were in focus and pretty clear.

Although I've never tried on them on modern lenses, there are things called extension tubes which have no glass but extend the focal length of any lens. They are a b****r to focus, so small is the depth of field, and I'm not sure they work that well on modern AF lenses.

In days gone by when I used a Nikon FM2n there was a method I occasionally used wherein I turned a 50mm lens round and using an adapter fitted it back to the camera making a close focus lens, it worked reasonably well but I don't think you could do that these days.
 
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Hi thanks for your replys, my budget is £200 max really
 
Extension tubes ..Quote .....but extend the focal length of any lens No they do not
...and I'm not sure they work that well on modern AF lenses. Yes they do if they have the contacts or screw drive built in

Rockwell has some good advice on macro photography ...dont use a tripod VR and Flash read up on his site
 
ShinySideUp said:
In days gone by when I used a Nikon FM2n there was a method I occasionally used wherein I turned a 50mm lens round and using an adapter fitted it back to the camera making a close focus lens, it worked reasonably well but I don't think you could do that these days.
Click to expand...

Of course you can.
 
ShinySideUp said:
In days gone by when I used a Nikon FM2n there was a method I occasionally used wherein I turned a 50mm lens round and using an adapter fitted it back to the camera making a close focus lens, it worked reasonably well but I don't think you could do that these days.
Click to expand...

Yes. You can. It's not being backwards that makes it a macro lens though, it's just moving the lenses optical centre forward allowing it to focus closer - just as an extension tube does with the lens the right way round.

I used to do it just holding the lens up to the camera. No adaptor needed!


Steve.
 
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Extension tubes are fairly inexpensive. The budget ones don't have contacts to let the lens communicate with the camera, so they're completely manual, but you can get them with the contacts to maintain AE and AF if you want to. Not sure I'd bother, it's often easier to move the camera until the subject is in focus, even with a macro lens; but the small/dim viewfinders on crop bodies aren't designed for any sort of MF and can make it a bit tricky. Quite feasible though.

Reversing a standard lens was popular in the film days and works well. The adapters, which screw into the filter thread, are still available but Steve's method is good too. Close up lenses - which look like clear filters - are another option, but the optical quality usually leaves a bit to be desired. Tubes and reversing the standard lens avoid that.

You should be able to find a Nikon micro lens for around £200 second hand if you look around. Longer is usually better for insects, because it lets you maintain more distance and some get spooked easily and/or sting.

Can't help you with flash suggestions. My Nikon cameras are both film, and I still use my old Vivitar 283 with them. Someone will come along and advise.
 
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You can get a cheap ring flash

you can reverse a 50mm Nikon MF lens

you can buy an old Nikon fit MF lens macro zoom

lots of cheap options, depend on what quality you need to achieve .......... skill, practice and lighting are really important

Go through the Macro sections and you will see the range of equipment that you can use, how to modify it etc., etc.

It is really a fascinating subject but it is not at all easy to get good results
 
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