Noob all over again...

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Dread
Posts: 85
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:48 am

Noob all over again...

Post by Dread »

...but fortunately the learning curve isn't too steep!

I finally decided on a new system: Nikon D300 and 60mm Nikkor micro lens. While it isn't the most convenient or portable option, I am very excited about what the future holds!

This is my first SLR, and these are some of my first "play around way past midnight shots to calm the nerves" photos. I'm already very pleased with how well it handles these difficult subjects, and some day (soon?) I'll be more comfortable with the plethora of options available to me.

These are Tanichthys albonubes, a fairly common aquarium fish. From China originally (discovered by a boyscout leader), there are no longer any wild populations.

Image

Image

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Looks as though the new outfit works fine there Dread. :D I use a Canon 30D with a 60mm macro and get pretty good images from it, though the 60mm does not have that long stand off of my 100mm macro but still provides me with that 1:1 ratio. I am presently considering a Sigma 150 macro for an even greater stand off, so as not to spook things away, such as butterflies and other skittish insects and maybe some small animals. :D

DaveW
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:29 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Post by DaveW »

The thing is the 60mm Macro lens has gained a bit of a new lease of life with the digital APS sensor due to it's 1.5 or 1.6 crop factor. It now has the same angle of view on a Nikon as a 90mm on full frame 35mm, or 96mm for a Canon. Admitted the working distance is the same at 1:1, but you do normally effectively gain extra working distance because you can fill the smaller APS frame from further away than with full frame 35mm.

The 90mm-105mm range used to be the classic insect lens on full frame 35mm.

DaveW

Dread
Posts: 85
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:48 am

Post by Dread »

I always enjoy your comments Dave, they make consider what I'm reading and how that compares to what I know! Last night I was perched next to the aquariumseeing what worked and what didn't. We have 7' snow banks already, but as soon as there are insects about I'll see if this lens works for me in other scenarios :)

I look forward to the progress of your consideration of the Sigma 150. In my quick reading I saw it doesn't have an aperture ring... would that make incompatible with some camera models?

LordV
Posts: 1571
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:28 am
Location: UK

Post by LordV »

Lovely photos and nice looking fish
Brian V.
www.flickr.com/photos/lordv
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65

arlon
Posts: 146
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:52 am
Location: Houston
Contact:

Post by arlon »

Dread wrote: We have 7' snow banks already, but as soon as there are insects about I'll see if this lens works for me in other scenarios :)
Come to houston, we had 7" of rain this month and flowers and bugs are holding up nicely. No snow here that's for sure. Only problem for me this time of year is getting home just about sundown every day.
D50,100 IR, 90, 700, 800E and a box of old manual lenses.

DaveW
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:29 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Post by DaveW »

Hi Dread,

Nikon "G" type lenses do not have an aperture ring because the aperture is set by most digital camera bodies now (I think Canon has been like this for a long time?). With the normal "D" type lenses (like the 60mm Micro Nikkor) that have an aperture ring you have to set it to it's smallest aperture when mounted on the camera and then use the camera dials to set the aperture, not the lens. The aperture ring was continued on the "D" type lenses for a long time so they were compatible with old Nikon film cameras where the aperture was set on the lens, not by the camera.

With lenses in conventional use this is not important, the one time the aperture ring is useful on a Nikon though is on the shorter Macro lenses like your 60mm, where if you put it on extension (like bellows or tubes) to work far above 1:1 it is best to reverse the lens. The advantage in this case of Nikon over Canon lenses is the Nikon lenses stop down to their smallest aperture when taken off the camera, so you can then use the aperture ring to set what aperture you require. With Canon's I believe they fly open to maximum aperture off camera and you need an expensive bit of kit to fix on the bayonet to control the aperture when reversed.

One other unique feature about Nikon's is your camera shows you what is the effective aperture your lens is working at, not the relative aperture marked on the lens. I have had my D200 indicate my 60mm Micro Nikkor was set to an effective aperture smaller than f32, which is the lenses smallest aperture.

This of course was true because the lens was far enough extended so its effective aperture was less than the minimum marked on the lens. No need to do the sums for added extension therefore to find if diffraction could be a problem because the camera itself, unlike other makes that simply show only the relative aperture marked on the lens, had already worked it out for me.

The only Nikon a lack of aperture ring on the Sigma (or Nikon "G" lens)would make it incompatible with would be some of the old Nikon film cameras. In fact the D40 and D40X are the first Nikon's that can only work with the latest "S" type USM motored lenses and cannot use the older "D" lenses like your 60mm Micro Nikkor as they do not have the motor in the body needed for the older "screwdriver drive" type lenses.

For a key to the Nikon codes see:-

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikortek.htm

I don't know the Sigma 150 but it gets good reviews:-

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses ... /index.htm

When you get old like me Arlon you have the sense to stop inside in the warm and dry in front of a computer instead of going out taking photographs in bad weather!

DaveW
Last edited by DaveW on Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Dread
Posts: 85
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:48 am

Post by Dread »

Ha ha, sounds like a paradise! There's a period in early November where you commute into the sun on the horizon (either to or from work), now though it's dark when you get to work and dark when you leave. Hard on the soul!

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