Macro lens for Nikon D70

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I'd like to choose a quality macro lens for the D70.
B&H offers two that interest me. There's a 55 mm manual
focus USA Nikkor - and there's a 60 mm Nikkor autofocus
lens with 1:1 magnification. Interestingly the manual
focus (1:2) lens costs more. I wonder why. Which
lens is preferable if *sharpness* (not price) is the
first consideration

Judging by the pricing, there must be a parameter
I'm missing

Thanks.
Luk



http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co [...] &image.y=8

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Ken Tough wrote:
> luk <luknofurther@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>>I'd like to choose a quality macro lens for the D70.
>>B&H offers two that interest me. There's a 55 mm manual
>>focus USA Nikkor - and there's a 60 mm Nikkor autofocus
>>lens with 1:1 magnification. Interestingly the manual
>>focus (1:2) lens costs more. I wonder why. Which
>>lens is preferable if *sharpness* (not price) is the
>>first consideration
>
>
> Have you tried shooting MF on the D70 yet? I wouldn't recommend it,
> since the focussing screen is not all that great.
>
> You could consider the 105mm/f2.8 too, though that's considerably
> more expensive. Judging by objective measurements, the 60mm is
> an extremely sharp lens. I wouldn't necessarily assume price is
> directly equated to quality/performance; it could be that the more
> expensive one is just harder to acquire. I'm considering the
> 60mm myself.
>
>
You can pick up good 55mm 2.8 and 3.5 AI micro-nikkors cheap second hand
(I just sold a nice one for US$ 50). But not only will you not get
autofocus, but you also won't get metering on a D70. Also, if you do
stuff closer than 1:2, having to muck around with an extension tube is a
pain in the neck - and a good method to help get dust on your sensor -
which you will see very clearly on macro shots taken at very small
apertures. Try 105mm as well as 60mm. If you like 105mm, then look at
Sigma 105mm EX. IMO the Nikkor advantage is mechanical quality. The
Sigma 2 stage focus option improves (but doesn't completely solve) one
difficulty that these lenses present - it takes an eon for the lenses to
focus from 1:1 to infinity and back - and sods law ensures that the lens
will do that at the most critical moment. Most of your sharpness issues
with any of these lenses on a D70 are going to relate to focussing (the
screen isn't brilliant for MF, and as mentioned above, you will find AF
extremely annoying at times), and controlling mirror induced camera shake.
The 105mm is also a useful and quite fast f2.8 medium telephoto, and the
60mm a good portrait lens.
Incidentally, I have had reasonable (much better than I expected)
results with a 13mm tube on the kit 18-70 zoom, at 50mm and above.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"luk" <luknofurther@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:86SdnTuaTsxdKcvfRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
> I'd like to choose a quality macro lens for the D70.
> B&H offers two that interest me. There's a 55 mm manual
> focus USA Nikkor - and there's a 60 mm Nikkor autofocus
> lens with 1:1 magnification. Interestingly the manual
> focus (1:2) lens costs more. I wonder why. Which
> lens is preferable if *sharpness* (not price) is the
> first consideration
>
> Judging by the pricing, there must be a parameter
> I'm missing
>
> Thanks.
> Luk

I have both the 60 and the 105 and they are both outstanding. It all comes
down to working distance.

Tom

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <EXFCJaA+UtVCFwLd@objectech.co.uk>, ken@objectech.co.uk says...
>
>luk <luknofurther@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>I'd like to choose a quality macro lens for the D70.
>>B&H offers two that interest me. There's a 55 mm manual
>>focus USA Nikkor - and there's a 60 mm Nikkor autofocus
>>lens with 1:1 magnification. Interestingly the manual
>>focus (1:2) lens costs more. I wonder why. Which
>>lens is preferable if *sharpness* (not price) is the
>>first consideration
>
>Have you tried shooting MF on the D70 yet? I wouldn't recommend it,
>since the focussing screen is not all that great.
>
>You could consider the 105mm/f2.8 too, though that's considerably
>more expensive. Judging by objective measurements, the 60mm is
>an extremely sharp lens. I wouldn't necessarily assume price is
>directly equated to quality/performance; it could be that the more
>expensive one is just harder to acquire. I'm considering the
>60mm myself.
>
>
>--
>Ken Tough

Love the 105mm! Have not tried the 60, but have used (actually used UP) 2 55
's, which were good lenses. Those guys got stuck on about every tube known to
mankind, plus bellows, reversed, whatever. I just liked the working distance
of the 105 and do not mind it nowadays with D70. However, with the mag ratio
of dSLRs the 60 will give you about what I got from the 105 on 35mm. I have
not tried the 55 with, or without tubes, on the D70, but think that they would
definitely be tough considering the afore mentioned focusing screen.

Hunt

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 2005/4/8 8:05 PM, "Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote:
>
> For the D70 I'd definitely get the 60mm. MF lenses are a pain to use
> on the D70. For macro work on a copy stand, it might not be so bad.

Please elaborate. I have been considering this lens. What are the pain
points? Is this a result of the dSLR format or specific to the D70?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 2005/4/9 9:44 AM, "Ed Ruf" <egruf_usenet@cox.net> wrote:

> On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 09:38:45 -0400, in rec.photo.digital Bob Haar
> <bobhaar@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> On 2005/4/8 8:05 PM, "Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> For the D70 I'd definitely get the 60mm. MF lenses are a pain to use
>>> on the D70. For macro work on a copy stand, it might not be so bad.
>>
>> Please elaborate. I have been considering this lens. What are the pain
>> points? Is this a result of the dSLR format or specific to the D70?
>
> The focusing screen on the D70 isn't great for manual focusing.

\OK. I can understand that. I would expect to bracket a number of shots
anyway, so I might have to take some extra ones to act as a "preview".

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Ken Tough wrote:

> Bob Haar <bobhaar@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>>On 2005/4/9 9:44 AM, "Ed Ruf" <egruf_usenet@cox.net> wrote:
>>
>>>The focusing screen on the D70 isn't great for manual focusing.
>>
>>\OK. I can understand that. I would expect to bracket a number of shots
>>anyway, so I might have to take some extra ones to act as a "preview".
>
>
> You can't really tell about precise focus from the LCD review on
> the back of the camera either, so you might need to download to
> computer to check you've got it right. Though if you use the
> "super zoom in" trick [Magnify, then ISO + command wheel during
> image review], you can tell a bit better about the focus.


For hand held shots chasing a bug around the yard AF is too slow for
extreme macros. I just set the focus manually & move the camera in & out
till it looks good. You can't judge perfect focus on the tiny viewfinder
but moving it back & forth you can see where the limits are on either
end and chose the middle pretty easily.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Consider the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 AF. I recently got one & was shocked at the
quality. I was previously a died-in-the-wool Nikkor lens fanatic, but no
more.