soundsofmusic

I am relatively new to macro pics,and I just bought a used d90,and I want to be able to take closeup pics of some things I sell on ebay.I would like some advice on the best bang for the buck on a good used macro lens for the d90.
Thanks
Jim

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

If you need to go cheap and have the "kit" 18-55mm lens add a set of close up lenses and you will be ready to go. If you want to go real macro look for a Nikon 55mm f/3.5 film camera lens. I haver one that works great on my D90. They go for about $35 on eBay. You will also want to shoot in lowest quality - It is fine for eBay and loads a lot faster than the higher quality settings. Good luck - Dave

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Seconding what wilson says. Extension tubes with a short focal length lens will take you toward 1:1 macro and even closer and will have more than acceptable picture quality for ebay. I am suggesting this assuming that you are not planning on needing the sharpest possible lens money can buy.

picsman Loc: Scotland

Look for the Tokina 100mm 2.8 macro lens, quality and good working distance combined and cheaper than other brands.

chippy65 Loc: Cambridge

Sigma 100mm f2.8 macro lens also suits the D90

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Sigma doesn't make a 100mm F2.8, they do have a 105mm F2.8 though (I have one)...

RoswellNM Loc: SW Indiana

Ditto on Tokina.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Tokina.

Kuzano

Ima Tokina guy!

Remember this or spend a of time with the wrong "macro" lenses.

Most TRUE macro lens deliver a 1:1 lifesize image.

IF you want real Macro, look for a 1:1 output. You can spin your wheels and your paycheck on lenses that say MACRO but really only get a final ratio of 1:2, 1:3 or 1:4.

Most old SLR and some digital zooms that say MACRO fall in that range, Cheap but not truly real life 1:1. MACRO is fun and rewarding unless you know what you are hoping for in real lifesize images.

There must be a final ratio of 1:1 for rewarding results to be obtained. There are inexpensive options but the word MACRO alone on the lens will lead you down a dark road on what you may be expecting. Study the information on the internet for MACRO
work.

Arizona Art Loc: SE Florida

I use a Canon EF-S 60 / f2.8. I use it on my 80D. It is a macro lens and does a real fine job. I got mine refurbished direct from Canon website. They are still available from Canon refurbished for $375.99. You won’t regret getting it.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The OP will regret it greatly should they purchase a Canon EF-S lens for the F-mount of their Nikon D90 to find ZERO ability to mount the lens to the camera ....

Arizona Art Loc: SE Florida

OOPs, my mind saw 90D and immediately jumped to Canon. Disregard using Canon lens on your D90.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

As the owner of 9 macro lenses from 55 to 180mm, some AF others are MF and there are different brands. I have found that they will all deliver. Technique tops brand names here. I also have several other "macro " lenses that aren't true macro.... I will also say that based on what you indicated, a true macro lens isn't needed for your intended use. There are many "close focus" lenses that will work for you. They may be labeled as "macro" but actually are close focusing. Bear in mind that your DSLR is a crop sensor model and the field of view of a lens is different than what it would be on a full frame DSLR. Thus a 50mm lens will have the field of view of a 75mm lens on your camera, meaning you will need to be farther away so be careful of the longer focal length lenses...

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Arguably the "best deal" in a macro lens for Nikon (incl. D90) is the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM. It is currently on sale heavily discounted: $500 off the list price of $969.... $469!

The Sigma is very similar to the top-of-the-line but now much more expensive ($809) Nikkor AI-S 105mm f/2.8 VR lens... Both have superb image quality, full 1:1 magnification capability, faster ultrasonic focusing that allows for full time manual override, image stabilization, an advanced Focus Limiter, f/2.8 max aperture and more. The Sigma and Nikkor both have image stabilization ("OS" and "VR") and are both "Internal Focusing" or "IF" lenses, which don't increase in length when focused closer. (Non-IF macro lenses, in particular, tend to increase in length very dramatically due to their very close, high magnification capable focusing ability.)

I found used Sigma 105mm Macro for Nikon F-mount at B&H Photo for $387 (current OS, HSM version) and $250 (older AF-D version without OS).

The Tokina AT-X Pro 100mm f/2.8 costs a bit less at $400 and is a popular alternative.... but is a pretty basic lens. It has fine image quality and good build... but relies upon a slower focus drive that's built into your camera (AF-"D") and has Tokina's "focus clutch" mechanism used to switch from AF to MF, which doesn't allow for full time manual override (which can be a particularly useful feature on a macro lens). It is not and IF lens. It has a focus limiter, but it's a pretty simple one. Note: There is a new Toki ATi-X 100mm macro, recently introduced and slightly more expensive at $424. I have no idea how it differs from the earlier model. On paper they appear to be almost identical.

Tamron offers two SP 90mm Macro lenses for Nikon. The older version (AF272) is also a relatively basic, though very capable macro lens selling for $449 currently. It has a built in focusing motor, but it's the slower slower micro motor type and this lens isn't IF, has a simple Focus Limiter and doesn't have image stabilization. The newer Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 VC USD (AFF017) is more expensive at $649, but full featured with faster ultrasonic focus drive, IF design, image stabilization, an advanced Focus Limiter and more.

You mention wanting to photograph items for eBay. Unless they are very small (such as jewelry) or require close up details (such as coins, wrist watches), you may not need the full 1:1 macro capabilities of the above lenses. "1:1" or "life size" macro means that an area the same size as your camera's sensor can be photographed. That sensor measures approx. 15x23mm. To put that in perspective, a Quarter (US 25 cent coin) is approx. 25mm diameter, so you could more than fill an image from your camera with one. A Dime (US 10 cent coin) is about 18mm in diameter, so would fit the width but not the height of the image area of your camera at full 1:1 magnification.

You may not need full 1:1 magnification. A lens I use a lot for small product photography maxes out around 1:3 or one third life size. That's usually more than enough magnification for the products I'm shooting.

Also, for small product "table top studio" work, you might want a shorter focal length than any of the above. At full 1:1 a 90, 100, 105mm lens will have a minimum focus distance of 11 or 12". (This is measured from the sensor plane of the camera, more about this below.) However, if what you're photographing only needs 1:3 or 1:4 or 1:5 magnification, you'll be much farther away from the subject and that might be inconvenient. For one thing, you'll need more working space to back up from the subject. At lower magnification, moderate sized objects may be difficult unless you have a large room to work.

But, another and possibly more important consideration.... When I'm shooting small products in table top studio situation, I use a shorter focal length that puts me close enough to reach out and adjust the objects while keeping my eye to the camera's viewfinder to observe the results of my tweaks to the subject. When I have a bunch of objects to shoot that are similar in size, I may even stage a number of them and swap them out, take a few shots, then swap in the next one. This is a real time saver that can be a life-saver when you've got 200 objects to photograph in an afternoon!

My "go to" lens for this purpose, when I'm using a crop sensor camera like yours, is a 45mm "Tilt Shift". It has native max magnification around 1:3, which is sufficient for the subjects I'm shooting.... and it puts me close enough to the work so I can use the above time-saving technique. The lens' tilt and shift movements also can be useful dealing with depth of field, controlling perspective and dodging reflections. Now, Nikon offers several "perspective control" lenses... 45mm that would be good on a crop sensor and 85mm that would be good on full frame. However, they are very expensive at around $2000 each! (Used and refurbished, approx. $1500.) These are also manual focus only lenses.

I'm not really suggesting those, unless you do a ton of business and have a large budget for lenses!

Instead, look at macro lenses in the 50mm to 60mm range of focal lengths... or use non-macro lenses of similar focal length that might be able to focus "close enough" or can be fitted with accessories to make them closer focusing. Nikon themselves offer three 55mm or 60mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor macro lenses... an AI-S (manual focus), an AF-D (old style auto focus, works on D90) and a modern AF-S (also able to AF on D90). Those sell for $399 (55mm AI-S), $517 (60mm AF-D) and $569 (60mm AF-S).

There are even shorter focal length macro lenses.... 40mm, 35mm, etc. However, I'd be a bit concerned that those might have too little working distance at their higher magnification. It's one of the trickier things to determine, what "working distance" the lens actually has.... the distance between the front of the lens and the subject at the closest focusing distance. Lens specifications typically don't include working distance. They instead give you Minimum Focus Distance or "MFD", which isn't the same thing. MFD is measured from the image sensor to the subject.... So part of the camera (approx. 1.75") and the length of the lens itself take up some of that distance. This can be very significant, leaving very little working distance with short focal lengths. But, at the same time, with longer focal lengths "too much" working distance as milder magnifications can be a problem. So you have to first decide how much magnification you're likely to need, then look for focal lengths that provide the "right amount" of working distance. You may need to do some math to calculate working distance.... and will have to take into account (and possibly search out info) about non-IF lenses that increase in length dramatically when focused closer.

Personally I shoot with Canon gear and for various purposes use 45mm, 60mm, 90mm, 100mm and 180mm close-up and macro lenses, as well as an ultra high magnification 65mm.

Some previous responses have also mentioned using non-macro lenses with accessories to do close-up work. That's certainly a real possibility and can be a rather inexpensive solution.

You don't mention what lenses you already have and some of them might serve. But, for example, the Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm lens is able to do 0.31X magnification on its own (slightly less than 1:3). By adding auxiliary close-up lens to the front of the lens or by adding a macro extension tube behind it, you can make it able to focus closer and render even higher magnification. Personally I recommend using macro extension tubes because they don't need any optics (the Kenko set is high quality at a reasonable cost). Auxiliary lenses added to the front, like a filter, can compromise image quality. Especially the cheaper ones. Extension tubes generally have little effect on image quality.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The current Nikkor AF-P 18-55mm is not an option to use on a D90. The new AF-P lenses are not able to autofocus on your camera and will likely be incompatible in some other ways. The older Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm would be a better and more fully compatible choice of lens for your camera.

Finally, I noted in the lens descriptions above that some macro lenses use faster ultrasonic focus drive, some use slower micro motors built into the lens, while others still are "AF-D" type that has no AF motor in the lens and relies upon a focusing motor in the Nikon camera body, which is only found on select models (so the lens will be manual focus only on many Nikon cameras). Your D90 has that in-camera focusing motor, so no worries for you... but it will effect the lens' value in the future if you ever resell it. The in-camera focus drive also isn't as fast as the in-lens AF-S (ultrasonic) focus drive system. HOWEVER, macro lenses in general aren't as fast auto focusing as their non-macro counterparts. Macro lenses tend to use "long throw" focus mechanisms that emphasize precision over speed. This is because at higher magnifications Depth of Field can be very shallow and focus needs to be more accurate.

Also, I noted several of the above lenses have images stabilization (Nikon VR, Sigma OS and Tamron VC). While this can be helpful for non-macro shooting distances, it's of much less assistance at high magnifications. It's a popular feature, nice to have and may add to the cost of a lens, just don't expect it to perform miracles at high mag... A tripod or at least a monopod is often still an important accessory!