cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

For general work, I believe something around 100mm is a good choice. There are also some great lenses in the 150-200mm range. Although I do own a 60mm, I bought that specifically for copying slides and negatives. Best of luck.

RSQRD Loc: SW Florida

Look for a used Sigma 150mm older model w/o VC

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

U
He did not ask for advice on a good closeup lens but rather a good macro lens. I think you assume too much.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Why not Nikon's? I believe it is a 105.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

Tokina 100mm f2.8.

zzzynick Loc: Colorado

I have a Tamron G2 90mm, I like it.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

I have the Nikon l05mm f2.8. Sharp lens. However...my main interest is insects and flowers. Most people who do insects do so with a macro 150-200mm (depending on brand) for greater working distance. So consider what you are wanting to do in macro work.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

They are ALL good ! .....On FF, I think I would go for the Sigma 150 and use a 1.4X if needed with the tripod collar. There is also an older version of the Sigma 70mm for Nikon - IF you can find one.

..

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

I chose the 90mm Tamron, mainly because I am using it on a crop sensor (135mm FOV) and it got great reviews, plus it has a decent working distance for flowers and insects - it's very very sharp and also does double duty as a GP portrait lens. But the others are great lenses too - the Tokina 100mm is a great value and a very good lens, and the 105 Nikon is great too. Generally I would avoid a Sigma lens with a few exceptions. It's hard to go wrong with macro except for too short focal length such as the 60mm.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

You're on the right track. For your first/only macro lens I'd recommend focal lengths in the 90, 100, 105mm range on a full frame camera (crop cameras can use 60mm and 70mm, too). This is just a good compromise for general purpose, "walk around" macro shooting. Shorter and longer focal length macro are available, but tend to be a bit more specialized or limiting in their uses.

Any shorter and you'll be very close to many small subjects. (But this can be good for indoor "tabletop studio" work, with controlled lighting.)

Any longer gets a lot harder to hold steady without a tripod. Depth of field is very shallow and you end up stopping down more, using slower shutter speeds to compensate... compounding the problem. (But long focal lengths can be necessary for especially shy subjects.... or critters that bite or sting and/or are venemous!)

You really don't need to worry much about image quality.... pretty much all the macros available are capable of making very high quality images. It's their focal lengths, prices and other features that set them apart from each other.

The Sigma 105mm is very attractive at it's current sale price (about $570). That's a huge $400 discount off what it was selling for not long ago (when it was one of the highest priced). I suspect Sigma is clearing the shelves for a new model coming soon. But the current model is very good and is one of the most full featured available, with: internal focusing (doesn't increase in length when focused closer), OS image stabilization (two modes), Sigma's faster HSM ultrasonic focus drive, and a three stage focus limiter.

Tamron actually makes two different 90mm macro lenses (tho they aren't both available in all mounts). The more expensive one (approx. $650) is internal focusing, has VC image stabilization, uses their faster USD focus drive, has full time manual focus (override AF), and has a three stage focus limiter. The less expensive one is not IF, doesn't have VC, uses a slower micro motor focus drive that doesn't provide full time manual focus override and has a simple, two stage focus limiter.

Tokina AT-X Pro 100mm macro lens is typically the least expensive (currently on sale for $350). However.... IMPORTANT: the Nikon mount version does not have an in-lens focus motor, so can only autofocus on cameras that provide focus drive with an in-body focus motor (i.e., it will be a manual focus only lens on the D3000/D5000-series cameras, among others). In mounts for camera systems other than Nikon this lens has a slower type of micro motor built into the lens itself. It is not IF, the versions with built-in motor use a slower/noisier micro motor, has a "focus clutch" mechanism that requires you shift it out of AF mode to MF mode before manual focusing, doesn't have any images stabilization and has a simple, two stage focus limiter.

- Regarding image stabilization... it's of limited help at higher magnifications. Don't expect much from it at full 1:1. It can provide 3 to 4 stops of assistance when using the lens at non-macro distances.

- Regarding focus drive.... lenses that use an ultrasonic form of AF drive are faster and quieter than lenses that use a micro motor. However, all macro lenses are slower focusing because they have to move their focusing elements a long, long way to be able to focus from infinity to 1:1 at about 12 inches (90, 100, 105mm lenses) from the film/sensor plane of the camera. Also, macro lenses typically use "long throw focus" design that emphasizes accuracy over speed, because depth of field can be very shallow and intolerant of any focus error at high magnifications.

Ultrasonic forms of AF drive also allow "full time manual" override... which can be especially handy when shooting macro. For example, this means you can simply fine tune with manual focus or can deliberately de-focus the lens to cause AF to re-focus at any time, without concern. Micro motor lenses don't allow this. You have to switch off AF, set them to MF before it's possible to focus them manually. In fact, with their Focus Clutch" design, the Tokina's manual focus ring is disconnected and does nothing when the lens is set to AF. Other micro motor lenses might not fully disconnect the manual focus ring, but it shouldn't be used when the lens is set to AF or the mechanisms might be damaged.

- Regarding focus limiters.... these allow the user to restrict the lens' AF to working within a certain focus range, in order to speed up the focus performance. The simpler ones have just a single reduced range setting (it varies depending upon the lens) and full range setting. The more sophisticated ones offer a couple different restricted ranges, along with the full range setting. For example, they might have one setting that restricts the lens to non-macro distances, another that restricts it to only high magnification range, and the full range setting.

- Regarding internal focusing.... a lens with this does not increase in length when focused closer, further reducing the distance between the subject and the front of the lens at the highest magnifications. However, IF lenses start out larger. Non-IF lenses can be more compact when focused to infinity, but may double in length or nearly so, when focused to full 1:1. IF lenses also actually change their focal length a bit when focused closer, though this isn't something you notice when using them.

I use Canon gear with six different macro and close-up lenses, on both crop and full frame cameras: 45mm, 60mm (crop only), 90mm, 100mm, 180mm and an ultra high magnification 65mm. My 100mm is by far my most used, especially on full frame. (60mm is quite compact so I carry and use it fairly often too, but only on APS-C crop cameras.)

Someone mention tripod collars and that's another feature I really like on a macro lens. I often use a tripod or at least a monopod with my macro lenses. HOWEVER, among what's available for Nikon, you'd have to go to a 150mm, 180mm or 200mm macro before you can get a lens with a tripod ring. AFAIK, no shorter focal length macro for Nikon are avail. with a t'pod ring. (It's one of the things I like about my Canon... Both their avail. 100mm's can optionally be fitted with a ring, and I've done so with mine. My 65mm and 180mm both also have tripod rings).

Hope this helps you decide!

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I really like my Tokina 100mm.

Hbuk66 Loc: Oswego, NY

I use the Tokina 100 2.8 and the Nikon micro 60 2.8D... both are great...

pendennis

I'm going to "pile on" here, and recommend the Nikon 105 f/2.8. I've been using it for around 18 months, bought it new, and love it. Outstanding flat field lens.

I also have an older manual focus Micro Nikkor 100mm f/4 AI-s, that's very sharp. I used it with my manual focus cameras (F2, F3, FM2, etc.).

DannyKaye Loc: Sheffield now but soon moving to Blanzay

I have a lot of macro lenses, generally af is not a lot of use, so there are several things I would suggest looking at.
Tamron 90mm macro, in almost any incarnation, but the recent ones have VR.
Nikkor 105mm micro, again the latest one is worth having.
Good 2x and 1.4x converters, I use Kenco and Nikon ones, with either of the above lenses they will increase the subject distance at 1:1.
Nikkor 200mm f/4 macro, the old manual focus Ai or the new one if you are rich. The old one is amazing, easy to focus and works well. Best of all because it is MF no one wants it so it can be cheap.
Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro, great lens, especially if you are photographing documents, still useful for a lot of macro just not as good as a longer lens.

Personally I have tried a lot of Sigma lenses and just don’t get on with them.

Danny

MauiMoto Loc: Hawaii

Micro Nikkor 200mm f4.