Ron Krause

Thanks for the great advise.!!!!!

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I've noted a lot of comments about front mounted 'zoom' lenses, i.e.: sorta like a zoom filter. I've evaluated four of these and all were rather crappy!

I'd suggest a reasonably priced macro lens. I have a Venus 60mm f/2.8 2x Macro (manual) Lens (also known as a Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2X Ultra-Macro) that I like. It is inexpensive and works very well. I'm sure Nikon makes some excellent macro lens.

bwa

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

There are 2 ways to do macro, get a macro focusing lens for your camera lens OR get a macro focusing filter for a lens. A lens that is designed to focus close for macro work is going to give better quality results.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

Ck out Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro. Excellent iq, reasonably priced.

RGG

Hard to beat a good quality dedicated macro lens in the 60mm to 120mm range. But, apart from a bit of inconvenience an extension tube on a prime lens you may already have will yield very good results.

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

!!!
Yes! I've used those extension tubes from my earlier post with my 18-55vr and 55-200vr with Awesome results!! And those lenses when I had my Fabulous (awesome camera!) D3100!!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Unfortunately, the Tokina 100mm Nikon mount version is motorless... so it will be manual focus only on a D3000-series or D5000-series camera (such as the original poster is using). In other mounts (Canon... Sony?) it has a motor, but uses Tokina's "focus clutch" which doesn't allow manual override while AF is engaged. You have to shift the lens to MF in order to do any manual fine-tuning of focus. That can be a problem in some cases. Other than that, it's capable and at $349 relatively affordable... but is a somewhat basic macro lens.

There is a new version of the Tokina 100mm... an "ATX-i". I don't know how it differs from the original other than apparent cosmetic changes. It costs $100 more and still doesn't appear to have an in-lens focusing motor.

If you're okay with manual focus ( a lot of macro shooters prefer it, though it may be inconvenient to use a MF lens for non-macro purposes), there are several lenses of that type being offered new.... plus myriad vintage macro lenses that are very capable. I picked up an early Tamron 90mm at a local secondhand store for $20 and spent another $40 to adapt it for use on my Canon cameras (it came with a Nikon mount). A fully manual focus, manual aperture lens is slower to work with, but still capable of making excellent images:



Not bad for $60! The lens itself is shown in the middle image (lens hood reversed for storage and Canon EF mount on it, Nikon mount alongside). And the lens mounted on one of my Canon is shown on the right, without hood installed. This early version, manual focus, manual aperture Tamron 90mm is 1:2 capable, but I used it with a 20mm or 25mm extension tube for higher magnification, for the shot of the bee on the poppy above. (Note: Manual aperture setting can still be used with Aperture Priority Auto Exposure on most cameras. Might be able to use M + Auto ISO AE too. The only problem is that the aperture actually stops down when set to a small size, such as f/11 used here.... this dims down the viewfinder, so it may be necessary to use Live View with some brightening effect like Exposure Simulation.)

There are actually some cheaper alternatives than the Tokina 100mm that are able to auto focus.... shop used. Or even a brand new AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G sells for $249 and is fully capable of auto focusing on a D3000-series camera. It's also quite compact. One concern is that this short focal length puts you awfully close to subjects at higher magnifications... very little working distance. The Minimum Focus Distance (MFD) is about 6.5"... However, because that's measured from the sensor plane of the camera, much of the MFD distance is occupied by part of the camera and the lens itself. The lens also is not internal focusing (IF), so it grows longer when focused closer. As a result, at full 1:1 magnification with this lens there is only about 1.3" between the front of the lens and the subject (any accessory such as a filter or lens hood will further reduce that distance). This might be fine for some purposes, such as studio work with inanimate subjects and controlled lighting. It also may be fine for field work where less than full 1:1 magnification is needed. But live subjects might be scared away when lens and photographer come too close for a high magnification shot. It's also possible that camera, lens and photographer would cast a shadow over a too-close subject.

For some more money, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro may be a considerably more versatile option. It's top quality, full featured, currently on sale for $469 (regularly $969) and comparable in many ways to the legendary, but now far more expensive Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR ($807). This focal length is a good compromise that will give much more practical working distance, without being so long it's difficult to hold steady and requires a tripod or at least a monopod. (Image stabilization such as these lenses have... "OS" on the Sigma,"VR" on the Nikkor... is of minimal help at high magnifications.)

For that same $469 there's also a Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 AF Di Macro. Tamron actually currently offers two very good 90mm macro lenses and this is the simpler, less expensive one. These are the latest of a long line of Tamron 90mm macro versions, first intro'd in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Like the 40mm above, this version of Tamron 90mm is not internal focusing (IF), which makes for about an inch less working distance than the more expensive IF version ($649). The more expensive version also uses a higher performance AF drive system that allows instant manual override and has Tamron's "VC" image stabilization.

Prices go up from there.... AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR... $557; AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED... $597; Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD... $649; AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED... $807 (on sale, regularly $897).

There are many ways to do "close up and macro". True macro lenses such as above are the fastest, easiest, and have the potential to achieve the highest image quality.

Auxiliary "close up" lenses are another way. Those screw into the front of a non-macro lens to allow it to focus closer. Several have mentioned the Canon 500D and 250D high quality diopters. They work pretty well, but it depends a lot upon the quality of lens they're used with. Yes, as noted previously, the 250D is the stronger of the two, recommended for use on lenses 35mm to 70mm focal length, and is sold in two sizes: 52mm and 58mm. The 500D is the weaker of the two, recommended for use on lenses 70mm to 300mm focal length, and is sold in four diameters: 52mm, 58mm, 72mm and 77mm.

Screw-in (or clip on) close-up lenses are necessary for some cameras.... those without interchangeable lenses ("point n shoot", "bridge" digital, for example). While they also can be used on the lenses of DSLRs and mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, don't expect the image quality to be as good as that of a "true" macro lens, like those listed above. Good ones such as the Canon diopters come close, but also are pricier. The Canon 250D and 500D range in price from $75 to $150, depending upon diameter. Some problems are that there are limited diameters available and that one you buy for use with one lens may not fit other lenses in your kit.

Macro extension tubes are another way to achieve higher magnification. These fit between the lens and the camera, to force a non-macro lens to focus closer and render higher magnification than it normally can do. One advantage is that extensions can be used with pretty much any and all lenses in your kit. They can even be used with true macro lenses to push them to higher than their native 1:1 max magnification. Usually best used with short telephotos for practical reasons, there are several types of macro extensions. The most common are solid tubes in various lengths, often sold in sets of two or three. There are also "adjustable" extensions in the form of "helicoids" and "macro bellows", both of which tend to be higher to make for the highest magnifications. With some focal lengths, a macro bellows can produce 5:1 magnification. There are no optics in extension tubes to "mess with" image quality, but even so they can have some effect on image quality. Basically, you are forcing a lens not designed for close focus to work in ways it wasn't intended. Field curvature can make for softer corners in images and vignetting can occur when using extensions with non-macro lenses. (Macro lenses are often "flat field design", making them more capable of corner to corner sharpness at very close focusing distances.)

The Kenko Macro Tube Set is high quality and versatile. For DSLRs, this set comes with 12mm, 20mm and 36mm tubes and sells for about $140. The longer the lens' focal length, the more extension needed to significantly change it's close focusing ability. The tubes can be used singly or combinations of any two or all three. Auto focus, aperture control and image stabilization (if a lens has it), are all supported. There are cheaper brands of tubes ($50 to $90 for a set of three), but they tend to be more plasticky and less durable than the Kenko. There also really cheap ones ($25 and less), which should be avoided for use with most modern cameras and lenses. The really cheap tubes don't have electronic contacts for autofocus and, even more importantly, aperture control. Those can work fine (but slowly) with vintage, manual focus/manual aperture lenses... but are a problem with modern electronically controlled lenses.

It's also possible to reverse a lens to make it focus closer. There are special mounts for this purpose, which screw into the lens' filter threads. This works pretty well in some cases. But, like the cheap extension tubes, the simplest lens reverse mounts don't support necessary electronic aperture control or autofocus. There are more expensive ones that provide some means of connectivity, but often have external wiring and other inconveniences.

Finally, it's also possible to reverse stack a lens onto a second lens. This usually means reversing a smaller lens such as a 28mm or 35mm onto a longer focal length like an 85mm or 135mm that's mounted normally on the camera. The reversed lens essentially acts as a DIY diopter close-up lens, fitted to the front of the lens. Some combos work pretty darned well, but unless you can find a specific, recommended example and happen to have the particular lenses in your kit, you may need to experiment with different options. In this case, an adapter with threads on both sides is screwed into the filter threads of both lenses, so that they can be paired up.

Both reversed lenses and reverse stacked lenses also can present a problem effectively shading what is normally the rear element of the lens, now that it's reversed and serving as the front element.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

Amfoto1, I shoot this lens on a variety of Canon bodies, ff and crop, and for the limited use that I have for it, zero complaints.