Question: I have a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera, a 18mm-55mm lens and a 55mm-200mm lens... Wondering if I should get a 70mm-300mm lens or a macro lens for Christmas... I love to photography...

KJGregor Loc: Montana

I have a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera, a 18mm-55mm lens and a 55mm-200mm lens... Wondering if I should get a 70mm-300mm lens or a macro lens for Christmas... I love to photography flowers, bugs etc, but I also love close ups of birds etc...

Whats your opinion... I do have the macro filters/lens that go on the end of my lens, havent really figured them out yet...

LarryD Loc: Mojave Desert

You need to really decide what you want to shoot and develop your bag around those ideas..

My opinion/experience is that for birds a 300mm is about the minimum and so you may be disappointed if your goal is to get good close-ups with the zoom you are looking at..

If you may spend more time doing close-up work then the macro is really the way to go.. Save up for a nice 400 or 500 for next year if you still want to shoot birds.. :-)

KJGregor Loc: Montana

LarryD wrote:

You need to really decide what you want to shoot and develop your bag around those ideas..

My opinion/experience is that for birds a 300mm is about the minimum and so you may be disappointed if your goal is to get good close-ups with the zoom you are looking at..

If you may spend more time doing close-up work then the macro is really the way to go.. Save up for a nice 400 or 500 for next year if you still want to shoot birds.. :-)

Thank you appreciate the information...

saside Loc: live in pueblo co

This is shot with a nikond3100 18-55 mm lens with a stack of closeup filters (+1,+2,+4,+10) the last filter was 2 inches from the bee btw I bought a cheap set of these filters cost me less then 20 bucks.

KJGregor Loc: Montana

saside wrote:

This is shot with a nikond3100 18-55 mm lens with a stack of closeup filters (+1,+2,+4,+10) the last filter was 2 inches from the bee btw I bought a cheap set of these filters cost me less then 20 bucks.

WOW Thanks...

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

Stack filters are cheap .... but look closely at your picture .... very little of the photograph is sharp .... if money is an issue ... look at the Sigma 70-300m f4-5.6.. its not a macro but is does acceptable close focus work ...

saside Loc: live in pueblo co

your right but i like to keep something I know little about low in cost i wish i could get a good macro

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

for most of us .... a close focus lens will give very good sharpness at 12 inches plus or minus .... anyway .... most don't know the difference between a close focus lens and a macro lens ... always use a tripod

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

KJGregor wrote:

I have a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera, a 18mm-55mm lens and a 55mm-200mm lens... Wondering if I should get a 70mm-300mm lens or a macro lens for Christmas... I love to photography flowers, bugs etc, but I also love close ups of birds etc...

Whats your opinion... I do have the macro filters/lens that go on the end of my lens, havent really figured them out yet...

Personally I would get a good macro lens. Tamron and Sigma both make good macro lenses in the 90-100mm range. These lenses are reasonably priced and they both are superior macro lenses. Of the two I would probably go with the Tamron.

Randyb1969 Loc: Armpit of California

The Tamron 90mm Macro has gotten some rave reviews. I played with the 60mm f2.0 Macro at the camera store and it's also pretty nice. And it could take the place of your mandatory 50mm prime spot. It's not cheap. I think it was up in the $600 range which is out of my budget, but still a good deal for what you get.

Randyb1969 Loc: Armpit of California

As for birds, there are a couple of Tamron 200-500 zooms on ebay right now for about $600. I don't know if these are any good or not, but that would be the zoom range you'd most likely want.

or there's always something like this: http://www.kenrockwell.com/sigma/200-500mm.htm :mrgreen:

JerrysPhotos Loc: Arkansas

My marco lens is a Sigma 105 f2.8 and it works great. Stacking the close-up fliters is not an option in my opinion. The quality of the photo will not be very good (it does not matter how much money you saved if you are not happy with the result) and if you are taking photos of insects, your working distance will be so close that few of them will still be there when you click the shutter.... As for the birds, I use a 500mm lens. I think any lens less than 400mm for wildlife photography is a waste of money. I shot with a 300mm for years and was just about always disappointed with the results. I saved for a long time to get my 5oomm and it cost alot of money, but I am happy with it and it produces great wildlife photos so I think it was worth the wait and money.

RParker Loc: Orlando

This could be what the Doctor ordered-

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/40mm-f28.htm

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/nikon/announcements/new-entry-level-macro-nikon-af-s-dx-micro-nikkor-40mm-f28g

Looks like a fun lens for the money!

ShakyShutter Loc: Arizona

Ask Santa for the zoom under the tree and a set of extension tubes in your stocking.