Get the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D Macro Autofocus Lens for Nikon recommended by Ken Rockwell... I have used this lens and it is amazingly sharp... at much less money than the Nikon. Rockwell tested them all and I have never found his recommendations on stuff like this to be wrong. I bought this lens used for $350 and it was mint (many users do not use these lenses much). For critters that may get spooked or other scenarios where you need more subject to lens distance I also recommend the Nikon 200mm Medical Macro if you want the best tool and have the budget.


http://www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/100mm-f28.htm

I find the opposite is true from your comment [It is not known for its acute sharpness???] I realize there are good lenses in different manufacturing runs...but I have owned two Nikon 18-200 DX VR lenses and found both to be excellent in sharpness plus both have been able to photograph objects like a fly (for fly fishing) or say a dime with good results. I also own a 100mm macro but have used my 18-200 at f8 with good results. If I remember right, I upped the ISO on the macro shots, shot at f8 or f/11 and backed off a little with the camera to subject distance to achieve more depth of field. I enlarged the photo to the size I wanted and it was plenty sharp. My only criticism of the Nikon DX 18-200 VR is that it could be faster for action shots. The VR works great. Obviously fixed lenses are unequivocally the sharpest which is why I have 100mm macro and a 35mm f/1.8. BTW The Tokina 11-16 DX lens is equal to the Nikon and very sharp.

Really nice shots... great subjects.

Rod

I'd recommend getting an 18-200 DX VR or VR2 (used about $300) the Vibration resistance allows you to get sharper photos and with increasing the ISO you can avoid buying an expensive large f/stop lens. The D7000 takes great pics and the 18-200 takes incredible photos and can focus close like a macro. Used lenses are usually in good shape.

The 35mm f/1.8 is about $200 and works great for low light situations.

More information than you likely want but will help you decide on a lens.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/dx-dream-team.htm

Thanks Thomas for your comments and interest. The pic of the Chisel set in a box was a shot for Traditional Woodworker, a mail order company that wanted higher quality shots for covers and webpage slots. The lighting set up is diagramed here as far as I can remember. Note the large sheet of tracing paper/velum that is hung to give a soft diffuse light source on a shiny subject...but that the light head is moved close enough to provide a brighter spot [For really soft light the light head can be just a small Chimera light box]. Obviously, the farther the light head is away from the diffusing material the more the uniformity of the soft light (note: lots of double fabric cloth light boxes are super soft today...but its hard to match tracing velum). To be honest, I don't remember on this shot if I was using a Chimera small pro box as the light source of a standard head with a reflector.

With digital imaging its easy to color correct when you put layers of materials in front of lights... historically we had to shoot film and color test before shooting projects.

One final note... when photographing shiny metal many times small pieces of transparent materials can be placed between the light source and the "too bright specular area" to diffuse it but not block the light completely. An example of this would be using a p4x8 piece of a translucent milk jug as a gobo. A Gobo is any piece of material that you use to block light, white, black or translucent.

R

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I 'm usually viewing RGB Histograms and want to be sure I have usable data... I adjust e v if necessary to achieve a detailed image that I know
Photoshop will deal with nuance changes later. When shooting important images its vital to know you have the information without any loss in the highlights or the deep shadows.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/yrgb.htm

Thomas, thanks for the complements. BTW, these images were shot hi quality jpg, not raw. This shows the type of work people can do with a decent camera and good lenses.

I like your work too. Nice bridal shot. Remember, the lenses make the difference. I will upgrade in the future but I still haven't seen the camera I would change up to from my D300S. The D7500 would take about as good of photos as the FX cameras but I like the pro cameras with the external controls and the D500 left out some features and costs too much.
Later

RB

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Thanks for the comments. I use photoshop on most images... It makes a difference.

RodB

Glass photography can be difficult... it takes some messing around even with the best starting setup. I hope my comments on the pic help some.

Rod B

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I hope this will help... glass photography can be difficult...

RodB

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I didn't see that on the create new topics list... thanks... I'll remember that. Can I change this category?

As a retired advertising photographer I have found good use for photography to document work in boatbuilding/repair... and to sell items on the internet. I have found that quality images can really make a difference on sites like eBay when selling restored hand planes when asking significant prices for the labor to produce such items. I thought some of these photos might be of interest to this forum simply because of their effectiveness on eBay.

The following were images of different planes that I restored from old somewhat rusty originals along with several modifications to improve performance. I used a background and lighting to emphasize the features of the restorations and to aid in getting top prices for said items. The background was the blue fabric or from a roll of white paper. The lighting was on a bright cloudy day with some fill cards and photoshop made them more impactful. I don't know if anyone is interested in product photography but these are some of my most recent shots and I thought I'd share.

The final photo was using a wide angle (11-16 ) to document the finished non-skid on the deck of a sailboat for my website.

RodB

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Relax... don't be so fast to condemn a website you may not know much about. Rockwell maintains a high level of expertise and knowledge for a living and does a great job in laying out the necessary data that the majority of people would require to make a purchasing decision. Since I have shot professionally for many years I am in the position to judge such things. I have recommended Ken Rockwell to scores of people who want to know how much camera they need and whats the best bang for the buck used or new. I have never found his advise to not be "right on" and therefore recommend his website. If you don't want to send him some money on paypal, its not required. I feel the advise and "comparisons" he supplies are great resources for most people trying to figure out what equipment to buy within their personal budget.

Have a nice day.
RodB

Thanks.... I'll keep browsing this website and contribute now and then...

RodB