D60 macro lens trouble

[MrHoohah]

Greetings! I've been search for the past few hours on this subject through various sites and forums, and haven't found anything helpful. I'm a pseudo-newbie to SLRs, and I just got a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 macro lens for my Nikon D60, and I'm getting some pretty fantastic results, but I have to have the lighting perfect before I'm able to get a good shot. I tend to get a lot of bright "fog" in close-ups, or it's just way too dark. I have no idea what to do about the fog, though I'm pretty sure that decreasing the f-stop would help dark shots. Problem is, no matter what setting on the D60 I use, I cannot change the aperture to anything less than f4.2. I've seen the aperture drop to f2.8 two times, but I can never retain it. What am I missing? Any info on the fog or the aperture problem would be immensely appreciated!

[Photo-John]

Sorry no one replied to your post sooner. Any chance you can upload a few sample photos so we can get a better feel for what's going on?

I'm betting the "fog" is lens flare from the lighting you're using. If the light is pointed too much towards your lens, this can be a problem. Try to keep the lights behind the camera to avoid lens flare problems.

What exposure mode are you using? If you're using an auto mode, then the camera is choosing the aperture for you. If you can't get f/2.8, it means you have too much light for a good exposure so the camera is "stopping down" the lens to darken the exposure. If you put your camera on Aperture Priority (A), you can choose whatever aperture you want and the camera will select the correct shutter speed for a good exposure. If you do that you should have no problem using whatever aperture you want.

[Anbesol]

I've heard of fixed macro lens with variable f-stops across focus range.

To verify, set your lens to manual focus, then set to infinite focal distance. It should be f/2.8 max there. Now focus all the way in to 1:1 mag, and see how wide it goes.

You are using aperture priority mode or manual?

[Dylan8i]

i know with the nikon 60 mm macro, it depends oh now close the subject is to the lens. if the subject is to close (it will still focus) but makes the minimum f stop higher (like you noticed 4.2) but also allows for a higher maximum f stop than the lens is suppose to go. try it out for your lens for a close object, a subject a few feet away and one at infinity.

[MrHoohah]

Wow! Thanks for the replies, everyone, I was beginning to think I had slipped into oblivion, lol.

Okay, I'll address each of the suggestions I've received. Having the light behind the camera definitely helped clear up the "fog" I had been experiencing, so thanks very much for that, Photo-John. However, no matter which exposure mode I used, even Manual, I can't get the aperture to f2.8, UNLESS, as Anbesol and Dylan8i suggested, I let the focus go to infinite. This works in Manual and Aperture Priority. Thanks very much for your help, fellas!

I still can't get very good lighting on 1:1 closeups, though. Any indoor macro tips you guys could offer? I adore taking this style of picture, but all I have for flash is the stock D60 flash. Might I need something more?

[OldClicker]

Try this thread for some ideas and probably more questions. - TF

Novice lighting help

[Anbesol]

I still can't get very good lighting on 1:1 closeups, though. Any indoor macro tips you guys could offer? I adore taking this style of picture, but all I have for flash is the stock D60 flash. Might I need something more?

50mm 1:1 mag is VERY close for any stock/hotshoe flash. Stock flash will work better less magnified (better distance @ 50mm). You could get those ring-lites, but I find regular speedlites to be equally effective (properly used). You could connect via wireless (RF or IR, I'm not sure if your Nikon has IR in it?), then send flash signal to external mounted flash.

One of the fortunate things with macro lighting is, thanks to the close distance - much more narrow f-stops are workable. I can comfortably shoot macros at f/11-16, I wouldn't dare shoot a portrait that narrow.

For something a little cheaper you could build a simple light diffusing softbox that you can put macro subjects in - using a decent fabric that produces soft light. Theres a handful of 'diy macro softbox' projects on the internet. You could also mount a flash diffuser on your stock flash.