What lens to buy?

I want really sharp close ups, can anyone suggest the best lens to invest in?

I think you should crop from the left and burn in the shadows a bit more. It needs a bit more DoF, the color balance is off and you are in the wrong forum.

A moderator will probably move this to help or one of the digital camera forums.
What camera do you own?

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Originally Posted by MB1

I think you should crop from the left and burn in the shadows a bit more. It needs a bit more DoF, the color balance is off and you are in the wrong forum.

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ha ha ha ha ha

We might want to move this so that you have a better chance of getting help, but we need a little more information first. What kind of camera are you shooting? Anything specific that you're having a hard time getting the results you want? Can you post a sample image or two?

Have you tried using a tripod? That with a self timer (so that you're not bumping the camera at the time you're shooting; you bump it and then it shoots a few seconds later) may give you the results you want without buying a new lens. Regardless, try this first for the best and most consistent results.

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Originally Posted by sarahlou

I want really sharp close ups, can anyone suggest the best lens to invest in?

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There's a whole lot more to it than that. I've shot "really sharp close ups" with everything from a 17mm to 500mm lenses and everything in between.

Depends on how and what and where you shoot. One can almost say it also depends on when and why you shoot :)

So many questions, and alas, so many answers. :p

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Originally Posted by sarahlou

I want really sharp close ups, can anyone suggest the best lens to invest in?

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It all depends on what you shooting, the subject. If you need great DOF is possible using 16 or 8 mm film lenses, but the cameras lens is used as a projection lens. The DOF is inversely proportional to the focal length of the lens and the F stop also has a factor in the DOF the large F stop number the greater the DOF.

I have an old 55mm F3.5 Micro lens which will do 1 to 1, that is life size images. Then I have a Mirco Telephoto 180-300mm that is great for bugs, but your do have DOF problems if you can't keep the F stop in higher numbers.