What lens to buy?

[sarahlou]

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

[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.

[Frog]

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

[dumpy]

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.

ha ha ha ha ha

[another view]

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.

[Loupey]

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

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

[mn shutterbug]

So many questions, and alas, so many answers.

[freygr]

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

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.