macro help

[slayer7124]

hey, i just purchased a nikon d80 with a 18-135mm lens. i just got it today and have been reading the manual and fooling around with all the settings, however i cant seem to get a good macro shot. i was wondering if i can get some help on getting a nice macro shot without a macro lens for now, and whats a good macro lens to invest in? thanks!

[Lava Lamp]

hey, i just purchased a nikon d80 with a 18-135mm lens. i just got it today and have been reading the manual and fooling around with all the settings, however i cant seem to get a good macro shot. i was wondering if i can get some help on getting a nice macro shot without a macro lens for now, and whats a good macro lens to invest in? thanks!

I don't have that particular lens, but in general "macro" zooms aren't that hot. The macro feature is more marketing hype than reality. You may prefer a macro that reaches a 1:1 ratio, meaning that the image capture on your sensor is true to life size. Nikon makes three macro lenses: 60mm for about $400, 105mm for about $800 and 200mm for about $1200. Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina make comparable lenses for less. Generally Nikon makes better lenses, but in the macro area, the third party vendors are close or equal. Read the reviews here for more.

[Dylan8i]

i have the d200 and the 18-135 and the 60mm macro....

the 18-135 is ok for larger macros.... close ups of snake heads, turtle heads etc, because it has somethign like a 1.5 foot close focus, at the 135 range is decent for those pics... just make sure your subject is that far away or else it won't focus. the 60mm macro by itself will focus so a penny won't fit in the screen, and with a full complement of tubes the word liberty will fill the screen.

granted as you get close, less light gets in the lense and it makes it harder to get a clear picture. ... the 18-135 is especially bad at this because its already pretty slow, esp at 135, and the flash will leave a shadow over the lense.

[Lava Lamp]

Just for reference sake, this shot is from a Nikon 200mm macro...

[polarbeardiggers]

holy crap that one really jumped out at me,good macro on that one,brilliant colors too.