Best Nikon macro lens?

[ddaquaria]

The Nikons do not have full frame sensors which means they all have a magnification factor.

This is not true for all Nikons. The full frame sensor starts with the D700 model and higher. For majority of the shooters on this site that have a DSLR, none of us have full frame sensors. Even the Canon Shooters would need a 5D (mark II) or higher to accomplish full frame.

[Gene D]

This is not true for all Nikons. The full frame sensor starts with the D700 model and higher. For majority of the shooters on this site that have a DSLR, none of us have full frame sensors. Even the Canon Shooters would need a 5D (mark II) or higher to accomplish full frame.

Donald,
I always looked at this an advantage. It helped me greatly with sports shooting by increasing the focal length of 300mm 2.8 to a 450mm. I would think it would be an advantage with fish as well when trying to capture details like teeth and scales. I will have to defer to you on fish photography as most of my experience is with sports and journalism and a little art photography.

[cameracorpus]

Unless your fish are huge, it will help. I find a 50mm with the multiplication factor is about as wide a lens as I'd want to go for fish, although I admit up front I'm a newbie with fish also. That equates to 80mm on full frame/film camera since Canon's MF is 1.6x for most of their bodies.

But I find that after using digital for years now, trying to translate the lenses has gotten to be a PITA. I guess for us folks that got our mind-sets with 35mm it will always be a consideration, but for folks cutting their teeth with digital, 17mm has become the standard wide angle, 35 or 40mm the "normal", etc. Only my wedding photog buddies have felt that they must go to full frame digital. Everyone else I know has felt that unless they need specific features of the pro camera bodies (mainly higher burst rate), they can handle the multiplication factor. In fact, one sports guy I know is bummed because he had to get a pro body for the burst speed but lost the multiplication factor.

One factor that I think we're leaving out, though, is tank lighting. Are we all assuming that the tanks have minimum 2wpg or so? I know that my 55g does, and flash is an option. But with my other tanks and other local folks' tanks that have 1wpg or less, I much prefer diffused flash over trying to get a good shot with a slow shutter speed or maxed out ISO. From what I've seen so far this may not be an issue, but it is something to consider.

[ddaquaria]

Donald,
I always looked at this an advantage. It helped me greatly with sports shooting by increasing the focal length of 300mm 2.8 to a 450mm. I would think it would be an advantage with fish as well when trying to capture details like teeth and scales. I will have to defer to you on fish photography as most of my experience is with sports and journalism and a little art photography.

My comment only regarded your first statement - "The Nikons do not have full frame sensors which means they all have a magnification factor.". My comment was not against the train of thought that you had, since I do see it as an advantage. I mainly wanted to add that all the posters were commenting based on their camera and lens, and you'll notice that the 50 and 60 were tossed around a lot. The 50 on a Canon is an 80 with crop factor (a lot of users here seem to have Rebels), and 75 on a Nikon with crop factor. I also shoot sports, and really like the fact that my 200 "becomes" a 300, and for this reason I don't see myself going full-frame in the future unless it has both modes.

[myjohnson]

Thai I just remembered something we all seem to have overlooked. The Nikons do not have full frame sensors which means they all have a magnification factor. The D90 has a 1.5 magnification factor which makes the effective range of a 105mm = 157mm. So ANY lens you chose will actually give you a natural telephoto effect. I know you have made your choice already but I had forgotten to mention that.

Thanks Gene, I read about this already. I been researching on Nikoncafe like white on rice.

p.s. You still owe me pictures of the RRs sir. )

[madugo]

Thai I just remembered something we all seem to have overlooked. The Nikons do not have full frame sensors which means they all have a magnification factor. The D90 has a 1.5 magnification factor which makes the effective range of a 105mm = 157mm. So ANY lens you chose will actually give you a natural telephoto effect. I know you have made your choice already but I had forgotten to mention that.

i think i told him once on the other tread...
nikon does have full frame body, for example the d700 and d3..the d3s too i think..