Which Macro Lens D40x ?

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vix345

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Vicky
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Hi

I am looking at buying a macro Lens for my Nikon D40x.

Can anyone give me advice on which to go for?

Thanks

Vicky
 
Not being a Nikon man I think your main choices are
Sigma 105MM F2.8 DG Macro
Sigma 150mm F2.8 Macro
Tamron AF 90mm F2.8 Macro
I don't know what Nikon have to offer

They are all good build quality with superb IQ, the Sigma 105 and Tamron 90 have a closer working distance than the Sigma 150.
Depends on your budget.
 
scraggs said:
Not being a Nikon man I think your main choices are
Sigma 105MM F2.8 DG Macro
Sigma 150mm F2.8 Macro
Tamron AF 90mm F2.8 Macro
I don't know what Nikon have to offer

They are all good build quality with superb IQ, the Sigma 105 and Tamron 90 have a closer working distance than the Sigma 150.
Depends on your budget.
Click to expand...

There are a few other choices too, but the main contenders seem to be the sigmas, but you must remember that only the 150mm Sigma can autofocus on the D40X (not such a big deal for macro). I know Messiah Kahn uses the 150 and has got some cracking images with it!

I was in the same boat, but money was a bit tight so opted for an older manual lens. I got a Tamron SP 90mm f2.5 which has really served me well, and if you are not scared of using the camera in full manual mode it's an excellent lens, razor sharp (although its about to go up for sale, thread pending!), and i've become a bit of an mf lens anorac!

Good luck with your choice :)
 
Nikon 105mm VR micro nikkor, its the only one that will af on a D40

The sigmas are a little wobbly, well mine is, the nikon is built like a cast iron toilet roll
 
There's not much point in auto focus at a macro level imo... I have the tamron 90mm (and you can see some shots I've got in my sig link) which is fantastically sharp. I am tempted by the nikon 105mm VR but most people on the forums I've been using have said it's actually not as sharp as the Tamron (despite having some of the best MTF's I've seen on photozone.de) and the VR is useless unless you're using it for portraits.

The tamron has a lovely bokeh but I think the nikon lens is better in this respect.

I was surprised to read that and its certainly made me very hesitant to splash out now. I've also heard the non VR version that preceeds it is sharper and lighter so perhaps a 2nd hand ebay bargain could be a consideration for you?

I have to say, for the £190 I paid for my Tamron (delivered from HK) I have a lens that far exceeded my expectations in sharpness although sometimes with a little purple fringing which is it's only fault I can see (and not in most shots either, it seems to happen on very sunny gravel for some reason)
 
I think its more usefull to have the choice of AF than not.
Macro lenses are dual purpose, might not always use it for static macro..
 
Yeah I agree with that, but if your purpose is macro then it becomes less of a selling point and then the extra cash you need to pay to get af-s is a fair jump up by anyone's standars but probably even more so to a budget SLR owner.
 
I would go with the Sigma 150mm or Nikon 105mm VR. As has already been mentioned, these two are the only ones that will AF on the D40X. And although most people (including myself) use manual focus when doing macro work, the macro lenses double up as really great general use prime lenses where autofocus is much more usefull. As for the Sigmas' build quiality being 'wobbly', mine is far from wobbly. Its rock solid, weighs a nice reassuring amount and is sharp as hell.

Ps. Look at the links in my Sig (Click on the sig image for my website) for example shots taken with the lens. All of the insect macro shots where taken with this lens, along with half the bird shots and the black and white miner shot (Although this is a fair old crop).
 
The 150 is a bit of a monster, and built to carry all that extra glass.

I was talking about the 50, the 105 looks about the same.
My 50 is captain wobbly, I dont mind telling you, no comparison with the 150.
 
I just want to point out at this point that forcing yourself to learn to MF is really hard unless you actually remove the choice. The tamron is about the perfect focal length for manually focusing and for macro work the usual way to focus is by moving the camera or the subject. But yes, AF is nice especially for spontaneous shooting and without it you can miss shots.
 
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