Which Micro Nikor...60mm or 85mm ?

Dave in Wales

Dave in Wales

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Nikon do 3 Micro lenses, 60mm, 85mm and the 105mm that interest me.
My first choice would be the 105mm.
But please don't suggest it, it's toooooo expensive.

For general macro, which one and why, just these two Nikons please.
Price is the same.

60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro NIKKOR
Light over distance.

85mm f/3.5G ED AF-S VR DX Micro NIKKOR
Distance over light.
VR not much good at the macro end.

D in W
 
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I think Nikon do a few more than just those three :shrug:

55mm AI-S
45mm PC-E
60mm AF-D
60mm AF-S
85mm AF-S DX
85mm PC-E
105mm AF-S VR
200mm AF-D

However, there are other alternatives from Sigma and Tamron. These two brands make some pretty capable micro lenses too :thumbs: and well worth looking into.

The thing is, however, to decide what you're aiming to shoot with the lens. If you're looking for things like plants then a 45mm~105mm would be fine. If you're looking to shoot bugs and critters, then 105mm is a minimum to think of.
 
I use the 60mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor and it's brilliant...
Like Wail says - if you want to shoot bugs' heads you'll need to go longer...
 
Remember that the aperture won't remain constant the closer you get to a subject - my 60mm changes from f/2.8 to (i think) f/3.5 when you get mega close. I don't know the reason but it does - someone more versed in macro shooting may know the reason....
 
been pondering the same question myself and like you the 105 is out of my price range for now so would be very interested in opinions of the other nikon micro lenses.
 
Checkout Camera Price Buster and have a look at Sigma and Tamron; they make some pretty good macro lens too.

I've got the Sigma 105, and it's pretty good; the Tamron 90 is supposed to be sharper.
 
The 85mm is a DX lens, which IMHO is a "WTF was Nikon thinking?" move.

Tamron 90mm, Tokina 100mm, Nikkor 105mm VR or Sigma 150mm would be my choices.

The Nikon 55mm f/2.8 AI-S is awesome if you are OK with manual focus.
 
I'm with Rob. 60mm f2.8 is a damn fine lens. It's designed to be a true flat-field lens too which makes it perfect for copying documents and stuff.
 
amnesia said:
Why only the Nikkor lenses ?
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Because they're Better...that's why.

Nippon Kogaku started out making microscopes and close-up lenses and still make some of the very best - if there's any company on the planet that 'knows' macro lenses, it's Nikon.
 
amnesia said:
Why only the Nikkor lenses ?

I have my eye on the Tokina 100mm... seems excellent for the money.

~ clip ~
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Quite simply - quality control. My experience with all independents - you can't guarantee the quality!
 
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amnesia said:
Why only the Nikkor lenses ?

I have my eye on the Tokina 100mm... seems excellent for the money.

~ clip ~
Click to expand...

Quite simply - quality control. My experience with all independents - you can't guarantee the quality!
 
Didn't some of the guys from Nikon then go off and start up Tokina ??

;)
 
amnesia said:
Didn't some of the guys from Nikon then go off and start up Tokina ??

;)
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Who? Never heard of them...:shrug:

Thought it was a sort of sweet sherry...

326604.jpg
 
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amnesia said:
Didn't some of the guys from Nikon then go off and start up Tokina ??

;)
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Yep

If you read impartial reviews - ignore people who only shoot Nikon on the assumption its ALWAYS better - black and white statements are rarely true, and don't take into account the shades of grey inbetween.

The Tamron 90mm does very well in group round-ups, and regularly beats Nikon and Canon offerings.

Yes, Tokina is ex-Nikon. IMHO they only have 3 lenses worth serious consideraion, one of which is the 100mm macro. Its got lovely IQ, and super build quality.

The Nikon macros lens are all very nice, but its hard to go wrong with macro lenses from any brand.

The only lens I would avoid would be the 85mm as making a macro lens DX only is beyond daft.
 
It's true: Puddleduck is only available in Black and White and rarely speaks the truth - he also has absolutely no sense of humour...

Just because a designer or design team jumps ship doesn't mean the new company's products are as good or better than the products they designed for the old company - many of the design features will be patented, so cannot be used in new designs for the new company.

A large part of the BMW design team jumped ship to Opel a few years back - would you say a Vectra is the equal of a BMW 5-Series?
It might be in purely mechanical terms, but I know which I'd prefer to own, if given the choice...
 
It was a genuine question - I haven't seen anything on Flickr that suggests that the Tokina 100mm isn't a good lens, nor have I seen anything to suggest that the Nikkor 105 is better.

Indeed, one of the certain magazines last month reviewed a number of macro lenses and the Tokina and Tamron 90 came out very very well.
 
amnesia said:
It was a genuine question - I haven't seen anything on Flickr that suggests that the Tokina 100mm isn't a good lens, nor have I seen anything to suggest that the Nikkor 105 is better.

Indeed, one of the certain magazines last month reviewed a number of macro lenses and the Tokina and Tamron 90 came out very very well.
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Most lens reviews take into account several factors.
Just taking sharpness and IQ into account, the Canon and Nikon lenses tend to do better than third-party lenses.
It's when you take the (usually) lower price into account that they fare better overall...
 
Arkady2 said:
Most lens reviews take into account several factors.
Just taking sharpness and IQ into account, the Canon and Nikon lenses tend to do better than third-party lenses.
It's when you take the (usually) lower price into account that they fare better overall...
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And the particular bias/spin the review tends to favour! I sometimes whether one particular weekly mag is in the pay of Canon.
 
chuckles said:
And the particular bias/spin the review tends to favour! I sometimes whether one particular weekly mag is in the pay of Canon.
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...and JFK was shot by a Soviet sniper...

Sometimes reviewers do actually do the job they're paid to do...
 
chuckles said:
Yeah - but the trick is finding it/him/her :thinking:
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The UK's weekly photo mag is possibly the least biased in terms of reviews and does actually test the products rather than writing reviews based of the manufacturers' spec sheets.
 
I went through a similar process when I was getting my Macro lens except mine was between the 60mm and the 105vr. I ended up with the 105vr for no other reason than working distance. The 60mm was superb too. I don't think I would get the 85mm as it is a dx lens and cannot see the point with full frame purchase possible in the future
 
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