Macro?

[Truckman]

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

I have a great Sigma 150mm 2.8 Macro that is about $700 new, so it would be close to 600-650 used.

I'm not much with the bugs and flowers, so I will defer to on all that. But that Sigma is a fantastic lens.

By coincidence, one of those just showed up on CraigsList for a Canon......Ben

[rfortson]

I have and like the Tamron 90mm f/2.8. It's one of their "SP" lenses, which is their premium grade. I think it goes for just under $500. It would make a nice portrait lens as well.

[photonewb]

The Tamron 90 is widely considered one of the better macro lenses, for either Canon or Nikon, and about half the cost of the Nikon 105.

that said, the Nikon 105VR is the newest version Nikon has produced, it has 9 blades which they say is supposed to be better for bokeh, and the N coating on the lenses, as well as the VR. It's an excellent lens and takes amazing photos. I recently purchased one and I like it, even though I've only had a couple of opportunities to use it to date.

[elan]

I've tried the reverse ring "Nikon BR-2A" back in the film day which reversed mount the lens for marco fun. Check this link -> 35-70

Nikon 4T close-up lens + Nikon BR-2A is cheap to get if you want to save some money. I still use this 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 lens every once a while.

[dmcantrell]

I have a Nikon 50/1.8 and extension tubes. This cost me about $300.

[playbak]

If you are just experimenting with macro and not sure it will be something you sepcialize in, then the cheapest answer is extension tubes. The next cheapest is the Canon 500D. It screws onto any lense. I bought one and I really enjoy it. It also reduces the load of your camera bag. I use it on my Nikon 70-200 VR lens and get pretty decent results. It's about $150.

I took these just walking around one day without a tripod.

Here's the B&H link: Canon | 77mm 500D Close-up Lens | 2824A002 | B&H Photo Video

[jfoureyes]

There are several options to get closeup photo. I use a 75-300 and 80-200 with a 25 mm tube for more working distance on shy critters. But if I had a choice I'd use my 105 macro lens on every photo.

[BFS_Man]

A recent article in Popular Photography magazine rates the Tamron 60 mm macro very highly, and it has a maximum aperture of f/2. The 60 mm would be equivalent to 90 mm on a D90, making it an ideal focal length for a portrait lens.