V L
I have a Nikon D40 DSLR, If I want to make great pictures to small objects what I need to know for choosing the right lenses, because there are several lenses on sale over the internet, some of them are cheap and some very expensive, what is the basic guide? is the optics quality? thanks for your help
Answer
Basic guideline is to stick with the original manufacturers lenses. So in the case of your Nikon, that means Nikon-Nikkor lenses. Nikon once regarded it's primary line of lenses are professional lenses and only gave special designations to their "cheaper" consumer grade lenses. That is no longer a hard and fast rule. Still you will not exceed Nikon optical quality with Tokina, Sigma or any other non-OEM brand of lens.
As for choosing the right lens, that's largely determined by how you'll use the lens and your budget. For small objects shot close up, you are generally talking about macro photography with lenses that allow very short minimum focus distances of only a few inches in most cases. Nikon gives their macro lenses a "micro" designation. At present, Nikon only offers four lenses with such a designation and the cheapest of them at $450 is their 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro Nikkor lens. This actually is a very good macro lens for your D40. The bad news is this lens will not autofocus on a D40 because D40s do not have a built-in autofocus motor like older and higher-end Nikon bodies such as the discontinued D70/70s or current D90. Thats not really a problem since most macro photography involves manual focus anyway.
The only Nikon lens meant for macro photography that will autofocus on a D40 at this time is the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR lens. This is also a very good lens but, you may find the 105mm focal length to be a bit too tight and depth of field will be practically non-existent. You can often use other lenses for macro photography but some lenses have fairly long minimum focusing distances that can make macro photography difficult at best.
Basic guideline is to stick with the original manufacturers lenses. So in the case of your Nikon, that means Nikon-Nikkor lenses. Nikon once regarded it's primary line of lenses are professional lenses and only gave special designations to their "cheaper" consumer grade lenses. That is no longer a hard and fast rule. Still you will not exceed Nikon optical quality with Tokina, Sigma or any other non-OEM brand of lens.
As for choosing the right lens, that's largely determined by how you'll use the lens and your budget. For small objects shot close up, you are generally talking about macro photography with lenses that allow very short minimum focus distances of only a few inches in most cases. Nikon gives their macro lenses a "micro" designation. At present, Nikon only offers four lenses with such a designation and the cheapest of them at $450 is their 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro Nikkor lens. This actually is a very good macro lens for your D40. The bad news is this lens will not autofocus on a D40 because D40s do not have a built-in autofocus motor like older and higher-end Nikon bodies such as the discontinued D70/70s or current D90. Thats not really a problem since most macro photography involves manual focus anyway.
The only Nikon lens meant for macro photography that will autofocus on a D40 at this time is the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR lens. This is also a very good lens but, you may find the 105mm focal length to be a bit too tight and depth of field will be practically non-existent. You can often use other lenses for macro photography but some lenses have fairly long minimum focusing distances that can make macro photography difficult at best.
What are all these FF55 - 200 stuff on the DSLR camera lenses?
Michael
I'm getting a DSLR camera for Christmas and I don't know what all these funky letters and numbers mean.
Thanks in advance!
Answer
Labels, Numbers, They stand for different things.
If you just bought a DSLR you can go to the brand DSLR website and find information about such.
55-200 means that the lens has a 55-200mm focal range. Your kitlens has 18-55, in effect from a group shot to a relative thigh shot. And the 55-200mm is a lens in the tele range meaning it can pull closer for instance a bird in the trees.
Ah you can even see it in effect if you move one of the ribbed rings on the lens you see it extend a bit. Now look through the viewfinder and do it again. Hey wasn't that easy!
The other ring is for focussing, it allows you to manual focus if for instance the automatic focus doesn't cuts it [dark outside or something in the way]
What the other things mean..well that depends on brand and lens brand.
I agree with the others best is to buy a book into the basics of DSLR and read it, keep it with you and most important MAKE ALLOT OF PICTURES. The only way you can learn is through experience! And that means actual doing it.
DSLR's are great tools, but at the same time they are tools, it is the person behind the camera that makes the magic happen. Yes it offers auto modes but one of the nicest thing about the DSLR is control. You get the shot as you desire!
So buy a simple starters guide for your specific model [for instance if you own a Nikon 3100 buy a book that with pictures and easy words tell you what the buttons are for and what does what]
Then buy a book about different types of photography and well again with nice pictures inside so you can see what they mean.
Photography is an art, it is something you can almost touch, taste, feel.. but also it is a technical thing.
So just buy some basic books and actually make pictures. Learn the way get hooked on it.
Labels, Numbers, They stand for different things.
If you just bought a DSLR you can go to the brand DSLR website and find information about such.
55-200 means that the lens has a 55-200mm focal range. Your kitlens has 18-55, in effect from a group shot to a relative thigh shot. And the 55-200mm is a lens in the tele range meaning it can pull closer for instance a bird in the trees.
Ah you can even see it in effect if you move one of the ribbed rings on the lens you see it extend a bit. Now look through the viewfinder and do it again. Hey wasn't that easy!
The other ring is for focussing, it allows you to manual focus if for instance the automatic focus doesn't cuts it [dark outside or something in the way]
What the other things mean..well that depends on brand and lens brand.
I agree with the others best is to buy a book into the basics of DSLR and read it, keep it with you and most important MAKE ALLOT OF PICTURES. The only way you can learn is through experience! And that means actual doing it.
DSLR's are great tools, but at the same time they are tools, it is the person behind the camera that makes the magic happen. Yes it offers auto modes but one of the nicest thing about the DSLR is control. You get the shot as you desire!
So buy a simple starters guide for your specific model [for instance if you own a Nikon 3100 buy a book that with pictures and easy words tell you what the buttons are for and what does what]
Then buy a book about different types of photography and well again with nice pictures inside so you can see what they mean.
Photography is an art, it is something you can almost touch, taste, feel.. but also it is a technical thing.
So just buy some basic books and actually make pictures. Learn the way get hooked on it.
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