Need Help w/ Nikon D90 ????

[nyfireman3097]

Ok well im on the verge of getting a D90 along with the following lenses

Nikon 18-55mm
Nikon 70-300mm
Nikon 50mm Prime
2x Telephoto lens
Wide angle lens

Well before I start I dont know much about cameras at all. I dont have a clue what the numbers and mm mean or when they throw in the f2.8 stuff. So im basically asking for a crash course on what means what.

And the main question for this thread is what Macro lens too look for. I want one to take nice pics of my sps and lps. My tank is 3' wide so I will have corals in the back middle front and wanna be able to get awesome shots of them Please LMK what you buys think

 

[Phyl]

With that depth I would look to a 150mm Sigma lens for your Macro lens.

"2x telephoto lens" and "Wide angle lens" are very vague and I'm not sure what that's all about.

The 18-55 is good starter lens as it typically comes in the kit. Not the sharpest lens in the bag, but it will do for general purpose photography. The 70-300 is a decent lens.

The 2.8 is the smallest possible "let light in" setting. The lower this number the better able you will be to take low light photos (not the utmost of necessary with the macro photography we do). The 50mm prime is a nice to have.

Anything less than 50mm is considered wide angle (it is wider than your natural periferal vision) and anything over that would be a telephoto lens. So the 70-300 is the Tele and the 18-55 is the WA. The 50mm (especially if it is the 1.4 or 1.8 version) is a nice portrait lens.

Not sure if you have more questions, but feel free to throw them out there.

 

[nyfireman3097]

Your the best ;D Yeah what Macro lense should I be looking for ?

 

[Phyl]

I have the Nikkor 105. What that means is that I can make things about 6" away from the lens look like they are lifesize. So if I want something up against the front glass to be life size the camera body has to be 6" away from the glass. That also means that the stuff in the back of the tank is too far away to be life size.

The Sigma 150 would allow things that are 15" away be life size. That will get you about 1/2 way back into your tank. I doubt that things that are any further than that are not going to be occluded by other things. It would mean that if you wanted a macro of something up against the glass you would need the camera body 15" (not the lens) away from the tank.

If you're really feeling spendy, the Nikon 200 would bring stuff from 18" away to 1:1.

Keep in mind that with that camera you'll have plenty of pixels to crop, should you need to. So as long as you get a good sharp picture (the purpose of a dedicated macro lens) there's no need to bring all 30" to the front of the tank.

 

[nyfireman3097]

Ok im starting to get this. I doubt ill be going with a nikon lens they are really expensive. What exactly does the mm mean and is the bigger the mm the further back it will bring up the coral ? The lenses im getting none say macro so even though there 300mm that doesnt mean anything for macro correct ?

 

[concept3]

Ok im starting to get this. I doubt ill be going with a nikon lens they are really expensive. What exactly does the mm mean and is the bigger the mm the further back it will bring up the coral ? The lenses im getting none say macro so even though there 300mm that doesnt mean anything for macro correct ?

correct.

most higher numbered lenses are actually a zoom lens especially if it has a range, like 55 to 200 mm

for some reason, Nikon calls their macro lenses as micro lenses, which is basically a "closeup" lens, Phyl likes the 105mm macro, I prefer using the 60mm macro lens.

and.... Nikon lenses are just as expensive as Canon lenses. You will probably invest more money in the lenses than the camera itself, depending on your need for better, badder pictures

 

[Phyl]

I'll leave "What exactly does the mm mean" to someone else (way to technical for our discussions) and just say that the bigger the number the greater the magnification and the closer the things that are further away will appear.

Macro gives you two things... 1) the ability to get [relatively] close to the object and 2) the ability to produce a 1:1 representation (life size). Ok three... 3) the ability to have a sharp image corner to corner.

The 70-300 would get you really close to something far away, but it won't let you get really close to something really close.

 

[Phyl]

most higher numbered lenses are actually a zoom lens especially if it has a range, like 55 to 200 mm

Just to clarify, higher numbered (over 50) are telephoto (bring things closer). Anything with a range (14-24, 24-70, 70-200) is a zoom lens. The lenses with just one mm number (60, 105, 300) are fixed focal length lenses.