Macro

Tonij

Senior Member
Hi Nikonites. I have a question. I do have thee Nikon 5100 and use the 16mm to 300mm lens which is good for close up macro. What lens should I use to get a full body macro image, where I don't have to be up close to the object/subject?
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
To get a true macro image you will need to be close to your subject. A telephoto lens can be used to get a close-up photo, but not usually a true macro image.Can you tell us what the object/subject will be, and how close you want to take the photo from ?
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
Like the others said, you have to get close. the 90mm Tamron is a great lens at a great price and you will get true macro.
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
Lens is important also. Macro/micro lenses have a 1/1 reproduction ratio, which you zoom doesn't have.

In case you don't understand it, at 1:1 a house fly will appear on the sensor the same size the fly is. Imagine you picked it up and placed it on the sensor.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Right, 1:1 is actual real same size image on the sensor. At 1:1, a US penny would fill the height of a DX sensor, or 2/3 the height of a FX sensor.

IMO, this made more sense with film, in that we could look at the film and measure it on the film. Our digital sensors obviously similarly have a real physical size, but it is more abstract, we don't ever see the image presented that way. Sensors vary in size, but thumbnails on the computer screen might be a halfway approximation. :)

Hi Nikonites. I have a question. I do have thee Nikon 5100 and use the 16mm to 300mm lens which is good for close up macro. What lens should I use to get a full body macro image, where I don't have to be up close to the object/subject?

The Tamron 16-300 mm lens is NOT exactly a macro lens, it is a regular lens that focuses very close. Should be very handy, the specs do say its closest focus is 15 inches with about a 1:3 reproduction size . But macro lenses typically go to 1:1 (or at least 1:2). Which will be far fewer inches from subject. And while they do focus at infinity, they are more optimized for these closest distances.

1:3 is maximum of 1/3 size of real life on the sensor. 1:1 is actual real life image size on the sensor.

full body macro image, where I don't have to be up close to the object/subject?

I did not understand "full body" for macro, and macro has to get close to the subject.

The concept of 1:1 is that the subject distance is equal to the focal length (some number of mm) .... distance in front of lens is equal to distance behind lens ... then by similar triangles, the two sizes (subject and image) are the same size then.

This image was for a different purpose, about computing field of view (not close enough to be 1:1), but it should show the idea of reproduction size

fov.gif

Due to extending the field of view, if the subject is 10x farther than the focal length, then the reproduction is smaller, or 1/10 the size of the subject (on the sensor).
 
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Ironwood

Senior Member
Without knowing what you want to photograph, we are all just guessing what you might need to do the job.

Example - Flies, Ants, and small Spiders, the 90mm Tamron that Moab Man recommended would be great, but you will have to be close to the subject. But for close-up shots of Butterflies and Dragonflies, I would recommend something different, such as the Nikon 300mm f4, you wont have to as close, but not too far away either.

Without more info from you, we are all just bumping our heads :)
 

Tonij

Senior Member
I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so evasive. I don't think I am using the correct terminology. I think what I am interested in is the depth of field. I do have the telephoto lens 16mm to 300mm, should I use a different lens to capture depth of field?
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Yes, probably so. For creative depth-of-field, I'd offer that a telephoto is unlikely to offer the aperture that a macro or prime lens might. But if you're shooting wasps, venomous snakes or poisonous spiders, a telephoto might be advisable. :eek:
 

Just-Clayton

Senior Member
Here is something to try. I have an old 105mm with an extension tube. I took that tube and added it to my old 70-300 lens. I was able to stay back a good 3 feet from the subject and get decent shots. these were all hand held. A mono pod or even tripod should be used. and very little cropping. _DSC5221.jpg_DSC5223.jpg_DSC5227.jpg
 

8toes

Senior Member
To get a true macro image you will need to be close to your subject. A telephoto lens can be used to get a close-up photo, but not usually a true macro image.Can you tell us what the object/subject will be, and how close you want to take the photo from ?

My girlfriend and i are both Nikon shooters and she has the Nikon 105mm f2.8 micro (Nikon term for macro) and it is one of the sharpest lenses i have ever used. It is pricey at about $900 but it is also built like a tank. I would not use anything else for macro shooting on a DX body.


Cheers,

Brian J.
 
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