18-55 Nikon lens macro?

Mfrankfort

Senior Member
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

A lot of the Macro's I've seen have been around 80 and wider.. and usually fixed. I might be wrong, but i think any lens can be a "macro" lens, as long as the min focal distance isn't too large. If it's something like 6 feet... might not be a macro. 6 inches.. prob can use that as a macro. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. And it usually says "Macro" in/on it. lol
 

piperbarb

Senior Member
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

It also has to do with the image size it produces at closest focusing distance. Typically, at closest focusing distance, the image produced on the sensor/film/whatever should be 1:1 or 1:1/2. Anything else is considered "close focus" not macro. Both the 55mm and 105mm micro Nikkor lenses are true macro lenses because they will give a 1:1 image at closest focusing distance.
 
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

The 18-55 Kit lens that you got with the D5100 is not Macro.

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Close Focus: 11" (0.28m) from the back of the camera. This is 4.5" (11.5cm) from the front of the lens!

[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 1:3.2.

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[/FONT]
 

STM

Senior Member
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

Macro is a very often misapplied term. In the 70's and 80's and even into today, a lot of zoom lenses had a "macro" setting, which got you down to maybe 1:4 to 1:5. It was not a macro lens, but a close focusing lens. And the image quality usually really sucked at that setting too. Very soft corners and very poor flatness of field. To be a true macro lens, it really should be able to get you down to 1:2 without the aid of any close-up lenses, extension tubes, etc. They do it by having extra long focusing helicoids. In most cases at this focal length, the front element is deeply recessed within the front of the lens so it protects it and also acts as a built in lens shade. My 55mm f/2.8 AIS Micro-Nikkor pictured below gets you down to 1:2 unaided and 1:1 with the PK-13 27.5mm automatic extension ring. It of course is also an outstanding prime lens as well, in fact one of the sharpest "normal" lenses Nikon ever made. It is usually my "go to" lens whenever I need a lens of that focal length.

55mm Micro.jpg
 
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fotojack

Senior Member
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

Is this considered a macro lens? I got this lens with the recent purchase of a D5100.

No it's not. It's a standard "kit lens" that comes with the camera. Another kit lenses is the 18-105. A Macro lens will have Macro written on the barrel.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

Is this considered a macro lens? I got this lens with the recent purchase of a D5100.

If you are new to all this macro is a much miss used word,true macro takes a lot of practice and you can get a lot of failures,before spending a lot on a true macro lens give some though as to whether its just a close up facility you are looking for to do flowers and butterflies ect,this can be achieved with a lot of the more general purpose lenses a lot cheaper.

mike
 

Eye-level

Banned
Re: 18-55 Nikon lense

It of course is also an outstanding prime lens as well, in fact one of the sharpest "normal" lenses Nikon ever made. It is usually my "go to" lens whenever I need a lens of that focal length.

When I first started getting into Nikons I was told to not even worry about the 50 and get this lens instead. I don't care to much for the 50mm FL so that is why I never got one but I suspect if I were to do so it would be this one.
 
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