Nikkor 55mm f2.8 micro ais

As I stated earlier in the week I was able to acquire a used one of these lenses and took it on a walkabout today. Like all lenses has a learning curve that I will need to master. But I wanted sharp and i wanted to focus closer to flowers than the nifty 50 would allow me to do and i think it is sharp enough.
Not every shot was a success but a larger percentage of the ones i shot are at least acceptable.
Groupings at at near wide open are more problematic so you have to have the focus exactly where you want it.
in the spirit of some of our members who are now naming their lenses I shall dub this one:
more photos to follow as the days roll on

You are getting surprisingly good depth of field. You ought to teach a class.
I wondered if you stood back some, and then cropped substantially?

Some of these were taken from the sidewalk and i could not get as close as I would have liked. Since that is often the case, that is one of the 2 reasons I bought this lens. The other is that you can focus to half the distance of the nifty 50 so to better fill the frame. Most of my cropping was just to switch to a square aspect eliminating some uninteresting background. The lens came with a PK-13 extension tube that i will play with later but that will eliminate any metering. I rely on my manual metering a lot and suspect that the use of the extension tube will be a tougher learning curve. Future test for this lens will be for a portrait and a landscape.

And it has that inimitable "Nikon Feel" that is missing from so many of their lenses nowdays.

RON said:

Some of these were taken from the sidewalk and i could not get as close as I would have liked. Since that is often the case, that is one of the 2 reasons I bought this lens. The other is that you can focus to half the distance of the nifty 50 so to better fill the frame. Most of my cropping was just to switch to a square aspect eliminating some uninteresting background. The lens came with a PK-13 extension tube that i will play with later but that will eliminate any metering. I rely on my manual metering a lot and suspect that the use of the extension tube will be a tougher learning curve. Future test for this lens will be for a portrait and a landscape.

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Your learning curve will not be steep but you will lose about 1 stop with the PK-13 and the DoF will be very shallow

RON said:

The lens came with a PK-13 extension tube that i will play with later but that will eliminate any metering.

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The D7000 supports non-CPU lenses (see menu, manual page 159). I have a very old Nikon 55mm f/3.5 macro lens, modified to AI. It provides an old M2 extension tube to get 1:1. The lens alone works fine on a D300 or D800 (not AF, but it meters OK), but when I add the M2 tube, I lose ability to set an aperture with the dial on the camera, it won't budge off of f/3.5. However, the DOF button will stop it down OK. I'm thinking the tube might be shorting an electrical contact or something? Because if I instead substitute a Kenko extension tube, then it all works OK, and camera A or M mode can work OK (can meter). Probably your newer PK-13 is superior in that way, I'm guessing it works and meters OK too.

Your 55mm Micro will meter with the PK-13!

nzswift said:

Your 55mm Micro will meter with the PK-13!

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Thanks, I suspected that. And it should meter on a D7000 too.

But for me, I also have a 60mm and 105mm macro lens, and the PK-13 is $100, so I'm thinking it may not be essential for me. The 55mm f/3.5 was a mighty fine lens though.

WayneF said:

Thanks, I suspected that. And it should meter on a D7000 too.

But for me, I also have a 60mm and 105mm macro lens, and the PK-13 is $100, so I'm thinking it may not be essential for me. The 55mm f/3.5 was a mighty fine lens though.

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$100?? The PK-13 is available on Ebay for $25. Are you perhaps thinking of the PN-11 for the 105mm? They are in that price range

STM said:

$100?? The PK-13 is available on Ebay for $25. Are you perhaps thinking of the PN-11 for the 105mm? They are in that price range

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Ebay sounds better then. I was looking at the B&H page: pk-13 | B&H Photo Video

Amazon too: Amazon.com : Nikon PK-13 Ai Auto Extension Tube 27.5mm : Camera Lens Extension Tubes : Camera & Photo

I said $100, they say $99. But Ebay should be fine too.

Well fellows, I got the lens and the extension tube for $180, so I feel I did ok and they do both meter thru my D7000.

WayneF said:

Ebay sounds better then. I was looking at the B&H page: pk-13 | B&H Photo Video

Amazon too: Amazon.com : Nikon PK-13 Ai Auto Extension Tube 27.5mm : Camera Lens Extension Tubes : Camera & Photo

I said $100, they say $99. But Ebay should be fine too.

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The PK-13 did not go for that when it was brand new. Most on Ebay are $25 or less.

This image with 55mm lens and PK-13 attached . Hand held is certainly difficult and it is for really small objects.

Wow! The violet and the orange one are GREAT examples of how to shoot close ups...

DraganDL said:

Wow! The violet and the orange one are GREAT examples of how to shoot close ups...

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Thanks, I sometime have a tremor that makes it doubly difficult and will often trigger multiple exposures hoping one will be sharp. A macro lens with vr would be great but that is many long $ down the road. I once had an early version of the Tamron 90 and could not get a sharp photo hand held for the life of me. Am more comfortable with shorter macros. Oh well, I think I am going to like this lens as long as my eyes allow me to focus clearly.

Do not see too many red lilies. This 55mm micro lets me get ad close as I need to get to fill the viewfinder.
It fills a gap in my lenses that the 50mm l.8 cannot match.