newb!

[lissagirle]

Hey Everyone, my name is Melissa. Over a year ago i became obsessed with good photography... so my mom bought a Nikon D3000 for me that Christmas... i used it as a regular camera for the most part and then one day i took a really good picture with it and then became obsessed on taking more like it... now i'm trying to figure out the lingo and what the numbers mean and all that fun stuff... i'm catching on slowly so bare with me... i recently purchased a Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Macro lens... but i cant get within 2.5 feet of an object cause it wont focus on the object... i was under the impression macro was meant for close up pictures... Can someone explain to me why i cant get close to an object and focus on it... i know i know "what a total newb" lol but im a quick learner i swear!

Thanks!
Mel

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

Hey Everyone, my name is Melissa. Over a year ago i became obsessed with good photography... so my mom bought a Nikon D3000 for me that Christmas... i used it as a regular camera for the most part and then one day i took a really good picture with it and then became obsessed on taking more like it... now i'm trying to figure out the lingo and what the numbers mean and all that fun stuff... i'm catching on slowly so bare with me... i recently purchased a Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Macro lens... but i cant get within 2.5 feet of an object cause it wont focus on the object... i was under the impression macro was meant for close up pictures... Can someone explain to me why i cant get close to an object and focus on it... i know i know "what a total newb" lol but im a quick learner i swear!

Thanks!
Mel

According to the Sigma website this lens has a minimum focus distance of 59 inches..that's the closest you can get to the subject


70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro(Motorized)

Designed for use with full frame digital SLR cameras. May also be used with smaller APS-c size sensors with a corresponding effective increase in focal length to about 100 to 450mm with most cameras

Minimum focusing distance of 59 inches & allows macro photography with a maximum magnification of 1 to 2

[lissagirle]

i see... whats the best lens for super close up pictures? Also, whats the best telephoto lens?

Mel

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

i see... whats the best lens for super close up pictures? Also, whats the best telephoto lens?

Mel

Mel, difficult question to answer without knowing what you're prepared to spend
For starters, here's an OK Nikon macro lens

Nikon Micro-Nikkor Macro lens - 60 mm - F/2.8

[lissagirle]

really, i just need to know what type of lens i need... if its out of my price range i'll just save up for it... how can you tell just by looking at the numbers what the camera is capable of doing? cause i though i understood the numbers but i guess i'm wrong...

Mel

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

really, i just need to know what type of lens i need... if its out of my price range i'll just save up for it... how can you tell just by looking at the numbers what the camera is capable of doing? cause i though i understood the numbers but i guess i'm wrong...

Mel

Sorry Mel, not sure I understand: "how can you tell just by looking at the numbers what the camera is capable of doing?"

[navcom]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

really, i just need to know what type of lens i need... if its out of my price range i'll just save up for it... how can you tell just by looking at the numbers what the camera is capable of doing? cause i though i understood the numbers but i guess i'm wrong...

Mel

It's kind of like asking "what's the best car to buy?" It just depends on what you want it to do. A $500,000 Ferrari is one of the best cars out there but it's useless if you need something to haul the 4 kids back and forth to school. There are $20,000 lenses out there that many of us covet...but most of us will never need.

Manufacturers make thousands of different lenses...all designed to fit into a specific niche. To get real close to something like your original post indicated, you need to clarify what you mean by "close". You can get real close with a 70-300mm zoom. You can zoom right in on the eye of a fly...you will just have to stand back to do it. If by close you mean how far away you stand when you focus, you will need a wider focal length macro to do it. 70mm is the largest focal length your current lens will do and that is pretty long...which by definition means you will have to stand back to focus.

Hope that helps!

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

i recently purchased a Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Macro lens... but i cant get within 2.5 feet of an object cause it wont focus on the object... i was under the impression macro was meant for close up pictures... Can someone explain to me why i cant get close to an object and focus on it

Unfortunately "Macro" here is a marketing term used by Sigma to describe a shorter minimum focus distance than its non-macro version. It is similar to describe a headphone being "digital ready".

Originally Posted by lissagirle

how can you tell just by looking at the numbers what the camera is capable of doing? cause i though i understood the numbers but i guess i'm wrong...

Unlike p&s, it isn't about the camera but the lenses. I believe most true macro (or Nikon micro) lenses are prime lenses (except Nikon 70-180mm f/4.5~5.6 ED Micro-Nikkor), flat-field and at least 1:1.

For example (D3000 AF compatible):
Nikon 85 DX AF-S micro
Nikon 60 AF-S micro
Nikon 105 AF-S micro
Sigma 150 macro HSM
Sigma 180 macro HSM

D3000 AF non-compatible:
Nikon 60 AF-D micro
Nikon 200 AF-D micro
Tamron 90 1:1 macro
Sigma 105 macro
Sigma 50 macro
Sigma 70 macro
etc.

[wanda_whitehead]

Hi there fellow newbie...I got a piece of advice recently from a gentleman who has been a professional photographer for over 30 years when I mentioned wanting to get another lense for my D3000..."learn to use what you have first and then branch out"...meaning...don't spend a lot of money to confuse yourself more than you already are...unless you are actually planning on doing the macro photography quiet a bit...

That said...I was confused by everything for a while and then I found a class through a local community college to take without enrolling in the college and it has helped tremendously! This weekend I am shadowing a pro on a shoot in my area and I am absorbing as much as I can!

Good luck on your endeavor!

[inkista]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

... i recently purchased a Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Macro lens... but i cant get within 2.5 feet of an object cause it wont focus on the object... i was under the impression macro was meant for close up pictures... Can someone explain to me why i cant get close to an object and focus on it...

As everybody else is saying the "Macro" designation on the Sigma is misleading. It's only a 1:2 lens. The spec. you want to look for on macro lenses are the minimum focus distance, and the magnification factor. You want at least a 1:1 if you plan on getting in close to the tiny stuff. With Macro lenses, the focal length doesn't actually tell you how close you can get, but more how far away from the subject you can be. On Nikon's Nikkor lenses, the designation "Micro" pretty much means the lens does 1:1, but on the 3rd party lenses, like Sigmas, Tamrons, etc., you have to check the specs a bit more closely.

I would highly recommend that you read this article on basic lens features to get a feel for what the numbers mean. The biggest thing to wrap your head around is going to be that the f-numbers on the lens don't describe the lens's aperture range, but rather its maximum aperture.

You also need to understand that there's a lot more to a lens than just its focal length and max. aperture. Each lens has an individual character. Similar-looking names can actually be describing quite different lenses. This is where looking at lens reviews can sometimes help you figure out what the "feel" of a specific lens is and whether or not it might help you shoot the subject you want to go after.

One last word: it's not all about sharpness, although a lot of review sites might make it seem like that's the case. Sharpness is something that can be measured and compared, so it's one of those things that gets a little over discussed, but a lens's performance also includes things like contrast, flare control, autofocus speed, chromatic aberration, performance through the focal length and aperture ranges, stabilization, distortion, usability, and a bunch of other factors, too. How important each of those things is depends on you and what you're shooting.