Close up photography advice

[karenglow]

Hello all, I am looking for some advice. I have a Nikon D60 and I am trying to take close up photos (not necessarily macro) mainly of flowers and jewelry. I bought extension tubes but unfortunatly since the D60 does not have live-view, I cannot see through the eyepiece well enough (with or without my glasses!) to focus really well with the extension tubes. I'm not crazy about getting my lenses on and off them either... I'll probably send them back. Any advice on what I can buy, or perhaps on a decent macro lens that's not too expensive? Thanks for taking the time to read.

BTW, I have the following lenses now:
The kit lens 18-55mm
55-200 mm Nikon
50mm f1.8 (which was the lens I was trying to use to get close ups since it's great in low-light)

Thank you!
Karen

[RichardTaylor]

You may find a dioptre lens (like a filter) may meet your needs.
They work ok at smaller apertures, which is also good for a bit of DOF.

The cheapies are approx the price of a burger.

See this thread where I was using cheap ones..
http://digital-photography-school.co...ro-budget.html


An other relatively cost effective,alternative is a third party macro lens.

And another alternative is the "macro" setting on some point & shoot cameras. They may meet your needs, especially for flowers.

(1) Taken with a Canon G11 point & shoot camera.


(2) and another with a G11.


How large are the jewelry items you are photographing?

[karenglow]

Thanks for that thread link, and nice shots with a point and shoot. I may look into that.

I am trying to shoot close ups of flowers mostly, really close detailed shots, and close shots of costume jewelery (I collect the old rhinestone jewelry and may start selling some of it on ebay - to fund my photography hobby!!!)

I'll look at the filter options... A book I read suggested the Cannon 500D which is about $125 - but you're thinking I don't need to spend that much, right?

And if I were to look at a third party macro, can you suggest what specs I have to have?

Thank you!!!

[RichardTaylor]

MIne were $AU24 on EBay (which is about the same in $US) for a set of three.

They are hopeless at very wide apertures but ok stopped down.

I havn't used the Canon dioptres, however they are reportedly one of the best around. The price is about 1/4 the price of a third party macro lens.

I have used a 100mm macro. The extra focal length, compared to the 50mm ones, allow you to wok further away from the subject which means you won't scare off bugs quite so much and it makes it a lot easier to light the subject when using additional lighting.

[karenglow]

Thank you very much for the advice! It's fun to explore all the options.

[Jo.T]

hi,
i started with the 18 - 55mm kit lens and +1,+2,+3 diopters then moved to a 50mm lense with tubes but like you found it to restrictive having to change tubes all the time and moved on to the tamron 90mm macro lense luv it. If you have a look at my flickr page i have work using all three, the set called Pt lincoln nation park macro is all done with kit lense and diopters, it was my first outing with macro and still think the photos are pretty good (have been hooked ever since).i think diopters are a great way to start and easy on the budget

[karenglow]

Thank you Jo!

Those photos are lovely and exactly what I'm "shooting" for. I really appreciate the advice.
Karen