Macro lens for D60

[michelleans]

December 31, 2009 at 9:10 pm

Hi,

I am going to be getting a Nikon D60 in a few weeks and this will be my first DSLR. I have used my dads Canon 350D before and played around with a Nikon D40 as well but have not gotten a lot of experience.

I will be getting a standard 18-55mm VR lens with the D60, but am wondering what would be some good lens to look at in relation to wide angle shots and macro shots, both of which I would love to use the camera for. I guess mainly it’ll be the macro option I’d like to use, that and portrait shots.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[The Fine Print]

February 26, 2010 at 3:22 pm

So, I guess, you’ve bought your D60????
Since no-one has replied, I’ll jump in if I may:
The standard 18-55mm is a very nice macro lens already (If you need more extreme macro, you can just buy a good 52mm +4 diopter lens for it and use it screwed into the front (what magnification do you want?), Nothing wrong with the 60mm Micro-Nikkors in D or G-guise; I’ve got one and it’s excellent.
Anyhow, the 18-55 is fine as a portrait lens as well; for very wide-angle shots, you could just stitch :).
So, for starters and in-theory, you don’t need any more lenses, at least not urgently.
Pros would would splash out on the 105 or 135mm/f2 DC and/or any of the longer zooms for portrait action (The 80-400 VR is great, the 70-300 is ok as well; if you need to impress, a fast f2.8 tele might make you happy), but you don’t need any of them to take great photos, seriously.
More important for macro shots is an off-camera flash or two, but even there you can improvise with bouncing light from the on-camera flash off white cards, etc., just make sure you stop down to f22 or so.
If you really think you need wider: 10-24, or 14-24 Nikkor, Tamron .. Just make sure you get an AF-S type lens, if you want the AF to work on your D60.