Need advice for budget macro lens for Nikon D5100

[goodguy]

I apologize.. I did not know that English was your second language! I will try to remember not to "Razz" you about your spelling in the future! I try to only tease native English speakers... they should know better!

Not to worry, as long as a reply comes from the heart trying really help I take no offence.
I really am trying to be as good as I can in English and so if somebody corrects me I am thankful for that.
I get a lot of compliments about my English from my friends and co workers and is very proud of it but as I said no matter what it will never come as natural as my mother tongue, its just the nature of things I guess.

 

[joshinaround]

Glad you two hugged it out!

In searching for a Nikon 105 for under $300, I'm not having much luck. They all seem to be in the $400 range. However, I did come across this: Nikon AI s Lester Dine Kiron 105mm F2 8 Macro 1 1 Lens | eBay I can get this for about $350. What do you guys think?

 

[goodguy]

Glad you two hugged it out!

In searching for a Nikon 105 for under $300, I'm not having much luck. They all seem to be in the $400 range. However, I did come across this: Nikon AI s Lester Dine Kiron 105mm F2 8 Macro 1 1 Lens | eBay I can get this for about $350. What do you guys think?

My rule of thumb, if I never heard of it best stay away.
Never heard of this lens and it aint cheap for a used unknown lens.

Well maybe the others know of it and will recommend.
I try to stick to Nikon and will consider Sigma, Tamron and Tokina if the price is right.

 

[joshinaround]

Glad you two hugged it out!

In searching for a Nikon 105 for under $300, I'm not having much luck. They all seem to be in the $400 range. However, I did come across this: Nikon AI s Lester Dine Kiron 105mm F2 8 Macro 1 1 Lens | eBay I can get this for about $350. What do you guys think?

My rule of thumb, if I never heard of it best stay away.
Never heard of this lens and it aint cheap for a used unknown lens.

Well maybe the others know of it and will recommend.
I try to stick to Nikon and will consider Sigma, Tamron and Tokina if the price is right.

Good idea! Anybody selling anything? haha

 

[cgipson1]

Glad you two hugged it out!

In searching for a Nikon 105 for under $300, I'm not having much luck. They all seem to be in the $400 range. However, I did come across this: Nikon AI s Lester Dine Kiron 105mm F2 8 Macro 1 1 Lens | eBay I can get this for about $350. What do you guys think?

OLD lens... Kiron was 1980's Kiron Lenses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vivitar marketed these lenses also... Vivitar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is an old manual focus lens (Pre AF).. that is WAY overpriced! I would not recommend it. Per the seller "One of the best Nikon mount macro lenses ever made." Good marketing hype.. period! lol! They were quality lenses for the time they were produced... but I wouldn't buy one.

 

[joshinaround]

There's this : Nikon 105mm 2 8 Nikkor Lens SN 196236 | eBay

but it doesn't seem to look like this: Nikon 105mm AF Micro-NIKKOR Review

It must be an older model? Would it work for me?

 

[joshinaround]

Per the seller "One of the best Nikon mount macro lenses ever made." Good marketing hype.. period! lol! They were quality lenses for the time they were produced... but I wouldn't buy one.

Yes, I temporarily got excited about that.

 

[cgipson1]

Oh.. and you probably WON'T find a Nikon 105 for under $300 unless it is damaged! They hold their value...

 

[joshinaround]

Hell, even the empty boxes hold their value! Nikon Lens AF s VR Micro Nikkor 105mm F 2 8g If Ed Lens Empty Box En 5112001 | eBay Geez!

 

[joshinaround]

Cgipson1, going back to your recommendation to the Tokina, is this the one you're talking about? Tokina 100mm F 2 8 at x M100 AF Pro D Macro Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF D New 4961607633946 | eBay

Is that the same as: Amazon.com: Tokina AF 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 Pro D Macro Lens - Nikon Mount: Camera & Photo

They just look different. The one on Amazon has amazing reviews and if you can confirm they're the same, I'll place my bid.

Again, that you guys so much! I new to all this and my head is swimming! You guys are doing me a wonderful service!

 

[cgipson1]

Cgipson1, going back to your recommendation to the Tokina, is this the one you're talking about? Tokina 100mm F 2 8 at x M100 AF Pro D Macro Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF D New 4961607633946 | eBay

Is that the same as: Amazon.com: Tokina AF 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 Pro D Macro Lens - Nikon Mount: Camera & Photo

They just look different. The one on Amazon has amazing reviews and if you can confirm they're the same, I'll place my bid.

Again, that you guys so much! I new to all this and my head is swimming! You guys are doing me a wonderful service!

Definitely the same lens... buyer only has 96 feedbacks, so be careful.

 

[coastalconn]

Good idea! Anybody selling anything? haha

I'm actually selling a Nikon 105 and a Tamron 90... The Tamron 90 is in your price range and in the buy and sell section...
They are both very good lenses.. A moth landed on my bird lens last night and I took shots with both lenses...
The crops are different, but just so you have an idea...
Nikon 105 F2.8 AF-D

Moth Macro - Nikon 105 Macro by krisinct, on Flickr
Tamron 90mm

Moth Macro Tamron 90 mm Macro by krisinct, on Flickr

 

[baronmax]

Some people may eat me alive for saying this, but when I first got started with macro, I grabbed a 70-300mm Tamron with "macro" mode. It's not insanely sharp, but it is cheap (I got mine for less than $100 used). That will take you down to 1:2 (half life-size) and let you get your feet wet. The "macro" mode goes from 180-300mm, which is perfect for critters which are skiddish or things that bite/sting. I have about 2 feet of working distance. The image quality wide-open is kinda "meh", but stopped down to f/8, you can actually get some decent pictures. It wasn't uncommon for me to shoot even as high as f/20 and still get good images (the lens goes to f/45 at the 300mm focal length).

If you are SURE that you want to do macro, then I'd say skip the 70-300mm and go with a dedicated macro lens so you can get down to 1:1, or better. But if it's something you want to try, a cheap, used Tamron "macro" zoom lens is great to get started with and it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

The lens I got wasn't even the newest model, it was one of the older ones...the ones that take like 15 sec to go from infinity to close focus, lol (okay, maybe not THAT bad, but it's pretty bad). I really liked having a lens that I could use for many things, "macro", telephoto, portraits, walking-around, etc., on my camera at the same time. I still use this lens a LOT. Mostly because I can't afford a bunch of different lenses right now.

Almost all of my "macro" shots are taken with this lens: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/60637962@N03/

If you have a 3xxx to 5xxx series, you won't have autofocus (which really isn't a problem w/macro, since you tend to manually focus anyway), but the cameras with a built-in focusing motor will focus just fine with the older version. I don't know if the newer version of the lens has the AF motor built-in or not, but I used it on my D3100 and D5200 just fine before I got my D7100.

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything less than a 90mm for critters, you will just be too close to them and you'll find that you scare 90% of them away. That's one thing that I truly LOVE about the 300mm focal length...I have a lot of working distance. The 70-300mm is NOT a true macro lens, which is why I've been putting the word macro in quotes. To be a proper macro lens, you need 1:1 or better reproduction, the tamron only goes down to 1:2.

Anyway, good luck and I look forward to hearing about the lens that you decide to get.