Macro or Zoom Lens?

[Felixc395]

Hi all! I'm looking to improve my camera taking skills. Im taking some classes to get the gist of my Nikon D7000 DSLR. But Im a little confused on the lens options.

I went to a local camera store and I talked to them about taking camera pics. They suggested a zoom lens, not a macro lens, in order to get the close ups I wanted.

Now this confused me, it seems like everyone here uses macro lenses! Can someone explain the difference and/or benefits to using a macro vs a zoom lens for up close coral pics?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Misled]

Did you ask them if they've ever taken pics of reef tanks??? If they haven't, trust us.

 

[Felixc395]

I certainly trust reefers more!! But can you explain why macro lenses are good? Im kind of a noob with this stuff... :\

 

[Misled]

Focusing distance. You want the lens glass as close to the tank glass as possible.You also want 1:1 magnification. When you see a pic of a an acro or a small section of a leather or shroom, this will be with a macro or something with tubes or a cropped pic. Thepic I posted is crap IMO. My tank has a bow front which makes shooting anything difficult. I shoot other things. You'll never get this without something like I mentioned. Or crop the crap out of a pic.

 

[dendronepthya]

Yeah, what everyone else said. Focus distance. A regular zoom lens on the long end will not let you get very close to your subject. Look at it's minimum focus distance (MFD). Some zoom lenses need 3' and can't focus on anything closer than that. A macro lens can have a subject very close to it and still focus which is what you want in reef photography.

 

[Misled]

Like I told my wife when I was shooting that caterpillar, I was all up in his grill!!! :lol:

 

[Felixc395]

I see! Thanks! So macro can focus on something close to the lens, but can they also zoom to a large degree?

 

[Misled]

A macro doesn't zoom. They are at least 99% of the time a fixed lens. You'll see some zooms that say macro, but on a normal basis, they don't have 1:1 magnification.

 

[Felixc395]

This may sound dumb, but if it doesn't zoom... How do you get close-ups?

 

[Ferguson1977]

Think of it as a fixed zoom at 100mm, 50mm, etc.

 

[Felixc395]

So will corals in the back of the tank, 2 feet away still look as big as corals 5" away from the glass or else what's the point of macro?

 

[JBen]

So will corals in the back of the tank, 2 feet away still look as big as corals 5" away from the glass or else what's the point of macro?

Not to sound testy but have you read the replies you've been receiving?

But can you explain why macro lenses are good?

Focusing distance. You want the lens glass as close to the tank glass as possible.You also want 1:1 magnification.

Yeah, what everyone else said. Focus distance. A regular zoom lens on the long end will not let you get very close to your subject. Look at it's minimum focus distance (MFD). Some zoom lenses need 3' and can't focus on anything closer than that. A macro lens can have a subject very close to it and still focus which is what you want in reef photography.

This may sound dumb, but if it doesn't zoom... How do you get close-ups?

what's the point of macro?

minimum focus distance

People have tried numerous times to help you understand the differance and while you change the words, you keep asking the same question.

All lenses, every single lens (inlcuding those in PnSs) have a MFD.
You sound like you think this is what you want, a great big honking telephoto

Great huh, except I need 21 feet between the lens and the subject.Further most lenses don't have 1 to 1 (1:1) reproduction....it might be .65 to 1, or .85 to 1 and so on.

Even some of the best "zooms" and lenses have MFDs well over 5 feet and even the very good ones for "close up" photography have MFDs of 3 feet.A macro lens lets you get up close and personal with MFDs that are measured in inches. Very up and close and personal.

that is the point.

Now whether or not it's suitable for what you want to do is another story and only you can decide that. However that is the real power (beauty) of DSLRs.

There are dozens of lenses. While most can pull double duty, most are designed to be very strong at something, some one thing. No lens can do it all, theres a lens for every job. It just means you might (will) want more than one lens at some point.

My advice would be go back to the store. Place a quarter or dime on the counter and have the clerk mount a macro on your body. Take a pic of the quarter/dime from the macros MFD (all have different MFDs) and take a pic of the Quarter/dime from 18inches (the width of most tanks). Then repeat the process using which ever zoom/telephoto they are recomending. When you try to focus on the Q/D you will see for yourself that you wont acheive focus until you start stepping back, and further back until you reach that lenses particular mfd and as you do the Q/D will be getting smaller and smaller in the frame. Take the pic once you can focus on it and compare the end product from each and then decide which you prefer.

 

[Felixc395]

I understand minimum focusing distance, that's not my problem. While I may sound moronic, I'm just trying to understand from a different angle.

Your advice is helpful, the last question I have is the only one I feel hasnt been answered directly or I'm not comprehending.

My tank is 18" front to back, will a good 100 mm macro still take good, detailed pictures for corals in the back of the tank or should I be looking into a 150.

 

[JBen]

Felix, what a "macro" does, that other lenses don't do is allow you to get 1:1 at their MFD. So thats one (actually 2) things that would entice someone to buy over a zoom. No zoom no matter how "powerful" its telephoto abilities will trump that. If they did Id use my 200, 400,500 or 800 (when I had it) to shoot bugs and the like. The more "telephoto" or more correctly the longer your focal length, the longer the MFD will be.
e.g. only
my 70-200 will focus at about 4feet
my 400mm at 10 feet
my 500 at at about 14feet (if I set it to close focus)
my 800 was 30feet (21 at close focus)

For things likes tanks, which have captive audiences, where you can control how close you want to be (or not), they are almost ideally suited.

60mm, 100mm, 150mm, 180mm

Doesn't matter. At their respective MFDs (each will be different) you will have 1:1. What differentiates them, is that their MFDs translates into more working distance. Not unlike all lenses in that respect.

So to answer your question
Yes a 100mm will take good detailed pics at the back of your tank.
A 150mm might be ever so slightly better because its MFD will be slightly larger (maybe 10in, rather than 8in )than the 100mm and a 180mm (18in MFD) will have a slightly larger MFD than a 150mm.

but at the end of the day, each when shooting at their MFD will produce 1:1.
The difference is how many inches there are between the lens and the subject there is.

Not sure Im wording it right, but hope so.
No lens that isn't a macro will enable close ups like macros due to MFDs
With macros focal lengths translates to "working distance" but thats the only difference.