Nikon 60mm micro lens - how to?

[JHemdal]

All,

I was given a Nikon 60mm micro AF lens for use on my D70s. It has a damaged barrel, but *seems* to be working o.k. My only question is that I thought that with this lens I would be able to take close-up photos of my fish and inverts. However, it won't focus in AF mode closer than about 14" (although I can get a little closer in manual mode). I guess what I'm saying is - I can't seem to use this lens to take a photo of say, a single zooanthid. I can get better magnification with my 70-300 zoom, standing 5 feet away (aside from the obvious issues in taking a shot like that).
Is there something that I'm not doing here?

Thanks,

Jay Hemdal

 

[gregr]

Minimum focus distance with that lens should be 8.8 inches and at that distance you'll get true macro performance- 1:1 magnification. So you should be able to fill the frame with maybe two zooanthids. You should be able to fill the frame with something like a candycane (Caulastrea) head.
Regardless, 1:1 is excellent and if you're not getting the lens to focus down to 8.8 inches the damaged barrel is probably the cause.
To give you an idea of how good that 60mm lens should be-- the 70-300 at best will give you 1:4 magnification (one quarter life size).
Greg