Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 macro lens

[map95003]

I picked up this lens last week from B&H. Played around with it for a few days taking pics of my tank, I was impressed with some of the shots I got, better than what I was getting with my nikon 18-55VR lens.

However, I expected excellent macro shots outside when taking pics of flowers, insects, etc. I'm not sure if I just suck or if it's the lens but this afternoon I was playing around with it outside trying some flower shots and I'm a bit disappointed with the results....seems like some parts of the shots are sharp and others are blurred, almost like it's better on flatter surfaces as opposed to multi dimensional objects....any experience with this lens?

I'm using it on my Nikon D80 body, considering returning the lens, if you have some experience with it let me know. I posted some aquarium shots in another thread, I didn't use a tripod so I thought that was the reason for some of the blur.

 

[Misled]

How were you shooting, (manual, aperture, shutter pri)???? What f/stop??? If shooting at 2.8 your DOF is pretty shallow.

 

[The Punisher]

From what I understand, Macro lenses all have shallow DOF. How much does f/stop come into play with macro lenses? Can you get a pretty deep DOF at all with a dedicated macro lense?

 

[touhy]

From what I understand, Macro lenses all have shallow DOF. How much does f/stop come into play with macro lenses? Can you get a pretty deep DOF at all with a dedicated macro lense?

yes, you can. increasing the f-number will increase the depth of view.

i use the same D80 camera with the same nikon 60mm 2.8 micro lens. it is a wonderful lens that is relatively fast. set the D80 to 'A' for aperture control and try increasing the f-number until you get the depth you want. if you go about f10 you will probably get similar depth that you are used to with your 18-55 in P mode. when i use the 60mm, i typically go up to f16 or so on a tripod for depth.

 

[map95003]

Thanks guys, I tried it this morning....hugh difference. Shooting in Apature priority f/8-14 produced some nice sharp images. I'll post some when I get home today.

 

[swjim]

From what I understand, Macro lenses all have shallow DOF. How much does f/stop come into play with macro lenses? Can you get a pretty deep DOF at all with a dedicated macro lense?

Depth of Field is a function of focal length, aperture, distance to subject and crop factor. This site can help you calculate your DOF: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

 

[kayaking2]

I'm glad I found this post. I plan on buying a lense very similar to this for my Canon.

 

[photokid]

i use this lens all the time for just having fun shots on my d3. use a tripod and if shooting macro be aware of DOF. you might want to bracket so you can learn the lens.