Good News for Nikon Entry Level Users

[Madhav Bhakta]

Good news for Nikon Entry level DSLR users. Now they can shoot Macros with Nikon's newly introduced Macro lens - Nikon AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm F2.8

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1107/11071115nikkor40mmmacro.asp

[sujoyp]

Thank you for info but we already have a thread running for this

[toofan]

Madhav: something special about this lens. More info would be helpful that how this lens is for entry level nikon users. In the mean time I am checking the news. Thanks for the link.

[toofan]

This lens is cheap. Hope its cheap in India also. And can give 2x magnification easily with Extensions. and with 2x TC, I don't know what will happen.

[sujoyp]

Toofan tumhare muh me ghee shakkar

This lens is priced very good ...and it will autofocus on my D3100 too..

i think its written that it can give 1:1 magnification and a focus distance of 6inch is very close indeed

[Brendon]

^^ 6 inches is from sensor to subject. From front of the lens to the subject its barely 2 inches. Adding extention tubes will bring it down to just 1 inch !

[sujoyp]

isnt it from 2 inch to infinity ... and using a TC is better then using a ET i think...

[Brendon]

TCs are designed to work best with lenses of 50mm and more.

ETs give very little IQ loss with flat field optics (true macro lenses). TCs (especially 2x TCs) show a good deal of sharpness loss. Advantage of TCs is that the MFD remains the same but you get additional magnification. With ETs you need to move even closer to get more magnification.

[Madhav Bhakta]

Nikon has announced an inexpensive macro lens aimed at entry-level DSLR users. The AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G offers true 1:1 macro in a compact, lightweight package. With its inbuilt silent wave motor it will autofocus on all Nikon DSLRs, including those that lack in-body AF motors such as the D3100 and D5100. It uses an internal focus system with close-range correction to attain a minimum focus distance of just 16cm / 6.4", equating to approximately 5cm / 2" from the front of the lens. It will be available from 25th August, at an MSRP $279.95.

[ArindomRC]

They can use a teleconverter 2x to increase the working distance which will hardly come for another 5k. It doesnt deteriorate or worsen the pic quality. Try to have a look at those Kenko ones.

[Hankosaurus]

They can use a teleconverter 2x to increase the working distance which will hardly come for another 5k. It doesnt deteriorate or worsen the pic quality. Try to have a look at those Kenko ones.

It's good to learn that "affordable" teleconverters have gotten so good as that. I remember when one would not consider a TC if he wanted to get all he could out of his lens. Be mindful that a 2X converter will spread the light over four times the area at the film plane, and it will cost two stops.

I wonder if ETs will preserve the automatic capabilities of the new optic. I also wonder how valuable AF is in a macro.  I can imagine that automatic aperture control could be pretty handy to minimize screen darkening while setting up the shot.

[lightwave]

Well it is not ALL that inexpensive and I would prefer to add a bit more and get a little more working distance with the 90/100/105mm types.

[jadrock]

Well it is not ALL that inexpensive and I would prefer to add a bit more and get a little more working distance with the 90/100/105mm types.

agree with lightwave...considering the price of this lens is $280 mentioned(which roughly will be 13000 to 15000 when it comes to india calculated with Rs.45/$+tax )...better save that money+future saving+wait+patience and get a good working distance lens as mentioned above...tamron 90mm is preferable in this case ...

[ArindomRC]

They can use a teleconverter 2x to increase the working distance which will hardly come for another 5k. It doesnt deteriorate or worsen the pic quality. Try to have a look at those Kenko ones.

sorry for the incomplete info.. kenko ones are pretty popular... it does deteroite the quality to some extent still because of the high resolutive power of macro lens they work pretty fine... imho seldom a macro shot is taken at f2.8 ... a bit of light loss is much better option than stickin the lens front element to the subject... then again 40mm macro lens will give much different perspective than a 90mm or 100mm...

[Hankosaurus]

Well it is not ALL that inexpensive and I would prefer to add a bit more and get a little more working distance with the 90/100/105mm types.

That's my prejudice too, Doc.

[Image]

Wow...Let me get this right.

We have tiny puny weeny viewfinders (on the "legendary" D40s, 1000Ds, D3100s and what not - slightly brighter than 1/4 candle light  ). And over that we have a macro lens and then we will add a 2TC.

Repairing a car engine through the silencer would look much easier than focussing using this contraption - I think 

[ArindomRC]

Lolz never thought about this... This is indeed frustating. First they have a very small vf and to add salt to to the cut, its dim .... Moreover my observation was on the brighter VF we use. Btw @ram dont you think f5.6 is not that much darker, since all the macro lenses are coming at f2.8 , means its usable hopefully .

I just offered them a solution. By adding a TC we dont reduce the magnification but we increase working distance, moreover the side effects have already been pointed out by henry ....

So whats the conclusion, was trying to salvage something out of this lens, as already stated this lens will serve people with specific perspective....

[Image]

Btw @ram dont you think f5.6 is not that much darker, since all the macro lenses are coming at f2.8 

Arindom, Its not only a function of the widest aperture but its also a function of the viewfinder + Pentamirror or Penta Prism being used. Penta Prism is much better than Penta Mirror but then its heavier and occupies more space - hence all the small lightweight entry level bodies use Pentamirror which does not transmit/reflect light as well the Penta Prism.

You can try the following if you can. Mount a F/2.8 Macro Lens on D3100 followed by D200 and then by a camera like F100 or D700 (or D3 series or Canon equivalent). The difference will be literally day and night between each of the steps.

There was a young fella (like 25 or so years old) who met me at the gardens (he's been shooting with me for the last two weekends now) who uses the D3100 along with 85mm DX Macro Lens (F/3.5 I think). He wanted to see how using Extension tube feels like so I gave him my 36mm tube. He went close to a flower and said he is not able to focus. I had a look and I can tell you that it was very tough to precisely focus through that viewfinder - at least for me - everything was so dark. My D200 VF looked much much better.

PS: F/2.8 is valid only at infinity. As you focus closer the aperture keeps dropping. I cannot recall the exact values but at the minimum focus distance, F2.8 will actually be F/4 or so. You can check the histogram if you like - try shooting something from a distance of 3 feet and then go down to 12 inches. You will see that the photo taken using 12 inches distance from the subject will be under exposed compared to the one taken from 3 feet - assuming you are keeping the shutter speed constant.

[sujoyp]

U r right image...I use 50mm 1.8 with ET for macros with D3100 and after f/8 it becomes impossible to focus coz it become very dark...upto f/5.6 I can manage somewhat

[Hellwrath]

PS: F/2.8 is valid only at infinity. As you focus closer the aperture keeps dropping. I cannot recall the exact values but at the minimum focus distance, F2.8 will actually be F/4 or so. You can check the histogram if you like - try shooting something from a distance of 3 feet and then go down to 12 inches. You will see that the photo taken using 12 inches distance from the subject will be under exposed compared to the one taken from 3 feet - assuming you are keeping the shutter speed constant.

And I think the Nikon bodies record the changed aperture where as Canon ones don't.
More info here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sigma105mm/discuss/72157622276504460/