Coin Macro Photography with a NIKON

lkrarecoins

Morning all...

I am ready to pull the trigger on a new Nikon D90 and wanted to gather your opinions on this camera before I take the plunge.

I plan on taking some coin pix as well as using the camera for family, leisure & vacation shots etc...

Do you have any hints, suggestions, or recommendations for the type of lenses I should acquire?
I would like to get a generic lens (say, 18-105MM) for general use and a Sigma Macro Lens (per CU members requests) to practice my coin photography.

I already have a copy stand, gooseneck lamps, and grey card.

Thanks for all of ur input...

Len

DennisH

I use a Nikon D200 and both the Nikon 60mm and 105mm Macro lenses. I'm a Morgan guy in general and a VAM guy in particular. For full-coin and full-holder shots I always use the 60mm, because the 105mm is so big and heavy and slower to use. For VAM details, though, I use the 105mm, often with two PK-13 extension tubes, the mirror lockup feature on the camera, and a cable release to fire the camera.

The macro lenses and copy stand are the two most important parts of getting good photos, although lights, light position, and experimenting with them until you get the results you like best, are what will really bring the results all together.

Good luck with your efforts, and be sure to give us a peek of how it's going now and then.

blu62vette

I would get the the sigma 150 or Tamron 180, I use the tamron 180. I have a couple Nikon 105's but havent touched them much since getting the Tamron.
Like Dennis said the 60 and 105's are perfectly fine.

If the D90 still meters with an AI lens you can find used 105 Nikon macros for pretty cheap, they are a creaming deal. You have to manual focus but likely will be anyways.

Staircoins

Todd - Will the Tamron 180 autofocus on a D60 and/or D90?

Edit: Also, curious as to why you suggest a Tamron 180 to the OP rather than a Sigma 180. Price?

lkrarecoins

Thanks to all that have provided valuable info so far....much appreciated.

Are all Macro Lenses manual focus???? And, they're fixed correct, meaning that you cannot zoom in and out?

DennisH

Macros are all fixed length... no zooming.

These days they are readily available as autofocus, but for sharpest results I use mine in manual mode. That's why many folks look for an older, non-autofocus lens for coin photography. They're way cheaper on the used market, and they're going to be manually focused anyway.

adamlaneus

Modern macro lenses are autofocus. You want to turn that feature off when on a copy stand; you can probably do a better job manually focusing, and once it is in focus, you don't want it to move.

Most macro lenses are not zoom lenses. There are some specialized 'macro zoom' lenses. They are highly expensive and they are designed for the rare situations where you are unable to move the camera forwards and backwards to frame your subject properly. Once again, unnecessary on a copy stand.

Put the most money you feel comfortable about spending into the macro lens. Meaning a 100mm minimum, 150-180mm preferrable. That extra bit of lighting flexibility is nice, but to many folks is not worth the extra few hundred dollars it costs. The 100mm range can produce fine images.

mgoodm3

Macro lenses come in manual and autofocus. The autofocus ones can be used manually also. Autofocus doesn't always work so hot at close range.

A large majority of true macro lenses are fixed focal length. There is a nikon 70-180 micro that will focus very close to 1:1 but it is quite pricey.

jessewvu

I have a Nikon D90 and love it. It's a great all around camera. I have a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR and a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens and recently purchased a AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED for coin photogrophy. I haven't been able to really put this thing to work yet because I lack a copy stand substantial enough to hold it.

I would suggest the first thing you put on your lens after you buy your camera is a quality filter. Hoya makes some really nice filters and their new HD (stands for hard not high definition) are some of the strongest on the market but can be a little pricey at about $45-60 a pop depending on the size lens. I have HOYA filters on all my lenses for protection. Once you scratch your lens, you're pretty much done. If you scratch the filter, you can replace it if needed.

blu62vette

<< <i>Todd - Will the Tamron 180 autofocus on a D60 and/or D90?

Edit: Also, curious as to why you suggest a Tamron 180 to the OP rather than a Sigma 180. Price? >>



Yes it will autofocus though it is a little slow, has a very wide focus range.

I only suggest it because I use it and I am happy with it, no idea on the price difference.

jessewvu

<< <i>Thanks to all that have provided valuable info so far....much appreciated.

Are all Macro Lenses manual focus???? And, they're fixed correct, meaning that you cannot zoom in and out? >>



My micro (nikon calls their macro lenses micro lenses) is manual and auto, whichever you want to use.

mrearlygold

messydesk

I use a manual focus 105mm Micro Nikkor for almost everything. There's no reason to have autofocus for critical macro work, as you'll want to make fine adjustments manually, anyway. You can buy such a lens for $200 or less and then use the rest of the money for upgrading your family/vacation lens to the Nikon 18-200 VR lens.

LeeG

I have a D60 with a Tamron 90mm lens. The D60 does not have a motor so the lens has to. I'd go with the 180 mm lens if I was to do it all over again.


Here are some recent images with this set-up:

lkrarecoins

Thanks again for all the fantastic info....you've all already saved me at least $200 bucks

lkrarecoins

Is it correct that the packaged software will enable me to look at my images on my monitor as I photograph?

Thx again

MikeInFL

"Do you have any hints, suggestions, or recommendations for the type of lenses I should acquire?"

Learn to shoot RAW and get the longest macro lens you can afford.

blu62vette

<< <i>Is it correct that the packaged software will enable me to look at my images on my monitor as I photograph?

Thx again >>



not sure but on that model and feature. I use camera control pro to move images from camera to computer.

Fletcher

I have the D90 and love it. I originally bought the Tamron 90 lens first because it was recommended by forum members and I hated the results. I sold it and purchased the Nikon 105 and it is the most amazing lens I have ever had the privilege of shooting with ... both for coins and for portraits. However, the depth of field on it is VERY tight which means that if your coins are not perfectly perpendicular to the lens, part of the coin will be out of focus as with the pic below where the center is focused, and the top and bottom are a bit blurred. Just my 2 cents ...

soty27

Below is a shot I took with the nikon and the sigma 150 macro.

the lens was 2 feet away from the coin when this shot was taken.

messydesk

<< <i>Is it correct that the packaged software will enable me to look at my images on my monitor as I photograph?

Thx again >>


No. You'll need Camera Control Pro to do that effectively. The bundled software lets you do easy transfers, but CCP lets you control the camera entirely from the computer (except for manual focus and aperture settings on older lenses) and shows the picture on the monitor within a second or two.

BoggledMind

Nikon D200 with an AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens for me.

Dialup beware: image is 1 MB, cropped from 10 megapixel source.

1964 Jefferson

DennisH

Nikon D200 with a 60mm Nikon macro, two CFL lights. I had one light too close to the coin, hence the glare along the obverse rim between RTY in LIBERTY.