Macro Photography For DSLR's - Do You Really Need That Macro Lens? Part 2

In part 1 of this series, I laid out the initial question "Do you really need that macro lens?" This post is all about lenses, and regardless if you go for the expensive or cheap, new or old school, you will need "some" type of lens to do your macro photography.  More or less you'll want a lens with good glass that lets in plenty of light, the lowest aperture you can find and afford, which usually means a prime lens.  A prime lens is one that doesn't have a variable focal range, e.g. no 50mm-200mm.

Macro Photography For DSLR's - Do You Really Need That Macro Lens? Part 1

So do you really need that expensive macro lens for your DSLR? Is there a similar offering, maybe even  cheaper, that will give you quality macro photos? These are the questions I'll be exploring in a number of blog posts on Clunie Photography.  These articles will delve into a few of the options available to most DSLR hobbyists.

What is macro photography?  Macro photography is basically taking close up pictures of  usually small things.  Some examples of macro photography are of insects, circuit boards, coins, grains of salt, etc.  When taking these macro pictures most photographers typically rely on expensive macro lenses.  However there are a few options out there that just may make you think twice about purchasing that expensive macro lens and save you some hard earned cash for other quality lenses!

These articles are going to explore a few of the products out there you can pick up for a reasonable price, as well as one that isn't so cheap, a 85mm Nikkor Micro Lens (1:1) which is about $500.00 these days. When talking about the specific products in the posts, I'll list the model numbers and price points.


So here are the products I'm going to be looking at:

(As pictured left to right in the top photo)

• A Macro Bellows System
• 85mm Nikkor Micro Lens (1:1) from Nikon
• 35mm Reverse Lens Ring
• 50mm Nikkor Lens (not directly reviewed per se, as this is the lens I used with the other products)
• Extension Tubes

Hopefully when I'm done with these posts you'll have your answer to the question I initially posed or at the very least, a place where you can start if you're getting into macro photography.

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!