Macro lens recommendation: Reef Photography

[LOVETHISHOBBY]

Hello everyone. I have a Nikon D3100 and looking for a macro lens recommendation. I will be taking top down photography of mostly coral frags and small colonies. Coral placement is approximately 5 inches below the water level. I'm currently using the lens that came with the camera. I can get fairly good colony shots, but frag shots are just plan blurry no matter how I adjust the settings and lighting. I’m shooting under LED’s with T5 supplementation. I would say the light level is low to moderate. I'm also using the Avast top down porthole. Of course, cost is a factor. With that said, which lens would you recommend? Thanks a bunch!

 

[RichieT]

I love the 90mm tamron.

 

[jasonrodreef]

I can only recomend one lens from nikion. Its $1,000 easy, maybe less if used google nikon macro lens and it pops up.. i use an older 105mm Nikkor with lens filters to give me 1x 2x 3x zoom. They attach to your current lens. You can try extension tubes but with out a tripod they will be dark because the lens is so long. Best hit some macro forums i found alot of cool tricks from guys who take pictures of tiny spiders..using one lens attached backwards to the other...

 

[Xingu]

I'm currently using the lens that came with the camera. I can get fairly good colony shots, but frag shots are just plan blurry no matter how I adjust the settings and lighting.

Not sure which lens comes with that camera, but you may be to close to the subject. Every lens has a minimum focus length, if you get inside the minimum the lens will not focus no matter how hard you try. I have 3 Micro Nikkors, 60mm, 105mm and 200mm, I would reccommend all of them. The 200mm is strictly manual focus. I have not used any of the 3rd party macro lenses.

 

[LOVETHISHOBBY]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your feedback.

 

[KoleTang]

Tamron 90mm!

 

[PolandSpring]

i just got the tamron 90mm and its only like $400-500
if your looking for one let me know i saw someone selling a used one on my local forum for $400.

 

[turok]

Tokina 100mm macro, I found it on CL for 225 used.

 

[joshporksandwich]

I have the nikkor 105 and 60mm and use the 60mm 90% of the times for top downs. For all the other pictures I use the 60mm 80% of the times. The 105mm is amazing but on my tank i like taking pictures of more than 1 colony at a time. A few sample pics at the same distance since the lights don't let me get any higher.
With the 60mm

with the 105mm

 

[LOVETHISHOBBY]

Awesome pics joshporksandwic! I ended up renting a tripod and a 105 mm lens from my local photo shop. I was able to get some pretty decent shots. After speaking with some very helpful guys at the photo shop and extensive research on R2R, I've decided to go with the Tamron 60mm lens along with a tripod. Once I get the equipment, I'll post a few pictures. Thanks everyone for their feedback and assistance!

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