Thread: what camera to buy??

I have a Nikon D40 with a 18-55 and 70-300 lens, what lens or lenses would you guys recommend for razor photography and magnification close up. I have been researching reverse lens but admit am confused as to which lens to buy, macro or a reverse lens?

Marty

Originally Posted by M Martinez

I have a Nikon D40 with a 18-55 and 70-300 lens, what lens or lenses would you guys recommend for razor photography and magnification close up. I have been researching reverse lens but admit am confused as to which lens to buy, macro or a reverse lens?

Marty

there's no such reverse lens...there are however, reverse ring...you put your lens on reverser side to the mounter by screw your filter thread to the ring attached to the mount.

you you wan't 1:1 magnification ratio, go for normal lens, which is 50mm...if you really want to have macro lens, there are not much choice, however, your preference decide which range do you want. For nikon, you have following choices:
1. pre-AI 55mm micro nikkor
2. 60mm AF-D/S micro nikkor
3. 105mm micro nikkor

55mm require you to have very close distance to the object, 105mm kept you distance with the object...there are other choices like Tamron 90mm which also a good lens for the money.

if you don't want to spent too much money, reverse ring is just about 5USD in ebay, if I'm not mistaken, you had to check there, mainly the item is from mainland china. Other option is increasing the flange base length between your sensor and lens, using either the available attachment in the market (12-150USD) or make a modification using pringles tube or PVC pipe.

Erick

That depends on your budget. You can buy anything from a "point and shoot" kind to the DSLR or medium format cameras and the range is $100 - $30,000. From your description though it seems like the point and shoot is out of the question.

1. What's your budget?
2. Will this be used exclusively for taking razor pictures or be your go-to camera for everything?

Originally Posted by nessmuck

I need to buy a digital camera to take some quality pics of my razors.One that will take close ups of the type of grind,the makers stamp on the tang, etc.Now i know like every thing else in this world you can spend alot of flow for what ever your into, but looking for the middle of the road camera to get the job done. What do you folks use?? thanks

I have seen Point and shots with the ability to ad screw on accessory lens. My 5 MP Kodak Has that option. It has a Schneider lens But it's not a DSLR. The one downfall of my camera is no manual focus. I will never make that mistake again. I would like to check this camera out in a store soon Pentax Optio W90 it has some interesting features.

Visit a camera shop and try the penny (Coin) test.
If you can find a camera that will fill a frame with
a penny and you can read the words on the
coin you are good to go.

Find a tri-pod!
It can be an inexpensive small one....

When you read camera specifications look
for macro mode. Something like this from
the Nikon Coolpix S3000 data summary:

Focus Range:
50cm (1 ft. 8 in.) to infinity (8), Macro close-up mode: 8 cm (3.2 in.)
to infinity (8)

While not 100% necessary with modern Mega Pixel cameras macro close-up
does provide advantages.

Download and install some free photo software like Google Picasa
or the open source GIMP tools (Gnu IMage Processing).

If you have DEEP pockets Cannon and Nikon have some astounding
new DSLR cameras. A way cool macro lens for the Nikon DSLR can
cost twice even four times the price of the Nikon Coolpix S3000.
But a long focal length macro lens is a professional tool of choice.
I am a big fan of the Nikon SLR/DLSR cameras but Canon and Nikon
high end DSLRs can dent the pocketbook.

LIGHT, lighting is so very important!
The more and better light you have the
deeper the depth of field and more of the
razor will be in focus. A light tent/ box can
be home made:
Strobist: How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio

Daylight is less expensive than flash systems. Foil on
slabs of cardboard can concentrate and direct light.

Mega pixels.... take the original with the most resolution
you can. Use "free" tools like Picasa or GIMP to resize
for presentation after you trim (crop) the rubbish from
the image. A big laptop screen is 1024x800 and it takes
less than one mega pixels to fill. You can do the math
but a modern 12 Mega pixel camera lets you crop away
70% with no loss on the web.

New vibration reduction... get if if you can. Not
needed with a tripod (need to turn it off when
on a tripod in some cases).

Color.. An inexpensive known neutral gray card
can help balance and correct color.

Get a camera you can and will use for other stuff
family, friends, pets... easy to put in a pocket
or purse is a big plus. You cannot take pictures
if the camera is home in the closet.

Summary: visit a shop and try a coin test.
Light, light, light...
Crop, adjust...

Originally Posted by M Martinez

I have a Nikon D40 with a 18-55 and 70-300 lens, what lens or lenses would you guys recommend for razor photography and magnification close up. I have been researching reverse lens but admit am confused as to which lens to buy, macro or a reverse lens?

Marty

jankrix gave a good list of Nikon lenses...
With the D40 pay attention to the compatibility
matrix. You may find that manual focus is the
requirement. Also watch for the G lenses that
limit some manual options.