Macro Lens for Jewellery Photography

[harshit143]

I am into jewellery photography specially small articles like rings etc. Please suggest me a macro lens for nikon dx body. Budget is max 30k. I have shortlisted Nikon 40mm. Sharpness is all what i need. I will use a tripod so it wont be a problem if i will shoot from least focus distance.
The only thing matter is lens should focus from closest proximity of the subject.

 

[AK3D]

Tokina 100mm Macro or a Nikon 105 Macro.

 

[harshit143]

Tokina 100mm Macro or a Nikon 105 Macro.

How is Tokina 100mm? The price is fairly good. How is the sharpness?

 

[AK3D]

How is Tokina 100mm? The price is fairly good. How is the sharpness?

It's a gem of a lens - I own it and have had very good results. Razor sharp for macro, but the bokeh is not too good (you can't have it all). For the price, no better macro lens. You could also look into the J J Mehta forum or photography club of india forum classifieds where people often have good equipment for sale at a low budget.

 

[thaniks]

Tamron 90mm

 

[harshit143]

It's a gem of a lens - I own it and have had very good results. Razor sharp for macro, but the bokeh is not too good (you can't have it all). For the price, no better macro lens. You could also look into the J J Mehta forum or photography club of india forum classifieds where people often have good equipment for sale at a low budget.

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The lens looks really promising. And for the price it seems killer. Do it have inbuilt autofocus motor as I am going it to use on my D5200?
Secondly, can it be used as a prime lens for portraits? Will it deliver same sharpness (though the bokeh wont be that good as compared to 35 or 85mm from nikon)?

 

[AK3D]

The lens looks really promising. And for the price it seems killer. Do it have inbuilt autofocus motor as I am going it to use on my D5200?
Secondly, can it be used as a prime lens for portraits? Will it deliver same sharpness (though the bokeh wont be that good as compared to 35 or 85mm from nikon)?

It does not have an inbuilt motor like the G type lenses. You will need to manually focus in that case.
I've used it as a short tele/portrait lens as well and it gives great results. However, you will find the lack of VR an issue in low light situations. The Nikon 35 mm 1.8G isn't really a portrait lens because of the slight barrel distortion. The 85mm 1.8G is one of the best portrait lenses around, particularly when used with a full frame camera. It will work with your 5200. However, since you need to shoot close up, it is not suggested at this time. All of these are different tools for different situations and you need to choose accordingly.
It would be better to sell off the 5200 and get a D750 or a D7200 if you really want to shoot professionally.

 

[harshit143]

It does not have an inbuilt motor like the G type lenses. You will need to manually focus in that case.
I've used it as a short tele/portrait lens as well and it gives great results. However, you will find the lack of VR an issue in low light situations. The Nikon 35 mm 1.8G isn't really a portrait lens because of the slight barrel distortion. The 85mm 1.8G is one of the best portrait lenses around, particularly when used with a full frame camera. It will work with your 5200. However, since you need to shoot close up, it is not suggested at this time. All of these are different tools for different situations and you need to choose accordingly.
It would be better to sell off the 5200 and get a D750 or a D7200 if you really want to shoot professionally.

Buying a D750 is planned but aftr an year due to financial issues. Anyways, there is not choice rather than looking for some other macro lens like tamron 90mm because I have least practice shooting manually. Thanks for your kind suggestions.