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Whats a good camera for corals? (1 Viewer)

capman said:
Better picture quality than the Nikon 105 VR? Really? The 105 VR is an absolutely stunning lens - it is hard to imagine it getting much better, but I have not researched the Tokina.
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I wouldn't say it is better, but i think it is the next best. Also, the Tokina won't have AF for your camera, because it uses a camera body motor to focus (the D3100 doesn't have this).

The only problem I can see with the 40mm is getting close enough to your subjects. You won't be able to get close enough to corals in the back of your tank to make them appear super close. That is one of the other problems I have with using my 50mm. That's why I was only suggesting the 100-105mm lenses.
 
nate_mcnasty said:
..... Also, the Tokina won't have AF for your camera, because it uses a camera body motor to focus (the D3100 doesn't have this)......
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Oh, I see what you were saying before about autofocus. I forgot about how the lower end nikon bodies don't have their own focusing motors and require the newer lenses to have autofocus.
 
The tokina is a pro lens (fx) so when it's used on a dx camera you are really shooting at 150 mm instead of 100mm - I'm pretty sure it has a built in motor as well...will have to double check I use a d300s so I don't pay to much attention to the motors. Isn't nikons 105 rated as a dx lens?
 
From Ken rockwells site...Sometime he doesn't redo older posts when a new lens comes out. I always check his opinion before I buy a lens, because it is a fine detailed opinion



Overall performance top

The Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AF is one of the very best lenses I've ever tested.

Not only are its optics perfect, so are its ergonomics. This FX and DX lens is both sharper and handles better than Nikon's made-in-China, DX-only 85mm f/3.5 VR, which costs more!

This Tokina is a winner, and one of the sharpest lenses I've ever put on any camera, at any distance including infinity.



Auto and Manual Focus performance top

AF Speed

Autofocus is very fast for normal uses. This Tokina focuses much more quickly than Nikon's newest 85mm f/1.4G on an F5, for instance, but the new Nikon 85/1.4 is designed for high-precision more than speed.

In the macro range, use manual focus for your own sanity. Autofocus is reasonably fast, but it's much more sensible to turn the ring yourself than to have your camera hunting all over.

One full turn (two half-turns) of the AF screw pulls focus from infinity down to 7 feet.

Ergonomics are perfect, better than any Nikon AF Micro lens.

In AF, turning the big, fat focus ring does nothing, so you can get a good, solid grip on it without affecting AF. Nothing moves on the barrel as it autofocuses, except for the forebarrel moving in and out.

To get manual focus, simply pull the focus ring towards you, and it clicks into manual focus mode. Now turn the big, silky-smooth rubber-covered metal focus ring for easy manual focus.

Nikon's manual focus 105mm Micros, the 105/4 AI and today's 105/2.8 AI-s are good, but only manual focus. Nikon's 105/4 has a built-in hood.

Nikon's 105mm f/2.8 AF Micro is an ergonomic nightmare: you have to release a lock and rotate a ring to get the manual focus ring to respond.

Nikon's newest made-in-China 105mm VR is also no picnic: if you turn the focus ring by accident, which is easy to do because that's how you hold the lens, you accidentally go into manual focus mode.

By comparison, and all by itself, Tokina's focus clutch mechanism is brilliant. I wish my Nikon lenses were this good.

As if the focusing wasn't enough to make me love this lens, did you notice the rubber ring at the rear of the lens? It doesn't turn: it's the grab ring for mounting and unmounting. Bella!
 
I wouldn't fully rely on Ken Rockwell as the only source for information when buying lenses. He receives a lot of negative criticism in the photography community, which is something I learned recently. He is like Wikipedia, he is a good starting point for information, but use other sources that are well respected before coming to a conclusion.

After a little more reading I believe the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 does have a focusing motor built in so it should work just fine on your camera.
 
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Stoneyj33 said:
Nikon's newest made-in-China 105mm VR is also no picnic: if you turn the focus ring by accident, which is easy to do because that's how you hold the lens, you accidentally go into manual focus mode.
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Not true, or at least not represented accurately. The Nikon 105 VR, like many or most (or all?) of Nikon's newer lenses has a sophisticated system that allows you full manual override (without leaving autofocus mode) when in autofocus mode without having to flip any switches (on older lenses like the 80-400VR you have to turn a ring to give you the ability to do manual focus, and you have to switch back into auto focus mode if you want autofocus - this can be a really huge pain in the neck). This sophisticated system of the newer Nikon lenses is wonderful. For example, if the autofocus system is having trouble locking in to what you want it to focus on you can quickly give it some help manually and then let the autofocus system fine tune the focus. You can also simply switch into manual focus mode (turning off autofocus) if you choose.

The Tokina might indeed be a wonderful lens. It is probably smaller and nicer to handle than Nikon's VR version because the VR feature adds some extra weight and bulk. The Nikon 105 macro can do a bit of searching in autofocus mode, though I suspect this is something many macro lenses might suffer from. This is my only complaint with the lens. Optically it is just superb. Some folks describe it as being Nikon's sharpest lens, which is saying a lot. Whether it is the sharpest or not, surely it is right up there with the best of them. I also produces lovely bokeh (I hate that word for some reason...).

Most decent macro lenses are extremely sharp lenses giving excellent image quality though. The Tokina (and others) is probably fabulous.
 
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Stoneyj33 said:
The tokina is a pro lens (fx) so when it's used on a dx camera you are really shooting at 150 mm instead of 100mm - I'm pretty sure it has a built in motor as well...will have to double check I use a d300s so I don't pay to much attention to the motors. Isn't nikons 105 rated as a dx lens?
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Nikon's 105VR is not a dx lens. It fills the frame on a full-frame camera such as the D700.

But even if it were dx it would still function like a 150 mm lens (sort of) on a dx body. The difference between standard lenses (e.g. from the 35mm days, or modern lenses designed for fx bodies) is that the dx lenses project a smaller image on the sensor (which is fine since the sensor is smaller). This compromise allows the lenses to be physically smaller and lighter (why have extra glass to project an image much larger than the sensor?), but if you put a dx lens on a full frame (or 35mm film) body operating in fx mode a photo from a dx lens will have a black vignette around the edges - the actual image will be circular (cut off at top and bottom) not reaching the left or right sides of the frame.

Whether a lens is dx or fx, a 105mm lens is a 105mm lens. On a dx camera though the image captured is a smaller part of the projected image, which gives the same effect in the final image as what you would get on a full frame (or 35mm film) camera with a longer focal length. On a dx camera a 105mm (for example) dx lens will give you exactly the same field of view as 105mm fx lens on that same camera.
 
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I haven't seen it listed as a fx lense anywhere ( I know it's fx compatible) I've always assumed because of the amount of fall off it has on a full frame camera in comparison with their fx lenses.

The reason I say this is because of two reasons if you think you will up grade to a full frame start buying fx lenses now so you don't have fall off and be disappointed with your purchases later. Lenses last a life time cameras usually don't. Also, I believe dx will die off at some point.
 
I would still get the tokina. the IS is what makes it 450 more. You could probably find a used Nikon 105 without VR for the same price. Make sure it has a focusing motor as well!
 
nate_mcnasty said:
I would still get the tokina. the IS is what makes it 450 more. You could probably find a used Nikon 105 without VR for the same price. Make sure it has a focusing motor as well!
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Yup. I don't need the IS. I was thinking Sigma since I'll be buying a Sigma ring flash too.
 
Stoneyj33 said:
I haven't seen it listed as a fx lense anywhere ( I know it's fx compatible) I've always assumed because of the amount of fall off it has on a full frame camera in comparison with their fx lenses.

The reason I say this is because of two reasons if you think you will up grade to a full frame start buying fx lenses now so you don't have fall off and be disappointed with your purchases later. Lenses last a life time cameras usually don't. Also, I believe dx will die off at some point.
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The Nikon 105VR is definitely not marketed as a DX lens and not labeled as such. I used my 105VR on a D700 I rented to shoot a wedding in June. There were no problems with this lens on the D700.

Ken Rockwell does indicate there is some falloff at wide apertures with this lens on an FX camera, but this is gone by f/8 he says. I didn't notice this as being an issue with the D700, but perhaps if I took the right sort of photos to really reveal it it would be something I would notice.

It is definitely considered a pro-quality lens though (and marked as such with Nikon's gold ring that they put on the pro lenses).

Regarding DX dieing off at some point: I hope not. In bird photography I get more pixels in my bird with a given lens on a DX camera than with an FX camera. I absolutely loved the D700, and if I was shooting weddings routinely it would be a fantastic camera to have, but for my nature photography (birds as well as macro shots) I would not want a D700. I DO want its features otherwise though...the amazing high ISO performance, the wonderful color rendition, etc. Hopefully there will be a D400 at some point that these features will have trickled down into. I gather the D7000 already has an amazing sensor (better sensor than the D700 in some people's opinion), but if I were buying a new camera I'd prefer the pro/semi-pro body features like the D200, D300, and D700 have, so a D400 DX camera, if one is introduced, would probably be perfect for me as an upgrade from the D200.
 
I'm feeling bad that I have contributed so much to taking this conversation away from things that are relevant to the original poster. Sorry.

By the way, Thom Hogan really likes the Tamron 90mm macro lens as well (go to the end of this review): http://bythom.com/105AFSlens.htm This is still probably not useful to the original poster though since even this lens pretty much fills the $400 budget without even buying a camera body to use it with (though perhaps one of these lenses could be found for sale used?).
 
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capman said:
I'm feeling bad that I have contributed so much to taking this conversation away from things that are relevant to the original poster. Sorry.

By the way, Thom Hogan really likes the Tamron 90mm macro lens as well (go to the end of this review): http://bythom.com/105AFSlens.htm This is still probably not useful to the original poster though since even this lens pretty much fills the $400 budget without even buying a camera body to use it with (though perhaps one of these lenses could be found for sale used?).
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no prob. I just wish I had any clue to what all this info means. I looks very useful. lol
 
Just saw an old model nikon 105 micro for $500 at national camera, its used. You can see it on their website. It's a steal at that price
 
reef junkie said:
no prob. I just wish I had any clue to what all this info means. I looks very useful. lol
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If there are particular things you'd like explained more just ask. As you can see some of us like to talk about cameras and lenses. ;)

I realize though that if too much of this is going over your head you might not know what to ask!
 
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