Macro

Hope everybody is fine and do not sit to much in front of the

computer, but are out shooting.

 

Though, I have 2 questions.

 

1. Is it possible to use the new Nikon teleconver x 1,7 on any Macro

lenses?

 

Im about to buy a macro lens, but in the future i plan to buy Nikon

70-200 F2.8 VR and the x 1,7 teleconverter. I have the Kenko Pro x

1,4 but would like the x 1,7 for the longer reach and it can transmit

the VR.

 

2. About the macro lens. I have a Nikon D70 and if i buy a macro

lens, 90 or 105 mm, put the x 1,4 extender on and buy Kenko extension

rings (12 mm, 25 mm and 36 mm) will that be workable or waste of

money? You will get very close, but i do not know how it will work.

 

Thanks for the answers and then get out and shoot...........

 

Keep smiling

 

Thanks.

i think you have two distinct issues here: lens & macro accessories and combinations thereof, and, a camera/viewfinder question. the issue of which 60, 90, 105 or 200mm with TC/achromat/tube is probably less problematic than the question of which camera one uses. here, i mean "viewfinder/screen" more than "camera".

 

one can get good macro results from a variety of lenses - OEM, 3rd party,

funky lenses and outrageously unlikely combinations of accessories, used

singly, or in tandem. it's really only a matter of trying out some few of these setups and seeing what works for you.

 

i have never used a D70, never handled one, never even seen one.

don't know a thing about them except those things people write

ito photo.net. i gather it's a very capable camera.

 

my question though is this: is the D70 the right choice (its viewfinder) for someone's using it to do a good deal of close-up shooting?

This, for me - and again, i have never looked through the D70's

viewfinder - is the bigger, by far, of the 2 issues.

 

i do a large amount of mostly specialty closeup & some macro shooting.

the cameras i use are not the latest but one of the features they

share is a good viewfinder. my "money" shots are all done with an F3

and a 6X chimney finder. i wouldn't be comfortable doing this kind of shooting with anything not an "F" camera or a D2H or D2X - but then i guess i'm a dinosaur.

 

i know that people who shoot closeup/macro with the D70 will have

their experience to offer up to you.

The D70 is a fine body for close ups. Like other aspects of Nature photography the virtual telephoto effect can be nice.

 

Remember that the more things you stick together, the worse off you'll be as there is always a price to pay. You'll loose stops with the extension tubes (but not optical quality) and you'll loose both stops and optical quality with a teleconverter.

 

I've recently seen prints from a D70 with 70-200 f/2.8 VR and a TC-17E, and they were quite nice. Not quite as sharp as the lens alone, but you had to scrutinize to tell.

 

If you really want all that extension, I'd suggest you look into close up diopters, specifically a high quality set like those made by Nikon which have multiple elements. They will be MUCH cheaper and you won't loose stops. Those diopters won't be as sharp as a macro lens, but they'll give your 70-200 VR some new legs, and with careful technique you'll get very nice shots.

 

Depending on what kind of Nature you plan to shoot, you might want to skip the Micro-Nikkor 60mm. Nice lens, but not much working distance. That would be ok for some flowers, and inanimate objects, but you'll scare off many bugs. It also has the limitation of having a wider field of vision which makes it more challenging to keep a clean background.

 

The 105mm is probably the best starting point as it can be hand-held much easier than the 200mm and costs considerably less. However, if Nature close-ups is really your objective, the 200mm is ideal. I saved up for a few extra months and bought the 200 instead of the 105, and I'm very pleased with that decision. It is also recommended in John Shaw's Close Ups in Nature, which is by many accounts one of the best resources for macro photography.

 

Hope this helps...

To answer question 1; NO. The Nikon TCxxE teleconverters will only mount on telephoto AF-S and AF-I lenses. I have modified mine (you have to file off a piece of metal) to work on more lenses, but you have to be very careful what lenses you try to mount them to even then. These teleconverters all have elements that extend inside the back of the lens they're mounted on which means that they cannot be mounted on many non-telephoto lenses without damaging the TC and/or lens (TC glass could actually hit Lens glass).

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My modified TCs will NOT work with the Nikon AF 105 micro (for instance) because the rear element of the lens is too close to the back of the lens.

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question 2; I use the kenko af extension tubes sometimes. They feel kind of cheap but work well enough. If your kenko 1.4x would mount on whatever macro lens you buy it's worth a try. In his book <i>Closeups In Nature</i>, John Shaw explains many techniques to get close, even combining extension tubes with TCs. Highly recommended! There is a slightly different effect if you put the Tubes next to the body vs putting them between TC and Lens. Oh, another thing, Tubes can affect image quality even though there's no glass involved.

Ulrik,

 

Check out the info on photo.net provided by Mark Plonsky. One of the techniques he likes is reversing a 50mm lens. Never tried it myself, as I have a macro lens and extension tubes that get me as close as necessary. I don't know that I'd try the tele-extender and extension tubes together, as the tubes themselves can draw you in pretty close.

 

Have fun,

Bill

Greg nailed it. The Nikon "E" converters cannot be used with any Nikon macro, the 60mm, 105mm, or 200mm, because the protruding front element of the converter will not let the converter enter the rear of the lens. Nikon doesn't make a 90mm macro, I assume you're looking at the Tamron (excellent lens, by the way). I don't know if the Tamron is compatible with the "E" converters.

 

You can use the Nikon converters if you make the modification Greg mentioned, and use an extension tube between the lens and the TC (as John Shaw explaines in his book).

 

The "E" converters have a rubber "bumper" in front of their front elements, so there's really not much chance of damaging lenses experimenting.

 

The Kenko PRO-300 1.4x and 2x don't have protruding front elements and will work with just about any lens (normal, wide, tele, macro, fisheye). This gives you more room to experiment with different setups (lens, tube, converter vs. lens, converter, tube).

 

I'll throw another vote in for the John Shaw "Closeups in Nature" book.

 

The setups you describe (90mm macro at full extension, a couple of extension tubes, and a 1.7x teleconverter) will take you just past 2x magnification. At this level of magnification, you have virtually no DOF (less than 1mm). The single accessory that will result in the biggest improvement in your photography is a focusing rail. In macro, you set up the lens's focusing settings and your combination of tubes and converters to get a particular magnification, then focus by moving the camera and lens closer or farther from the subject. A focusing rail makes this easy. I'd recommend the Manfrotto geared rail, the one that costs around $80. Skip the Velbon, Adorama, RRS, and Kirk rails.

 

The Nikon 200mm is a dream, if you can afford one. What are you planning on shooting?

C.G. - I like diopters, and use them often. But they do cost you stops, you just don't realize this because of what they're doing to the optical path. It takes a bit of math to see this, but you can see it easy by playing with exposures and looking at the DOF of the final print.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I plan to foto insects and flowers.

 

Im thinking about buying the Tamron lens and I probably allready know that the answer is no, but can the new Nikon x 1,7 teleconverter fit that and work?

 

I do not understand why NIkon do not make a teleconverter to thier macro lenses when so many are using them.

 

Another teleconverter question: will the Kenko PRO transmit the VR from the Nikon 70-200 lens? Does anybody know?

 

My homepage www.ulrikdk.com

 

Thanks again and happy shooting.

Ulrick, as far as I know, the TC-17E won't work on the Tamron 90, even if you file the tab off the converter. You'd still have to have an extension tube between the converter and the lens. (the Kenko 12mm should do).

 

Without a TC, 90mm is a little short for bug chasing (but it's nice for flowers). With a TC, and full extension, you might find the the viewfinder getting a bit dim. The Tamron 90, at full extension, with 1.4x TC ends up an effective f8, which isn't a bright viewfinder image. And you might need to use flash when shooting.

 

The Kenko PRO 300 1.4 will almost always work with the D70 and the 70-200mm AF-S VR. The 70-200mm is very sensitive to electrical resistance between it and the camera. Some specimines are more sensitive than others. Converters add a bit of resistance. The Kenko converters add a bit more than the Nikons. So, the right 70-200 on the right D70 works fine with a Kenko. There is a grounding modification Nikon can perform on a troublesome 70-200 which cures TC incompatabilities. If you need it, be sure to tell Nikon you're having problems with a Nikon TC (don't mention the Kenko).

Oh yeah.

 

Nikon doesn't make converters specifically to go with their macros because the market is rather small.

 

They used to, back when the manual focus version of the 200mm macro only went to 2:1, Nikon had the TC-201 2x converter that would get you to 1:1. But with the AF 60mm, 105mm, and 200mm lenses going up to 1:1, the 2x converters would get you to 2:1, but cut the effective lens speeds down so low the lenses would be hard to focus and hard to use.