Best Lens and Mode to use to take pictures of Tiny object?

[juan_ibanez]

<p>Last night at around 11PM i noticed there was a spider in the middle of my driveway just hanging there. it looked like it was floating in the air but it was on its web. anyways, i ran into grab my camera to snap a few pics. but i found myself having trouble getting the camera to focus on the spider(it was about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch in size) I have a Nikon D60 and i was using a nikon nikkor 55-200mm dx VR zoom lens and it just wouldnt focus on it. it kept focusing on the ground. i then changed to a 18-55mm lens and it was a little better. but i found i couldnt get too close to the object or it would blurr and focus on the ground again. was i doing something wrong or could it be the lighting wasnt right? besides the flash and light of the camera my front sensor light on my drive was on. or was the spider just too small to come out? Maybe i need another lens? maybe i wasnt using the right picture mode on the camera? any information or advise is greatly appreciated. thanks everyone inadvance.</p><div></div>

[bsutter]

<p>Most lenses have different minimum focus distances and different macro magnification values. There are a ton of different ways for macro photography (extension tubes, magnification filters, dedicated macro lenses, bellows, etc). You may want to look at the macro section here for more details. </p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Every lens has a minimal distance at which it can focus. In some cases, you may be better off using your longer lens (at closer to 200mm) so that you can still fill your frame better while standing back far enough to be at a distance the lens can focus on.<br /><br />There are lenses meant for close focusing, obviously. When you see all of the great insect closeups on web sites like this, you're usually seeing shots taken with macro lenses or one flavor or another. In Nikon-speak, those are referred to as "micro" lenses.<br /><br />Your D60 will only autofocus with such lenses if they have a built-in autofocus motor, so that would be something like Nikon's 60 or 105mm AF-S micros. But those are definitely specialty lenses, and they're not inexpensive.<br /><br />You can also get diopters... lenses you screw into the filter threads on the front of your existing lens(es). These have their own compromises, but it's a less expensive way to go.<br /><br />On a more general note: be sure you're using a single spot focusing on your camera. Presuming you're at your lens's working distance, you'll have more control over what the camera is actually focusing on, that way.</p>

[tommyinca]

<p>You can add a Nikon 4T to your 55-200mm to get closer focus and fill more of the frame.</p>

<p>Is that a black widow spider (male)? If yes, don't use the 18-55mm with its mate ;-)</p>

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[saskphotog]

<p>Advice so far is all good. I just want to add a "definite opinion" to the list. </p>

<p>If you really want to take lots of "Macro" pictures, you won't be totally satisfied until you get a real macro (micro is the Nikon word, I think) lens that can produce 1:1 images with reasonable speed (f2.8) and excellent resolution. Your working distance required will determine which focal length you need. I would recommend nothing shorter than 100mm. There are several that will do the job very well, by several manufacturers. It seems they all tend to make good macro lenses. </p>

<p>In the end, a true macro lens and Manual exposure control will prove to be the best.</p>

[chris_koffend]

<p>Concur with Larry Cooper (above). Also, you may find that if you don't expect to do this that much, change over the manual focus with one of your zooms (assuming it has a macro setting). Something like this spider will typically benefit from manual focus anyway.<br>

FWIW - I shoot a Sigma 150 2.8 macro lense which I really like. Also, just so you know, a macro lens isn't just limited to macro photography, they can focus out to infinity. Which means that in my case I also ended up with a 150 mm 2.8 regular lens. You may want to keep this in mind in determining what the best length macro lens would be for you.</p>